MasterChef India Will Only Cater to Vegetarians This Season

The new season of the cooking-reality TV series, MasterChef India is all set to air, but with a twist. The upcoming season ‘will celebrate the rich Indian heritage of vegetarian food.’ Yes, celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, who is also one of the judges of the show, said that the idea behind dropping non-vegetarian food this season is to give a chance to vegetarian cooking enthusiasts.

This might be quite challenging for the contestants of this season as in the previous one, contestants wowed judges with stuff like chicken pulaw, tandoori chicken pate and desi sushi. Globally, less than 20 percent of MasterChef culinary creations are vegetarian. It is also worth noting that the last three winning dishes were non-vegetarian.

It has been said that the new concept is pushed by a major sponsor of the show. Amul, owned by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, and Adani Wilmar, a joint venture between the Adani Group and Singapore-based Wilmar International, are two of the major sponsors of the show.

Economic Times reported that at least one sponsor was ‘in favour’ of a MasterChef that keeps non-vegetarian food out. MasterChef’s two corporate sponsors are heavyweights in their category.

Gaurav Banerjee, General Manager, STAR Plus, in talks with ET said, “We want to debunk the myth that non-vegetarian food offers more creative options than veg food.” Banerjee also argued that vegetarian food was more ‘inclusive’ and that ‘non-veg food puts off people who follow a vegetarian diet.’ Health, too, will be promoted by a 100 percent veggie MasterChef, Banerjee said. “More vegetarians mean less cholesterol…the world is understanding this,” he argued.

The auditions for the show have already been done and the final will be aired in January. Official statement from the channel completely denied that there was a pressure from the sponsors and explained the move as a way of  ‘celebrating vegetarianism, which is getting popular all over the globe, and giving an opportunity to vegetarian-only cooks.’