When 34-year-old Shari from Rochester, Minnesota walked into the kitchen for ‘MasterChef’ season 10 auditions, little did the judges and audience know what they were in for. This sweet stay-at-home mom totally knocked the judges off with her dish - red snapper with coriander and coconut curry. Judges and viewers couldn’t believe that this lady whipped up a complicated Indian dish like a pro. Before handing over the coveted white apron, celebrity chef and judge Gordon Ramsay said the dish was “authentic” and it reminded him of India!

So, in case you’re wondering who she is and how she has so much knowledge about Indian cuisine, then look no further. Shari Mukherjee has been married to Piyush for ten years. She says she had little or no interest in cooking and calls herself “a pretty poor cook." But her mother-in-law was very concerned about her son’s diet and that he might lose his taste for Indian food. She immediately took it upon herself to learn cooking Indian food to build a relationship with her mother-in-law and prove that she could take good care of her husband.

So, she began looking up recipes online and to her dismay found that there weren’t many authentic recipes. Another challenge was that she didn’t know how the food was supposed to taste like either. Like she revealed in her audition episode, her husband stepped in and taught her how to cook. She shared, “With a lot of practice (and a lot of failures!), I've become a pretty good cook - and not only of Indian cuisine. I study all cuisines now because I truly love cooking and figuring out the balance of a dish.”

When asked about her experience on MasterChef, she said, "incredible." “MasterChef has made me a better cook and also a more confident person even outside of the kitchen,” says Shari.

Shari Mukherjee (Instagram)

Shari has been consistently performing well on the show in individual challenges as well as most group challenges. Several fans see her as a potentially strong frontrunner of this season. So, we ask her how does she feel about it. She gushes, “I am extremely appreciative and very humbled by all the support the fans have given me - even at moments when my mistakes are apparent. Putting yourself on television in this sort of competition is a really vulnerable thing to do. I feel scared and anxious during every challenge (even now, just watching the episodes make me feel the same way!) so knowing that there are people out there who believe in me, even when I'm doubting myself is an incredible feeling. I feel that my knowledge of spices and how to create balance within a dish really differentiate me from my competitors."

"Subha is the only other person who really has that knowledge and palate, too," she says. So, does it mean that she sees Subha as her competitor or anybody else on the show as her competitor? “I honestly believe my biggest competitor in this competition is myself. There are a lot of great cooks, but if anyone is going to take me out, it will be me.”

You might be surprised by who she considers her closest friend on the show. Shari shares, “Subha - everyone needs someone like Subha in their lives. He's really a fantastic person.” The show will be ending soon, so what are her plans after the show? She immediately says that she doesn’t have any concrete plans but is toying with the idea of starting a gourmet cookie-business idea. “In an ideal world, I'd love to travel to India - learn cooking from street vendors, grandmas, fishermen - anyone that will teach me, really, and introduce those dishes to people here in America who think Indian food is only what you get at the restaurants - fatty, creamy and all very similar tasting. It's SO MUCH MORE than that! In the meantime though, I'll continue posting my dishes to Instagram (@spicedupmom) and occasionally share a recipe on my blog,” says the home chef.

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