Shahzadi crowned ‘queen’ of payasams

KOCHI: For

Shahzadi

Farah, cookery shows were an obsession, though she herself did not know why. After winning the first prize at the

TOI

Payawsommmme grand finale held at Kochi Marriott on Thursday, Farah said: “All those countless hours of observing cookery shows have finally paid off.” Farah took home a gift voucher of LuLu Mall worth Rs 25,000 along with an induction cooktop.

The chief judge, executive chef of Kochi Marriott, Prakash Chettiar, who tasted Farah’s innovative ‘popcorn-vermicelli

payasam

’ also commented about the level of precision reflected in her cooking from her passion in the hobby. “There was much clarity in her dish as well as in the way she prepared it,” Chettiar said.

The grand finale, held at at Kochi Marriott, saw 10 participants shortlisted from the penultimate competition of TOI Payawsommmme live-cooking their shortlisted payasams in a span of twohours.

“Live cooking is difficult. This change was mirrored in the variation in taste of same dishes in the previous round and the final,” Chettiar said.

The second prize in the competition, LuLu gift vouchers worth Rs 15,000, was bagged by Sridevi Nair who prepared ‘pancha phala prathaman’, made of five different fruits, while the third prize, a gift voucher worth Rs 10,000 went to Anitha Raveendran, who made ABCD payasam (Apple, Beetroot, Carrot, Dates) for the final cook-off.

Rajiv Pillai, the celebrity judge of the event, after tasting all 10 payasams by the contestants said that the tastes and recipes were exceptional. “They have set high standards for a traditional simple dish like payasam,” Pillai said.

Swaraj N B, media coordinator of LuLu mall, Kochi, gave away the participation certificates to the contestants.