A Dunfermline mum has impressed MasterChef judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode with her culinary skills.
IT consultant Vijaya Kunaparaju, 37, progressed to the next stage of the BBC One series on Monday evening.
Before the contest, Vijaya, who lives in the Fife town with her husband and two children, said: “I’m a home cook with lot of passion towards authentic Indian dishes and presenting them with a modern touch.
“My mum is my biggest inspiration for starting off my cooking journey.
“Now my daughter inspires me a lot to experiment and explore different cuisines depending on what she fancies eating.”
Participating in the final week of the heats, Vijaya had to serve a family favourite using her own ingredients.
🚨 FIRST LOOK! 🚨
Time to meet the last batch of contestants for #MasterChef 2023 – tonight at 8pm on BBC One & @bbciplayer! pic.twitter.com/5whlu3wu4P— MasterChef UK 🍴 (@MasterChefUK) May 8, 2023
She made a butter chicken curry, accompanied with rice topped with pomegranate, cashew nuts and curry leaves, spiced potatoes served in a rice cracker and puri bread.
John Torode praised Vijaya on the smokiness of her potatoes and called her rice ‘joyous’.
Although he approved of the buttery taste, Gregg Wallace claimed that a couple of bits of chicken were undercooked.
Unfortunately, Vijaya was not one of the three chefs chosen to automatically progress to the next round and had to cook again for the judges.
A vegetarian feast
During the invention challenge, she made a vegetarian thali with ingredients she had to choose from a selection of foods provided by the show.
In 75 minutes she made a paneer curry, lentil dhal, cucumber raita, onion pakora and cumin rice with spiced potato stuffed bread.
Despite branding her bread ‘okay’, John Torode felt that everything else was ‘delicious’.
Gregg Wallace told Vijaya: “The array of spices and flavours that go through these dishes are amazing.
“These are the dishes of a confident cook who cooks like this regularly and you can taste it.”
After discovering that she had progressed to the next stage of the competition, Vijaya said: “I’m very happy.
“I’ll just take it one day at a time. I’m happy to go through this round and I’m really excited.”
A bucket list item
Vijaya has lived in Dunfermline for 12 years and has dreamed of appearing on the show for a while.
She said: “MasterChef is one of best platforms to showcase the dishes that are close to your heart.
“I want to challenge myself to push the boundaries with food and my own cooking. It was in my bucket list for a long time and I am so thrilled to be taking part.”
Should Vijaya go on to win the competition, she would like to open her own restaurant where she plans to cook and share the authentic flavours of Southern India.
Conversation