MasterChef India Season 7 Episode 16 is titled ‘Home Cooks Pohche Goa’ and the synopsis reads as – The home cooks are in Goa as they gear up for a new challenge, which involves the cooks diving into the history of Goa and coming up with a dish to impress the chefs.
The judges of the show include Vikas Khanna and Ranveer Brar, who are joined by Garima Arora, the first-ever female chef to be a judge on the show. The cooking competition show is a nationwide quest to find the best ‘home cook’ and draws out some of the most brilliant chefs from across India. The judges sample recipes from various cuisines that the contestants prepare in their search for India’s ‘MasterChef’. The show is produced by Endemol Shine India and it is directed by Neeraj Shetty.
-MasterChef India Season 7 Episode 16 Review and Recap Contains Spoilers-
After another elimination last week, the contestants are in for a nice change as we find them in the beautiful landscapes of Goa. After 3 weeks of grilling tests, it is a much-needed change but the road ahead is not as easy. The kitchen today is set at St Ann’s Church which is a 17th-century church with colonial Portuguese Baroque architecture built in Portuguese India.
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It also looks like a mystery box challenge as a box is seen in front of the contestants. When the boxes are removed, they discover daily kitchen ingredients like potato, tomato, chilli, pineapple, peanut, cashew, guava, coconut vinegar, port wine etc. They may seem regular but these ingredients are said to be introduced by the Portuguese in India.
Today’s challenge involves using any 4 ingredients from the lot and creating a new innovative dish. But there are some major twists. Although the contestants are given 60 minutes to cook the dish, after 30 minutes the judges will come to their counter and examine the dishes. From 12 contestants, 3 dishes will be disqualified if they don’t seem innovative enough to the chefs.
The remaining 9 contestants will resume making their dishes and after the ultimate time will be over, the dishes will be examined again on the basis of presentation and 3 dishes will be disqualified. It means only 6 contestants and their dishes will make it to the final tasting round and out of them, two contestants will receive a huge advantage, which isn’t revealed.
Cooking outdoors for the first time with direct sunlight on their heads and wind, the contestants were having a somewhat hard time controlling their cooking process. Also, the pressure to innovate yet qualify was a big burden as well. The judges were constantly going around and giving tips to the contestants so they could improve.
After the 30-minute mark and examining the dishes, Santa, Avinash and Kamaldeep were disqualified. Many contestants were surprised to see Santa being disqualified since her dishes usually is quite innovative. The remaining 9 contestants resumed their work and by the end of the 60-minute mark, the dishes were examined again.
On the basis of the presentation, Gurkirat, Sachin and Deepa were disqualified this time. The remaining six were called in for tasting by the judges, starting with Aruna. She had made a Canape potato leek soup with burnt tomato salsa. She had decorated the plate with uncooked kidney beans, on which judges commented that she should only use ingredients that are in the dish but commended her innovation of soup in a tart.
Next was Nayanjyoti, who made a cashew and pineapple tart. The judges complimented the excellent taste but questioned his innovativeness since he is known for his tarts already. Followed by Priya who made potato pave with grilled pineapple & tomato salsa with cashew cream and guava chilli gel. She got the most compliments for her simple presentation which also replicated in the flavours.
Suvarna made a cashew and chicken cake with a pineapple and peanut crunch with guava chutney. The judges commented on the good texture and taste combination but the spice level was not balanced. Vineet tried to attach a story to his dish and named it voyage, by making a tomato boat with chicken and guava filling. He added cashew creamy gravy as sauce and shaped them in form of waves.
Lastly, Priyanka made an upside down reconstructed pineapple cake and used chillies, cashews, and port wine in the ingredients as well. The judges found her dish to be quite innovative and complimented the balance of flavours.
Final Thoughts: MasterChef India Season 7 Episode 16
The double-twist challenge ended with two winners – Priyanka and Priya. All three judges commented that there was no issue with the taste of the presented dishes but they definitely lacked innovation and nobody came through or won over completely. Although we get to be at a new location, the contestants seem to be playing safe and not bringing the best out of them.
With more pressure tests coming up in the next episodes, the contestants definitely need to gear up as they seem to be losing their spirits, with each challenge. On a side note, the challenges are certainly getting difficult every week, given that they were judged on the dishes made in 30 minutes, which made me realise that I would still be peeling the vegetables by the end of half an hour.
MasterChef India Season 7 is currently streaming on SonyLIV and a new episode is released from Monday to Friday at 9 PM.
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