Sound is the cooker’s language. The sitti’s cadence can be read like a score: the first tentative chirp, then a steady rhythm, finally the long, triumphant release. Each pitch carries an idiom of care—someone waiting to stop it lest it overcook; someone else timing the exact moment to take the lid off and reveal the softened, fragrant outcome. In households where recipes are transmitted more by ear and touch than by written page, the whistle is a tutor. It tells a daughter when the dal is done, instructs a son how long to simmer vegetables, and marks time during conversations that flow around the stove.