Bangladesh’s Kishwar has brought popular local snacks – fuchka, chotpoti, samosa and a tamarind dip, all the way to the Masterchef’s kitchen and earned applause from the judges.
The 38-year-old Bangladeshi from Melbourne is representing Bangladeshi cuisine in the newest season of MasterChef Australia.
A lifelong lover of fuchka-chotpoti, Kishwar wanted to introduce the judges in the latest episode to the unique flavours woven into the street food of Dhaka that she relishes during her annual trips to Bangladesh.
Kishwar's latest dish on MasterChef Australia| Facebook
“In today’s Invention Test I made a Bengali Street food platter. I reinvented how we utilize the “ordinary” potato by using it to emulate different pastries,” she said.
“First by lathing a potato with the Japanese lay, I made potato sheets that I then dried and used as filo pastry to wrap my “samosas.” Secondly, parboiling some potatoes I could scoop out the inside and deep fry the outer shell. This looked exactly like a “fuchka” (paani puri) shell which is usually made with AP flour and semolina. I stuffed these with spiced potato and chickpeas and served with my sweet and spicy tamarind sauce,” she continued.
“Thirdly, by deep frying julienned potatoes, they looked like “kurkure” usually made with chickpea flour. This is usually used as a crunchy topping for “Chotpotti”...the one healthy, vegan, dish I could live off forever.”
Previously, Kishwar has cooked “Kala bhuna” -- following her father’s recipe, traditional “Macher Jhol” -- earning praise from international media and fried sardines with green mango broth that earned her the reputation as a strong candidate in this season.
The mother of two wants to write a Bangladeshi cookbook one day| Collected
The mother of two wants to write a Bangladeshi cookbook to keep the legacy of her family alive. “It’s a small dream,” she said.
In conversation with the Huffington post, Kishwar previously revealed she comes from “a big family of cooks”, and is proud of using recipes from her loved ones to make her own versions of them in the kitchen.
“The Bengali cuisine that I carry with me has been passed down from generation to generation. I’ve always taken a little creative license with it,” she said.
