New Delhi: A street food from Uttar Pradesh has earned Indian-origin contestant Kanika Gadyok a spot in MasterChef Australia 2026. Her take on katori chaat outshone a range of ambitious dishes, including butterfly trout, oxtail ravioli, and quail, securing its place among the top ten shortlisted entries from 20 homecooks.
Year after year, Indian street food has become a recurring highlight on MasterChef Australia, consistently winning over judges with its bold flavours. From pani puri to raj kachori and now katori chaat, these seemingly simple dishes deliver a burst of flavours in a single bite, often leaving the judges visibly impressed.
Katori chaat, also known as basket chaat, is mainly popular in Lucknow. It is a crisp, fried edible bowl made of potato and flour, and filled with a mix of savoury ingredients, yoghurt, and chutneys. One of the most famous versions is served at Royal Cafe in Lucknow’s Hazratganj, while variations can also be found in Kanpur and Gorakhpur.
For her dish though, Kanika filled the crispy basket with spiced chickpeas and paired it with a tamarind-date jaggery reduction, along with a mint-and-coriander chutney and other toppings. As judge Poh Ling Yeow cut into the katori, the crackle of the shell left her fellow judge Andy Allen in awe, while food journalist Sofia Levin reacted with visible amazement. Allen’s “Oh! Oh! Oh!” reaction summed it up perfectly.
French chef Jean-Christophe Novelli praised the dish for its depth despite being entirely vegetarian, saying that it was simply “vegetables, spice, and herbs.” Poh described it as “fun and vibrant”, adding that she could have easily eaten the whole dish herself.
Also read: Why are Australians going on and on about Raj Kachori? ‘Work of art, seamlessly chaotic’
Raj kachori to gol gappa
This isn’t the first time Indian street food has taken centre stage on the show.
In Season 17, Delhi-born homecook Depinder Chhibber impressed the judges with her rendition of raj kachori, a classic street food of Delhi. She recreated the elaborate dish from scratch, assembling a crisp shell filled with moong sprouts, spiced potatoes, chickpeas, yoghurt, chutneys, and garnishes like Kashmiri chilli, pomegranate arils, and sev. The judges called it a “little work of art” and “seamlessly chaotic”, with Levin even saying, “If raj kachori is the king of street food, you are the queen.” The dish ultimately saved Chhibber from elimination.
Then in the 2024 season, it was pani puri, also known as gol gappa or puchka in different parts of India, which impressed the MasterChef Australia panel featuring celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. The star chef couldn’t hide his excitement after tasting the snack.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)