For Sashi Cheliah, it begins with flavour. Venkatesh Bhat wants the original character of a recipe preserved. Shreeya Adka, meanwhile, believes there is room for interpretation, provided the food tastes good. As judges on Celebrity MasterChef Tamil, the three chefs bring distinct perspectives to a competition where celebrities must prove themselves in an unfamiliar kitchen.
Presented by Sony VIZHA and Sony LIV, the show features Samantha Ruth Prabhu bringing contestants into the kitchen to take on culinary challenges. For Sashi, winner of MasterChef Australia, one of the pleasures will be seeing familiar dishes approached with technical ambition.
“Viewers are going to be surprised by how well the contestants cook local dishes that are close to their hearts, their families and their culture,” he says. When judging a plate, Sashi puts flavour first, followed by originality and technical precision. The story behind a dish matters, too, particularly when a contestant is recreating a family recipe. “There needs to be a lot of empathy in the way we judge,” he says. “We are not there to judge them; we are only judging the plate of food that is presented to us on that day.”
That order of priorities also leaves room for contestants to grow. Sashi believes technical precision and working under pressure are skills that can be developed as the competition progresses, provided contestants are willing to learn. A chaotic cooking process, he cautions, does not always translate into a disappointing plate. “Sometimes it’s a little tricky because while they’re cooking, you might find them under pressure and stress,” he says. “But when they present the food and the judges taste it, it might completely blow your mind.” For him, the final dish must speak for itself, even when the journey towards it has been far from smooth.
Chef Venkatesh is particularly emphatic about preserving the identity of traditional food. “Never alter the DNA of the dish,” he says. “For me, fusion is always confusion.”
His idea of fine dining has less to do with reinvention than with serving a dish properly, with the right accompaniments and presentation. “My interpretation of fine dining is giving original food the way it is to be served. That is fine dining. That is finest dining, I would say.”
Shreeya is more accepting of variations. Curd rice, for instance, might come with pomegranate in one household and without it in another. Neither version needs to claim absolute authority. “It’s okay to have variations of a dish as long as it tastes good,” she says.
Her own sentimental favourite is idli with sambar, particularly the idli made using her grandmother’s recipe. The preparation includes idli rice, urad dal, fenugreek, aval and sabudana. Its apparent simplicity conceals the science required to achieve the right texture. “When you eat a hard idli, that’s when you realise the effort that’s gone into making a nice soft idli at home,” she says.
For Shreeya, the lesson in such familiar dishes extends beyond getting a recipe right. She believes much of what separates a good cook from a great one lies in understanding the process rather than simply following instructions. “Seasoning is not at the end but it’s throughout the process,” she says. The time spent sautéing onions, knowing when to add salt and allowing a gravy to cook down all influence the final flavour. Understanding these stages, she believes, gives home cooks the confidence to build a dish from scratch rather than rely entirely on a fixed recipe.
The chefs also have practical advice for home cooks. Sashi recommends restraint when seasoning gravies, which can become more concentrated as they cook. He follows a principle he learnt from Gordon Ramsay during MasterChef Australia: “Less is more.” Shreeya stresses the importance of understanding how flavours develop. “Seasoning is not at the end but it’s throughout the process,” she says. Knowing when to add salt, how long to cook onions and when to reduce a gravy can make a significant difference. Venkatesh’s priority is preparation. “Clean as you go,” he advises, adding that a home cook does not need professional equipment to produce a good meal. Having ingredients ready before starting can make the entire process easier.
Sashi's own approach to cooking for guests follows the same philosophy. Rather than attempt an elaborate menu, he prefers to keep things simple enough to enjoy the company around the table. If a meal threatens to go off course, he has a dependable fallback. “I always have a good biryani up my sleeve because it’s a one-pot wonder,” he says. He also recommends a stick blender as a useful addition to a home kitchen, particularly for making mayonnaise, sauces and chutneys without investing in bulky professional equipment. For him, good cooking is less about having every possible tool than knowing how to make the most of what is available.
Their ambitions for Tamil cuisine extend beyond its familiar staples. Sashi champions kambu kanji, a preparation of pearl millet and rice with curd, onion, salt and chilli. He likes its suitability for hot weather and would prefer it served without modern embellishments. “You shouldn’t meddle with it,” he says.
His affection for dishes that need no reinvention extends to food from beyond Tamil Nadu, too. Sashi's all-time favourite, char kway teow, a stir-fried flat noodle dish, is another preparation he would leave untouched by fine-dining ambitions. Its appeal lies in the umami imparted by the wok, sweet soy sauce, Chinese sausage and prawns. “Some dishes are meant to be enjoyed in their original form,” he says. It is a sentiment that runs through his approach to traditional food: technique and presentation have their place, but neither should overwhelm what makes a dish special in the first place.
Venkatesh points to koli milagu curry and meen kuzhambu as dishes that deserve greater international recognition. He argues that Tamil Nadu’s culinary traditions have been reduced too often to idli and dosa, despite the depth of its regional recipes and ingredients. Shreeya cautions against choosing a single dish to represent the cuisine, given its many regional variations
That diversity also makes flavour balance particularly important. Sashi believes a dish needs the right interplay of spice, tanginess and even a hint of sweetness to allow its ingredients to shine. “To elevate all the spices and aromatics that go into a dish, that balance of spicy, tangy and just a tinge of sweetness is very important,” he says. Shreeya, meanwhile, sees adaptability as the defining quality contestants need to develop. The pressure of the kitchen can unsettle even confident cooks, she says, but what matters is how quickly they learn from their mistakes and recover. The ability to adjust, rather than cling to a failing plan, can make all the difference.
Inside the competition kitchen, the celebrities must learn quickly from their mistakes. Venkatesh believes observant contestants can learn from the feedback given to others rather than repeat their errors. Shreeya identifies adaptability as essential, particularly when pressure disrupts a cook’s usual rhythm. For all three judges, the celebrity status of the contestants is secondary. What matters is what arrives on the plate. As Venkatesh puts it, “The plate is what is judged and not the person.”
New episodes air at 8 pm, Monday to Friday, on Sony VIZHA and are available to stream on Sony LIV.
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