Soliciting gasps from the contestants upon its reveal, Dalvinder remembers her initial reaction to George’s Greek Salad all too well: “I was thinking, ‘How the hell am I going to do this? There are so many elements… this is going to be one hell of a challenge!’”

Despite the hopefuls being given what would seem like ample time to complete their dishes, the task’s complexity left Dalvinder justifiably uncertain it would be adequate: “I thought three and a half hours was good timing, but wasn’t sure if it was enough for all the elements,” she explains.

Time constraints and the unrelenting difficulty of the challenge ultimately took their toll on Dalvinder. Yet despite some emotional scenes, she managed to pull herself together and complete a fine dish – thanks, in part, to the support of her MasterChef family.

“It was important to hear such encouraging words from the contestants. They were very supportive and really made me feel that they wanted me to pull through,” Dalvinder says appreciatively. “I kept telling myself that I’m capable, it’s only cooking – just get it done, and do it for yourself and all my family members who’ve been such great support,” she adds, recalling the mental shift that allowed her to reverse her ailing fortunes.

While far from confident about her chances of evading Elimination – “I’ve never felt so lost in my entire life,” she admits – the experience has shown Dalvinder that there’s nothing she can’t handle. “I’ve learned that if I can do anything, nothing in this world should be scary to me. I learnt that if you give me limited ingredients to cook with, I somehow come up with a brilliant dish.”

Assessing her overall performance only highlights Dalvinder’s many confidence-buoying achievements. Not least having George declare hers to be the best Indian food ever to grace the MasterChef kitchen. “It was mind-blowing to hear that from George; for someone that doesn’t really like Indian cuisine, it’s such an honour to receive such a compliment.”

It’ll now be the public’s turn to taste what all the fuss is about, as Dalvinder continues to follow food dreams she hopes will ultimately lead to her own establishment: “I am venturing into the markets in the South Coast, and one day in the future Jazadalvs Cottage will be up and running.”