A CL Block girl has made it to the top seven of MasterChef India, the cooking contest currently on air on Star Plus in the weekends at 9.30pm.

“I qualified for the show on my third attempt,” says Oindrila Bala, who quit a cushy job to follow her culinary dream. The 35-year-old tax consultant was working in a multi-national auditing firm for nine years when she put in her papers in January 2019.

“I wanted to compete in MasterChef. In the last season three years ago, I could not proceed beyond the top 60. This time I was more confident,” Oindrila said over phone from Mumbai where the show is being filmed.

Oindrila Bala with chef Kunal Kapoor who came as a guest Courtesy: Oindrila Bala

When the show was postponed, she opened her bakery unit at home, naming it The Sweet Spot, in April. “The response was good. But I had to shut down once the show was announced in September,” she recalled.

The audition was in a Behala college with a pre-cooked dish. “There must have been over 400 participants there. People had come even from Madhya Pradesh. I had made a chocolate mousse that looked like a mushroom with a Swiss roll as its stem.”

The next round was closer home, at the International Institute of Hotel Management in Sector V. “We were thrown a mystery box challenge, and asked to cook with any three of the six ingredients in it. I made a chocolate pumpkin pie.”

Since November, Oindrila has been camping in Mumbai, as one of four to have qualified from the Calcutta round. “But I am the only one from the city.”

Chocolate Mousse, Oindrila’s audition dish Courtesy: Oindrila Bala

Baptism by fire

She had stepped into the kitchen with intent to cook as young as four. By eight, she was making egg rolls and baking cakes. “There was no YouTube or food shows other than Khana Khazana on TV in those days. I depended entirely on cookbooks,” she recalled. Relatives — especially her mother — knew what to get for her birthday gift. “Even now I love cooking following recipes in cookbooks.”

Despite her penchant for cooking, she had to tread the traditional path as her father was not convinced about cooking as a career choice. “When I was 16 or 17, I made my wish known and my father agreed to open a pizzeria for me. But seeing me top college he put his foot down. At his insistence, I went on to do chartered accountancy.”

Living food

Life on the sets is tough. “Sometimes our call times are as early as 5am. One might think there is not much to do for a 45-minute episode but that is not true. When we are not cooking, background shoots take place. Shooting may carry on till 3 or 4am. But it is very rewarding at the end of the day,” she insisted.

The biggest reward, she feels, is the exposure. “I do not mean the fame but the insights we are gaining from the judges. Even in our free time, we are living, breathing, talking and eating food.”

The last activity has had its effect. Oindrila has put on two kilos. “I ask the judges how they stay slim. They have a crazier life. Ranveer Brar told me he works out in the hotel on days he cannot go out. But we haven’t learnt how to deal with it.”

Oindrila has been playing her bakery card well. Her best moment has been when she got the apron. “After the first round of selection, there were 11 of us left in contention with five aprons left to be given away. In the second round, they tasted my Curry Pata Sapta and handed me one without waiting to taste others’ dishes! Vineet Bhatia exclaimed: ‘Wah ji wah’. That was huge.”

In the latest round, asked to make a dessert with salt, she made Noon Pulipithe. “I came second in that round, just 0.5 points behind the topper who got in the safe zone. We had to think up what to cook on the spot. It’s extremely competitive here.”

Oindrila points out that she retains a touch of Bangaliyana in all that she cooks. “My mother is my guru. Her Bengali dishes are fantastic though she insists that I have an edge in other cuisines. But all that I know I have learnt from her. She also let me fiddle in the kitchen without worrying about the open flame.”

She is aware that another Salt Lake girl Kirti Bhoutika had brought home the MasterChef India title in Season 5. “I had met her in the auditions last time and was very happy when she won. I will try my best to follow in her steps,” she said.