“It has always been my dream to be on MasterChef and perform challenges and create amazing dishes. And as they say… dreams do come true,” said Priyanka Kundu Biswas. My Kolkata caught up with the ‘dessert queen’
Your comfort food…
My favourite comfort food is obviously sheddo bhaat. It's a very simple recipe. So it’s basically some boiled potatoes, boiled rice, boiled dal, boiled egg. And if you are in Kolkata, then definitely with lots of Jharna ghee.
The dessert queen’s favourite dessert is…
Has to be the bhapa sandesh cheesecake. I always keep on experimenting with new dishes and new desserts. So I made a mango bhapa sandesh and paired it with a cheesecake and it turned out really amazing, especially when mangoes are in season.
Favourite Kolkata street food…
It has to be Hakka Chow, the roadside tawa chowmein. I stay near Madhyamgram and there’s a small food truck kind of a concept and I really, really love the place. When I came back after four months from MasterChef, the first place I went directly was to that space and have the Double Egg Hakka Chow.
Your go-to Kolkata restaurant for dinner…
My go-to dinner place in Kolkata is Shanghai, Dum Dum. It’s a Chinese restaurant and serves really amazing and authentic Chinese food. I really love their dumplings.
Apart from dessert, Priyanka loves cooking…
I really love making chop suey and love eating chop suey outside too.
Cafes or restaurants?
Definitely cafes because cafes have a vibe, music, and the food is more experimental. They’re also pocket friendly!
When not baking or cooking, Priyanka is...
Dancing! I love, love, love to dance! I've been training in Odissi classical dance for the last like almost 11-12 years. Then I've learned salsa as well and some Rabindra natya for three years so… big time dancer!
If given another chance at MasterChef, you would cook…
I really wanted to cook Niramish Mutton… I always wanted the opportunity to cook mutton without onion and garlic.
The most underrated kitchen ingredient…
I would say sugar. Sugar looks so simple, it’s such a basic ingredient but you can do wonders with it. Be it making sponge sugar, cotton candy, creating soan papdi or making caramel sauce… My entire business runs on sugar! In the region I belong to, we always add sugar to our dish, even if it’s a few granules.
The secret to a perfectly baked cake is...
Accuracy. I always go by grams in my recipes. I never measure by cup because whenever you measure ingredients by cup, the weight differs. Even if using the same cup, it may weigh 147 g of maida the first time and 167g the next. So if you want to bake a perfect cake, always be accurate, measure in grams and you will have the same result each time.
Tok, jhaal or mishti?
My pick would always be jhaal. Although I bake a lot of dessert, I don’t have a sweet tooth… I love spicy food.