”I was just 9 when I first started cooking. Watching my grandmother cook inspired me the most. It’s a stress buster to me. Perhaps, I cook every time I am angry or sad, irrespective of whether I eat it or not! At the age of 18, I made it to the top 60 contestants of MasterChef India and was called to shoot in Mumbai. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in my college library when I received the call. I was beyond elated. My family and friends were happy for me too. It was a great experience. Cooking on camera at the YashRaj Studios, before the esteemed chefs, along with so many people was very new to me. From the styling and make-over to the contract of secrecy, it was very thrilling! My college and the Parsi community in Hyderabad were very proud of me and felicitated me as well! In one of the MasterChef rounds, I had prepared an authentic Parsi dish called Dhansak and it shocked the judges that someone as young as me could prepare this age old, traditional delicacy with such precision. As opposed to everyone else’s modern dishes, my traditional Parsi dish stood out. If I ever have the chance, I would love to open an authentic Parsi restaurant. I would want everyone to have a taste of the wide palette of dishes made out of distinct ingredients that the Parsi cuisine has to offer and complete it with a dessert bar! I was the first Hyderabadi Parsi to participate in a Cooking Reality Show and I feel blessed to have been able to put forth a representation. I love cooking for friends and family and they often call my house a ‘drive-in’! One day, my younger brother broke his piggybank and gave me his savings because he loved the brownies I baked him, and that joy cannot be put into words!”

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