Srinagar
The Kashmiri preparations of Rogan Josh, Yakhni, Muji Chetin, Dhungar, Kahwa, Kabargah and Tehr have left the international judges Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston of the show ‘MasterChef Australia’ impressed.
These preparations made by a Kashmiri Pandit, Sandeep Pandit, a contestant on ‘MasterChef Australia’ has won many accolades.
According to Sandeep’s contestant profile on the show’s website, he was born in Kashmir in the early 1980s and spent eight years there with his family before the family shifted to Bengaluru in 1990. It was there that Sandeep’s passion for cooking grew, reported a New Delhi based news wire agency, IANS.
“The family didn’t have a fridge, so his mother taught him how to cook ‘dal’ without having it stick to the hotplate, and how to boil food to prevent it spoiling. It is these learnings that helped Sandeep, who has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration, develop a taste for cooking,” reported the agency.
Another online news portal, the quint reported that Sandeep was born in Azad Basti Budshah Nagar in upmarket Srinagar in 1981. After completing his MBA from Bangalore University, he joined the IT industry in 2005. Given his professional acumen and body of work, he was sent to Australia in 2016 by his company, Cognizant, to head one of their projects.
“Cooking, however, remained his first love and thus, when applications for MasterChef Australia were invited, he was among the first to apply. As luck had it, he was selected among the first 50 and later given the apron, which is exclusive to the 24 contestants who are selected.”
Sandeep’s appreciation on the show was tweeted by the techie former chief minister of the state Omar Abdullah as well who is a regular follower of the show.
“We have a Kashmir connection in this season of ‘Masterchef Australia’. Rooting for Sandeep Pandit. Already we’ve seen his Rogan Josh and he wowed the judges with his Kashmiri Yakhni. Can’t wait to see how far he goes,” Omar tweeted last month.
