EXCLUSIVE: Depinder Chhibber opens up about her experience in the competition.

MasterChef's Depinder Chhibber.

MasterChef’s Depinder Chhibber opens up about her experience in the competition. Photos: Channel 10

Since its premiere in 2009, MasterChef Australia has featured some of the most talented cooks in the country. This year’s season is certainly no different, with 24 former contestants from previous series returning to the kitchen for another chance to win the title and showcase their skillset.

Each week, the competitors have been challenged to step outside of their comfort zone with a wide variety of ingredients and recipes. However, like most seasons, viewers have accused certain participants of ‘playing it safe’ and cooking the same thing every week.

While some fans complained that Depinder Chhibber was guilty of only serving curries to the judges throughout the competition, she tells Yahoo Lifestyle following her elimination in Monday night’s episode that this couldn’t be further from the truth.

“When it comes to the umbrella term that everyone uses as ‘curry’, I showcased a lot of street food. I showcased different types of feasts and different types of curries, and there were also dishes that I made that I kind of turned into Indian dishes, knowing that that is my strength,” she details.

“I would say that even with Indian food, or even just with curries, there’s such a vast variety. I made a banana leaf feast, which is typically eaten in the south of India. That food you’re not going to find in the north, it’s so different. And then, for example, I made a biryani, you’re only going to find that in the north or certain parts of the south. There’s such a big variety of curry that I think I probably only made a proper curry a handful of times. I could count them on my fingertips.”

 

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Depinder adds that while she absolutely loves cooking desserts, she made sure to never cook any “stock standard desserts” in the MasterChef kitchen.

“So the thing is, I wasn’t trying to not make curries, or I wasn’t trying to just do desserts. You kind of had to tailor your approach according to the challenge, because that’s the only way you’re going to keep yourself safe from elimination,” she shares.

“If you just cook the one type of food, or if you go in with a dish in your mind, and then, no matter what the challenge is, you’re still cooking that dish, that’s going to put you in an elimination because you’re not tailoring and you’re not showing that point of difference that the judges want to see.”

Although she narrowly missed out on a spot in the grand finale, Depinder admits she’s enormously proud of herself for making it to the top four.

“Coming back, I generally felt really confident in my own skin. I felt grounded, I knew exactly what I wanted to showcase, and I felt somewhat deeply connected to the food that I wanted to showcase, food that I felt like I didn’t get a chance to showcase in my first season,” she reflects.

“So there was still obviously so much pressure, because everyone is returning, everyone has something to prove, everyone’s got reputations to preserve. But for myself, I just trusted myself a bit more this time, I knew how to take the risks, I knew how to bounce back, and I stayed true to my style.”