Tonight on MKR, NSW’s identical twins Radha and Prabha did the unthinkable. Colin Fassnidge – the toughest judge to impress – was left in tears after the pair served their late father’s favourite dish in their Instant Restaurant: Radha and Prabha’s Royal Dhaba.
The twins had an important decision looming over their heads before they began cooking: “Tonight’s menu is going to be spicy. Really spicy. We know that there are guest teams there that don’t like too much heat and that’s playing at the back of our mind, like, do we dumb it down for them?”
Their fears did not alleviate when their entrée of Chicken 65 with Mint Yogurt had the judges gulping huge mouthfuls of water after tasting. “If they burn their taste buds, they can’t score us appropriately with the flavour that we’ve put in there,” a nervous Radha said.
Surprisingly, the critiques came in glowing. Manu said the chicken was “a perfect bite every time” and Colin thought what the girls did was very brave: “You cooked your food the way you cook it. Next course, don’t hold back on the chilli.”
“The silent assassins are no longer silent with this dish,” Nick added.
High on their success, the twins plated up their main of Lamb Rogan Josh with an extra serving of green chillies.
The gamble paid off once again as the dish received overwhelmingly positive feedback, leaving top scorers Tommy and Rach threatened: “The flavours in that dish just screamed, like, run away Tommy and Rach, we’re coming for you.”
Manu said he hadn’t had a Rogan Josh in an Indian restaurant in Australia as good as what the sisters presented.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when the guests learnt the emotional story behind the dish: it was Radha and Prabha’s late father’s favourite. An emotional Colin said: “How am I gonna do a critique now?”
Expectations were riding high for the team to continue their streak with a winning dessert, but despite two successful courses, their dessert of Jalebi with Rabri did not go to plan.
The reception to the dessert was dire, but the overall feeling from the guests towards the team’s Instant Restaurant was positive. Their score of 87/110, including three 10s from Manu and Colin for their entrée and main course, placed them on the top of the leader board.