'MasterChef India brought me back to my roots'

Chef's corner

MasterChef India Season 5 contestant Dinesh Patel is a lawyer by profession but his passion is cooking. His interest in cooking started at a very young age.

“I’ve watched my grandmother cook for years as a child and have picked up so many skills from her, I think at the heart of any good cook there is always a motherly figure and for me that’s my grandmother. From her, I’ve learnt the complexity of spices, how true Gujarati cuisine should be made, and how time and love are the most important ingredients within any dish. She is my true inspiration and for whom I work so hard,” he says.

His passion for food continued as he began to experiment with different cuisines and techniques and flavours, learning from the internet and books or whoever was ready to teach me. Patel now runs his fully fledged business Couture Confection in UK.

“Whilst studying, I opened my first business in cakes and sugar craft and found that my passion lay in patisserie. I kept my passion alive in this business, whether as a stress buster or as a form of relaxation or just love, baking, sugar craft and patisserie kept me going and my passion drove me onwards,” he adds.

Taking about MasterChef India, Patel says that he never thought of being on the show. For him, it’s a journey that’s brought him back home to him roots — India. “I had seen the call for auditions in London by chance on the internet and thought I would go along, for a while my friends had told me time and time again to go ahead and audition but I never thought myself good enough or that I would be accepted. So you all can imagine the shock when I was told I was part of the top 30 and then finally the top 16.”

Patel dreams of bringing his London-based patisserie to India. “Couture confection is a reflection of myself, the way I am fused with an Indian heritage and western influence in the same way couture confection fuses both worlds.”

Recipe

Cranberry, Pistachio And White Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients
White chocolate, 2 cups
Double cream, 1 cup 
Chopped pistachios, ½ cup
Dried cranberries, 1/3 cup
Orange liquer (optional), 2tbsp 
 
Method

First chop the white chocolate and place in a bowl, heat the cream until hot but not boiling and pour over the chocolate, whisk until smooth, add in the pistachios and cranberries and the liquor if using, and leave to chill in the fridge till set.

Once the mix has set using a melon baller or small spoons take small pieces of the mixture and roll them into truffle shapes.

Work quickly as the mix will melt in your hands if you expose it to the heat of your hands for too long. Once you have done this you can roll the truffles in chopped nuts or sprinkles or whatever you like! You can even drizzle some dark chocolate over them if you’re feeling adventurous.

Once completed, keep them in the fridge ready to serve or dish out to your guests this festive season.