Everyone’s favourite reality food show is back. MasterChef Australia Series 8 premiered last night, and promises to live up to the standards of the previous editions. By now we are used to seeing at least one Indian-origin contestant, and season eight is no exception. Making it to the Top 24 this time around is Adelaide-based 30-year-old call centre worker Nidhi Mahajan.
Originally from Chandigarh, Mahajan and her software engineer husband Sumit moved to Australia in 2013. She quit her high-flying career in corporate insurance and made the move Down Under in search of a better, more balanced lifestyle. After graduating from the University of South Australia with a master’s degree in professional accounting and finance, Mahajan started working at TSA Telco Group in Adelaide.
True passion
However, her true passion lay elsewhere. “I have been cooking since I was 12, and my parents taught and encouraged me in the kitchen. I would go to the vegetables and spice markets with my father, who is my flavour thesaurus,” says Mahajan. She also grew up watching cooking shows hosted by the late Tarla Dalal, the First Lady of Indian food television. Apart from Dalal, Mahajan confesses to drawing inspiration from a wide range of chefs, including Maggie Beer, Jamie Oliver, Sanjeev Kapoor, Vikas Khanna and Billie McKay (winner of MasterChef Australia Series 7).
Mahajan’s husband pushed her to apply for the latest edition of MasterChef Australia. “He takes all the credit for encouraging me and for giving me the confidence,” she says. The dish that won Mahajan the coveted apron and a spot in the Top 24 was an Indian-style goat curry, which she served with poori, cucumber raita and pickled onions. “Indian cuisine is my specialty, but I also love patisserie and desserts,” she says.
Rising popularity
But how popular really is Indian cooking on the show? Rishi Desai, the Kolhapuri mulga who made it all the way to Top 4 in Series 5 on the back of his modern Indian cooking, shares his experience.
“Gary likes his curries and naan, and as long as you make the curry tasty and the naan fluffy you have his points. Go easy on the chillies, else George will start mopping his pate, and deduct points. Give Matt a bit of the history behind your creation and you might just get his vote,” he says.
With the quality of contestants (and the food they put up) improving exponentially every year, does Indian food stand a chance on the global platform? Desai, who authored a cookbook, Modern Indian, after his stint on MasterChef Australia, thinks it does.
“The list of top 100 restaurants in Australia was released recently and it includes a modern Indian restaurant from Melbourne. So there is definitely an appreciation of Indian cuisine; the variety and complexity of flavours that we can offer is unique.”
Mahajan, already touted as MasterChef’s Queen of Spice, will clearly be going the Indian way when she can. She has not only impressed the judges but has also added another feather to her cap. The ‘Marco Week’ will be airing in India next week, when ‘the Godfather of modern cooking’, Marco Pierre White, will prowl the kitchen, which will reverberate with cries of “Yes, Marco”.
Judging by the teaser posted on MasterChef Australia’s Facebook page, Mahajan has even managed to wow the celebrity British chef with her kitchen skills. “Your use of spices is genius. I wish you had a restaurant where I lived, I’d be there every week,” says White, surely something to be pleased about. “I was so overwhelmed. I had always wanted to cook for Marco, he’s like the god of food for me.” We ask Desai if he has any advice for Mahajan. “Just two things: first, cook the food you love and cook it with passion; and second, there’s a time and place for experimentation, but the elimination challenge is not the one.”
Dreaming big
Mahajan has big plans for the future, which include opening an Indian fusion restaurant with her family. But for now, the MasterChef Australia house and kitchen beckon, where her skills and temperament will be tested over the weeks to come. Will the Queen of Spice take the crown?
Watch MasterChef Australia Series 8 on Star World and Star World HD Monday-Friday, 9pm onwards.
Prachi Joshi is a Mumbai-based travel and food writer
Making the cut
this time around
is Adelaide-based
call centre worker Nidhi Mahajan
