Challenges for the contestants

What challenges would you like to see given on the show?

Some challenges I’d like:

1. in one of the previous seasons, they challenged the contestants to make a pizza in 30 minutes. But the pizza had to be inspired by states of India. I remember someone made a thalipeeth base and topped it with some other Maharashtrian dish. So something on similar lines. Also, they had no ovens, they had to make the pizza on a tawa. 
2. One year contestants were only allowed to take 500gms of ingredients from the pantry (I remember they took 1/4 tomato, a spoon of yoghurt and stuff like that) and they had to make a navratan thali.

3. I’d like them to taste a dish and replicate it. No recipe given.

4. I’d also like a mystery box with lesser used ingredients like Bamboo sticks, drumstick flowers, etc

5. A challenge where they run a food stall and sell street food like chaat. The team that earns the most money wins (has happened twice before - once at Bombay chowpatty where they made pav bhaji and something else and once they ran a dhaba). 
6. A challenge where they cook without salt and sugar, no masalas (can get saltiness by boiling mussels or oysters, sweet from fruits). 

7. Cooking traditional dishes from your own community/region, using ingredients given to you by another contestant. 
8. A team challenge where they cook a gluten free, sugar free, oil free, nut free, vegan menu.

9. Preparing a dish, but after picking the ingredients, the judges and the a fellow contestant take out one ingredient (so 2 in total) from your basket. 
10. contestants challenging other contestants to make a dish of their choice.

I would dearly love to see challenge no. 6... It's so easy to get the sweet and saltiness from things other than sugar and salt yet so complex to get the flavors right.

I would love to see a challenge where they have to make a savory dish with a sweet fruit. It would be easy as we have many such food in our traditional cooking but complex to get the correct flavor. Plus it would challenge the contestants out of their comfort zone.

Another thing I remember there was a challenge where they had to keep coriander as the king of their dish. Many contestants struggled. So something like that would be good.

Time based challenge were for a total time of 60 mins, you have to switch off the stove/oven for first 15 mins and then can switch it on for next 15 mins again flames off for the next 15 mins and on back again for the last 15 mins. Would love to see the cooks planning their dish and doing something innovative.

A tag team challenge where one person will work first and during that time the other person should be blindfolded and they shouldn't have any idea on what's cooking. Then after sometime, the other person should go and work on the dish. Based on tasting the dish and the way it's being cooked, it's the second cooks talent to understand and continue it the way he wants. Then again the first cook should come and continue. The second cook will come after sometime and complete the dish. This would test the contestants on their knowledge of flavors, the way its cooked. Would be awesome to see too

1. I'd love to see a three-course-menu team challenge from reginoal cuisines like Meitei three course service, or Odia cuisine service, or Himachali service

2. Would love to see them cook an international cuisine that has lesser commonalities with Indian igredients. Say, Irish or Dutch

3. A lost recipes or peasant food challenge

4. Immigrant food challenge like Bunny Chow,  Dhol roti, Curry Goat, Indian-Chinese cuisine, Gumbo etc.

5. Food preservation challenge

6. A savoury challenge with chocolate/coffee/tea/fruits

7. An African or Asia Pacefic challenge.

8. Catering a Parsi wedding or any such region specific wedding food challenge

9. Historical cookbook challenge - Ain i Akbari, or Manasollasa, or Charaka Samhita.

10. An Old World food challenge, take out pineapples, chillies, tomatoes, guavas, potatoes, Tapioca, maize, chocolate etc from the pantry

11. Spice route or Acient foods challenge.

Originally posted by: TianaWrites

I would dearly love to see challenge no. 6... It's so easy to get the sweet and saltiness from things other than sugar and salt yet so complex to get the flavors right.

I would love to see a challenge where they have to make a savory dish with a sweet fruit. It would be easy as we have many such food in our traditional cooking but complex to get the correct flavor. Plus it would challenge the contestants out of their comfort zone.

Another thing I remember there was a challenge where they had to keep coriander as the king of their dish. Many contestants struggled. So something like that would be good.

Time based challenge were for a total time of 60 mins, you have to switch off the stove/oven for first 15 mins and then can switch it on for next 15 mins again flames off for the next 15 mins and on back again for the last 15 mins. Would love to see the cooks planning their dish and doing something innovative.

A tag team challenge where one person will work first and during that time the other person should be blindfolded and they shouldn't have any idea on what's cooking. Then after sometime, the other person should go and work on the dish. Based on tasting the dish and the way it's being cooked, it's the second cooks talent to understand and continue it the way he wants. Then again the first cook should come and continue. The second cook will come after sometime and complete the dish. This would test the contestants on their knowledge of flavors, the way its cooked. Would be awesome to see too

interesting ideas!

Keeping coriander as the hero of the dish will be easy for the Sindhi contestants. In our cuisine we have a gravy made out of coriander, and there can be so many variations to that! 

Also the last challenge I think has happened before, except instead of being blindfolded they were sitting in a room. Can’t remember what season though. 

Originally posted by: Deltablues

1. I'd love to see a three-course-menu team challenge from reginoal cuisines like Meitei three course service, or Odia cuisine service, or Himachali service

2. Would love to see them cook an international cuisine that has lesser commonalities with Indian igredients. Say, Irish or Dutch

3. A lost recipes or peasant food challenge

4. Ummigrant food challenge like Bunny Chow,  Dhol roti, Curry Goat, Indian-Chinese cuisine, Gumbo etc.

5. Food preservation challenge

6. A savoury challenge with chocolate/coffee/tea/fruits

7. An African or Asia Pacefic challenge.

8. Catering a Parsi wedding or any such region specific wedding food challenge

9. Historical cookbook challenge - Ain i Akbari, or Manasollasa, or Charaka Samhita.

10. An Old World food challenge, take out pineapples, chillies, tomatoes, guavas, potatoes, Tapioca, maize, chocolate etc from the pantry

11. Spice route or Acient foods challenge.

I’d really like them to do challenge 1. I think they have catered to a wedding (not Parsi) in the past. 
even challenges 9 and 10 sound very interesting. 

Originally posted by: Raina101

I’d really like them to do challenge 1. I think they have catered to a wedding (not Parsi) in the past. 
even challenges 9 and 10 sound very interesting. 

Yes, I think it was a very generalised north Indian wedding menu that has been quite nationalised all over India. But a region-specific wedding catering would be more difficult because they would have to deal with very specific dishes on a large scale.

Making savouries with sweet fruits is easy..n delicious.

The best fruit for this is mango.. pineapple n guava aren't exactly sweet but their savouries turn out great. Banana is also a suitable one

Originally posted by: Kyahikahoon

Making savouries with sweet fruits is easy..n delicious.

The best fruit for this is mango.. pineapple n guava aren't exactly sweet but their savouries turn out great. Banana is also a suitable one

I would want to see them do a chocolate/tea/coffee savoury challenge. Fruit, even though I too suggested it, is quite easy since tomatoes, pumpkin, aubergines, squashes, chillies — all are technically fruits.

I would have made a Kathal ki biriyani if such a challenge came to me