MasterChef India Season 7 Episode 1 marks the return of the Indian cooking competition show after a long while. The show gives aspiring home cooks a chance to show off their talent on the silver screen and make a name for themselves. Returning as judges Vikas Khanna and Ranveer Brar are joined by Garima Arora, the first-ever female chef to be a judge on the show.
The first episode is titled ‘India Ka Swaad’ and the synopsis reads – Home cooks from across the country present their best dishes to the judges. Who will win the apron? MasterChef India is a nationwide quest to find the best ‘Home Cook’ in the country. The programme puts skilled home cooks through a variety of cooking tests, mystery boxes, and inventive challenges!
-MasterChef India Season 7 Episode 1 Review Contains Spoilers-
The show starts off with the audition to search for the talented people who would become part of the show. The first contestant of the season is from Kolkata, a renowned cake artist who is among the top ten cake artists in the country. Her name is Priyanka Kundu Biswas and keeping up with her profession, she brings a dish called the bridge of love.
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It is a moist chocolate cake which is filled with cinnamon-flavoured apples. Chef Vikas comments on the dish that is this the best she could do, which makes us think that maybe she won’t qualify but she wins the apron immediately. The second contestant brings in a dish that may be a first on the show, for the audition round.
Mohabbat Singh Cheema is a farmer and food truck owner who makes all the dishes from the things he grows. He presents thin-crust Paneer makhani pizza to the judges and wins them with his thoughts even more. It looks like a simple dish but the judges express how they can taste each ingredient and hand him his apron.
The third contestant is Nazia Sultana from Guwahati, who is a homemaker and brings a savoury Japanese souffle pancake. She gives the usual sweet dessert a twist with stuffed vegetables and egg yolk served with Hollandaise sauce. She shares the sweet story of her daughter who is her biggest critic and strength.
Her story and twist recipe also gets her a chance to show more on the show this season. The fourth contestant brings in all the smiles and even cooks up the final touch in front of the judges. Dyuti Bannerjee brought Bengali-style congee with Korean steamed egg to eat together. With it, she has created a traditional dish fused with an east Asian dish.
At first, Ranveer Brar acts like the dish wasn’t up to their expectations and make her go back with the dish. Dyuti is certainly heartbroken about not being able to win the judges but soon after, the judges break the silence and congratulate her for making it to the show. She couldn’t believe it at first but went back with an even bigger smile.
The last contestant shown on the episode was Orissa who brought a perfect dessert for the last moment of the show. Avinash Patnaik is a PhD student who is studying landscape gardening and we can see the touches in his dish. He presents a traditional dish called Gaintha Pitha which is flavoured with Pandam leaves and served with coral Jasmine infused milk and Indian almonds.
Visually the dessert looks beautiful with the blue colour, that comes from the Aparajita flower – also known as the butterfly pea, which can be found as a tea in Thailand as well. This adds a pop to the dish making it visually appealing with its sweet taste. Impressed by the presentation, the judges handed their last apron of the episode to him.
Final Thoughts: MasterChef India Season 7 Episode 1
The auditions are the bittersweet moments of the show where we get to meet many people and know their stories. Some make it while some are sent back with constructive criticism to come back stronger next time. Being the first episode, we didn’t see any failed auditions but it is to be noted that contestants brought unique dishes from traditional to fusions that created new flavours.
MasterChef India Season 7 is currently streaming on SonyLIV and a new episode will be released from Monday to Friday at 9 PM.
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