Indian-origin contestant Adi Nevgi earned heaps of praise from judges Melissa Leong, Andy Allen and Jock Zonfrillo on MasterChef Australia: Secrets & Surprises for her Pani Puri dish with an avocado and caviar filling.
The 31-year-old doctor from Melbourne made Pani Puri during a Surprise Mystery Box Challenge in the episode that aired on Tuesday in India. The contestants were treated to a blast of confetti as soon as they lifted the mystery box. The task was simple — the home cooks had 75 minutes to prepare a dish that would surprise the judges in a good way.
“I’m making Pani Puri which is an Indian street snack. The normal dish is this little pillow of inflated dough which is hollow in the middle. Then you fill it up with potato and lots of spices. Today I’m going to fill it with surprising flavours — salmon roe and avocado. Surprising them (judges) with what’s inside of it so that when they bite into it, they’re like, ‘Oh! Didn’t expect that’,” Adi said to the camera.
“I love Pani Puri. I think it is one of the best Indian street foods,” she added. It was a breezy cook for Adi as she rolled thin dough for the crispy puris and stuffed them with her wacky filling.
“It has a crunchy texture on the outside and a beautiful creamy avocado mousse, sweet pops of corn, and salty pops of caviar. It works nicely. Well done,” Melissa commended Adi on her dish.