Odisha’s Avinash Patnaik makes it to the top-16 of MasterChef India

Bhubaneswar: Avinash Patnaik from Odisha has lately brought laurels to the State after making it to the top 16 bracket of the 7^th season of the popular reality TV cooking show MasterChef India. By dint of his special dish ‘Gaintha Pitha’ he carved a niche for himself in this popular TV show while ‘Flavours of Tatini’ earned him a place in the top bracket of the popular TV show.

Avinash is a Plant Doctor who is an Artist, Food stylist and photographer as a recipe curator and a Solo Traveller. Besides, he is a Phd Scholar (Horticulture), Artist as well as a Former Agriculture Officer.

The youngster got direct entry to the popular cook show in the first round for his traditional ‘Gaintha Pitha’. And recently he secured a place in the top 16 bracket by dint of his ‘Flavours of Tatini’ which was an instant hit with the three judges, chefs Vikas Khanna, Ranveer Brar and Michelin star chef Garima Arora.

‘Flavours of Tatini’ is named after Patnaik’s maternal grandmother. She is fond of river fish and this dish is cooked mainly with small river fish (Chuna macha).

“This dish is inspired from a lesser known Northern Odisha (Bhadrak) dish called KHATA MEETHA MACHA which she learned from her mother and the legacy passed on to me from my mother. This local Odia dish is our family favourite,” says Avinash about ‘Flavours of Tatini’.

“A dish that got me my name apron is very special and has an emotional connect with me,” he added about the dish.

Avinash Patnaik is also popular in Odisha’s food blogging arena for his ‘Bhukkad Insan’. He has been curating several dishes from local edible flowers. Lately after his entry into the top bracket in the India’s most popular cook show MasterChef, name of the young heartthrob Avinash has been making the rounds in towns and cities across Odisha.