MasterChef India allows Jain contestant to use paneer in fish round, leaving a bad taste in the mouth

"If she can’t cook non-veg food or get out of her comfort zone, she should leave the show," writes one Twitter user with regards to the latest MasterChef India controversy. But then another Twitter user writes: "There's no need to compromise on your values for the sake of a show". 

The new season that airs on weekdays on Sony and its app Sony LIV, recently found the judges allowing vegetarian contestant Aruna Vijay to use paneer (cottage cheese) for a cooking challenge that otherwise required contestants to cook up a fish-based dish. 

Why did Aruna get to cook paneer?

So, while Vijay’s co-contestants were busy exhibiting their culinary skills on a salmon, the judges allowed Vijay to opt for paneer instead. The exception made for Vijay isn’t new this season as the chefs had similarly been offered to cook other vegetarian items in some rounds that involved eggs. 

Who is Aruna Vijay?

Hailing from a Marwari community in Tamil Nadu, Aruna Vijay is one of the top ten contestants in the current season of MasterChef India. As she religiously identifies as a Jain, strict vegetarianism comes naturally to her. As is common knowledge in India, many Jain individuals don’t just refrain from eating meat but even onion and garlic. Her fan following among Jains and vegetarians is such that her fans call themselves "Vjcars". 

With the Jain religion rooted in extreme non-violence, some Jains even refrain from eating root vegetables as according to their beliefs, picking it from the soil would hurt the soil and its creatures. So, now, social media users have also been quick to point out she recently used carrots in a dish, a choice that might make her a hypocrite. 

Are the MasterChef judges being biased?

Even though none of the contestants seemed to have been bothered with Vijay’s choice of cooking paneer instead of fish, several fans of the show are crying foul play on the part of the judging panel (which currently includes chefs Ranveer Brar, Garima Arora, and Vikas Khanna). 

A vast majority of the disgruntled viewers feel that part of the cooking process is to take up new challenges and by letting Vijay be in her comfort zone always comes off as “biased behaviour”. 

Others are also arguing that if Vijay is so intent at cooking only vegetarian dishes, then she should have competed at the vegetarian-only season in the show’s past. Airing in 2014, this season generated its own controversies following which MasterChef India stuck to its general format. 

Meanwhile, others are praising her and the show

While it is true that no other editions of MasterChef have witnessed such a bias, some of the Indian audiences are happy that the new season is respecting different religious identities and food preferences. 

Finally, did Vijay win the round?

In the episode that aired last Friday (February 17), Vijay ended up using paneer and the rest of the ingredients to cook stuffed squash with strawberry and basil sauce. The dish eventually allowed her to come second in the round. She’s still in the competition as of now.