MasterChef Australia and its pani puri bastardisation, from avocado to scallops

Mexicans love avocado. Indians love pani puri. So, now, an Australian-Indian chef debuted a “Mexican pani puri” on the latest season of MasterChef Australia. Aditi Nevgi has also won judges over with other Indian culinary offerings like butter chicken and a Maharashtrian squid dish.

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In a Season 15 episode that aired in India on June 19, the contestants were provided “mystery boxes” to cook up dishes that would really “surprise” the judges. And Nevgi thought that filling avocado and caviar in a golgappa (or pani puri, or phuchka as the Bengalis call it) instead of potatoes and water would be surprising enough. 

Thankfully, Nevgi still presented her dish as a unique spin on “pani puri” and didn’t resort to any Anglicised terminologies like “spicy water balls”. Nevgi rolled up the dough and fried her golgappas in no time and then resorted to stuffing it with avocado and the fish eggs.

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What do the judges think about avocado-caviar pani puri? 

As for the judges, chef Melissa Leong crunched her way through the dish being described as “Mexican pani puri”. Her verdict was: 

What’s next for Aditi Nevgi’s pani puri experiments? 

Delighted on getting a positive response from the judging panel, Nevgi took to her Instagram to explain what else she plans to do with her favourite Indian street food. 

Much to the dismay of pani puri purists (pani purists?), Nevgi is now intent on cooking 

- Taiwanese Pani Puri (bubble tea inspired)
- Dessert Pani Puri (dunked in chocolate milk)
- Dance Floor Pani Puri (a shot of vodka)

“The original one is perfect but let's galaxy brain this and see how far we can go.”

Earlier pani puri experiments on MasterChef 

In 2017, MasterChef Australia Season 9 also bore witness to “a smoky herb potato salad pani puri”. Is that just pani puri without the water and just the potatoes?

And then, in 2020, when two chefs Laura and Emilia (interestingly white) conjured up a “scallop pani puri”, Indians were left flabbergasted.

A Reddit user ranted about their disappointment in a three-year-old post aptly titled Pani Puri Injustice.

While Nevgi’s puris still fluffed up, Laura and Emilia’s pani puri results were quite flattened. Emilia’s pastry expert skills failed to do justice to the golgappas. 

“Never in 25 years of existence have I seen scallops in any Indian dish, let alone a chaat.” Reddit user u/ChancesChoices said that at that time. 

With the Indian Twitterati also equally unamused with the pani puri experiments on MasterChef Australia, it is clear that some things taste best the way they are originally. This message is issued in the interest of your nearest pani puri-wallah.