‘You’re from Bangalore?’ Jamie Oliver asks Indian-origin woman on MasterChef

Sumeet Saigal, an Indian-origin contestant on MasterChef Australia, went viral recently after she impressed the judges of the iconic reality show by making them taste the pani puri she made on one of the episodes.
Saigal made the beloved Indian street food from scratch, preparing the dough for the puri, deep-frying them, making the potato filling and even the spicy-tangy water.
Celebrity British chef Jamie Oliver, one of the judges on the cooking contest, paid tribute to Saigal’s roots in Bengaluru after tasting her pani puri.
“You’re from Bangalore? That dish was bangs galore too,” Oliver said. Incidentally, Oliver’s new restaurant in Bengaluru opened last month.
“Jamie Oliver has joined peak Bengaluru moment Twitter,” X (formerly Twitter) user Shreemi Verma wrote.
Saigal, a mother of twins and a sales manager, said the biggest challenge while making the snack was to get the puri right.
“The biggest risk with the pani puri is that the puris puff up. The dough is temperamental. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Just to be able to get every puri to puff is a challenge.
Her memory of pani puri goes back to her school days in Bengaluru, when she would miss the bus and get her mother to take her to a popular eatery to have pani puri.
“Giggling and laughing school girls heading to Gangotri at Hi-Point – for those who know Bangalore and know Sophias,” Saigal, 46, wrote on Instagram.
On another episode of MasterChef Australia 2024, Saigal made three different versions of Butter Chicken for which she received mixed reviews from the judges. She had earlier made cashew cream in curry sauce.
While Oliver is a guest judge on MasterChef Australia 2024, the four main judges in Season 16 are Andy Allen, Sofia Levin, Jean-Christophe Novelli, Poh Ling Yeow.