The 17 contestants for the Waikato Indian Cultural Society's inaugural master chef competition.
The 17 contestants for the Waikato Indian Cultural Society's inaugural master chef competition.
From divine seafood curries to never-seen-before sweet dishes, a special Waikato master chef competition has swept judges off their feet.
Hosted by the Waikato Indian Cultural Society (ICS), the inaugural competition at the Wintec campus kitchen in Hamilton saw 17 contestants create a battle of the flavours.
In the end Darshana Patel came out as the winner, thanks to a sweet dish described by the judges as something they hadn’t tasted before.
Patel revealed her secret to the Waikato Herald: the dish was entirely improvised.
She originally wanted to make Sheera, a traditional Indian pudding made with semolina, ghee, sugar, cashews and raisins.
But the Indian Cultural Society, who provided all the ingredients, including vegetables, spices, seafood and meat, didn’t have any semolina.
The four finalists from the 17 contestants, with winner Darshana Patel at left and second-placegetter Bimla Prakash on the right.
“I couldn’t make Sheera, so I thought I’d make rice pudding quickly. I grabbed ... rice, put it in milk, and done. Midway somehow the milk split and there goes my rice pudding. I had no idea what to do next,” Patel said.
“I ... didn’t know what [ingredients] to pick, but something called Ragi flour [finger millet powder] caught my eye. I ... cooked it exactly how I cook my Sheera. I had no idea how it would turn out.”
By the time Patel knew what she was making, she only had 15 minutes left to finish her dish.
“I tasted it and something was missing and I saw mango pulps and added that in. It tasted good so I mixed it together and presented that with almonds [as decoration],” she said.
With all the ingredient chaos and having to swap from plan A to plan B to plan C, Patel didn’t expect to come out as the winner of the competition.
Darshana Patel's unique sweet dish made out of finger millet powder.
“The judges said my sweet dish was the ultimate winner. I felt happy inside but unexpectedly surprised because of what I planned to make, and what I did make. I’ll definitely make it again though.”
The contestants were judged on presentation, taste, smell, texture, skill level and creativity.
In all, Patel ended up scoring 539 points out of 600 and winning $1000.
“I’ve always been eager to know what food is if it tastes good and what’s inside it. [Winning the competition] has just given me confidence in myself knowing I can do it if I put my head to it.”
Last-minute entrant Bimla Prakash finished runner-up, scoring 481 points out of 600 and winning $500.
Bimla Prakash's fish curry earned her second place in the competition.
Prakash’s main challenge was the absence of a food taster.
“I’m a full-time vegetarian so when I cook meat at home, my family are my food critics and this time I had to make do without one,” she said.
“We didn’t realise how many people would want to participate,” Valera said after registrations continued to arrive after the closing date, so the society is aiming to bring the event back next year.
Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakatāne.
