Reading "his words worked like pouring ghee on fire", Abhay thinks this is about a kitchen event…
Reading "his words worked like pouring ghee on fire", Abhay thinks this is about a kitchen event where ghee was actually poured on fire. His sister says this is about making something else worse. Who is right?
Who do you think is right? Pick one.
The answer: His sister is right, it means making a problem worse
Why
Abhay's guess is natural since the sentence genuinely contains kitchen words — 'आग' (fire) and 'घी' (ghee). But this too is an idiom, and it isn't describing an actual kitchen event — it's used when someone's words or actions make an already-existing problem, quarrel, or anger WORSE, the same way real ghee makes a real fire flare up faster; the phrase borrows that image, it isn't reporting a kitchen scene. 'उसकी बात ने आग में घी डालने का काम किया' means his words made an ongoing quarrel or anger worse. Test it: a sharp remark pouring ghee on fire in an already-heated debate clearly means the debate got worse, not that a kitchen fire was involved. His sister is right: 'आग में घी डालना' is an idiom meaning to worsen a problem or someone's anger, not about a literal fire and ghee.
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