MasterChef India Season 9: Mother-daughter duo from Mancherial finish as runners-up
A mother-daughter duo from Mancherial, Sai Sri and Rachakonda Chandana, earned national recognition by finishing runners-up in MasterChef India Season-9 on Sony Liv. Representing Telangana’s authentic cuisine, they impressed celebrity judges Vikas Khanna, Ranveer Brar, and Kunal Kapur.
Mancherial: Carrying forward the legacy of their family members in the catering business brought national recognition to a mother and daughter, who shone in a popular cooking reality show aired on the Sony Liv television channel. The duo finished as runners-up in the national-level event and won a cash award of Rs 5 lakh.
Sai Sri and her mother Rachakonda Chandana from Ramnagar in the town participated in the national reality show, titled MasterChef India Season-9, aimed at recognising talented chefs across the country. They were among 25 chefs selected from different parts of the country for the show.
Sai Sri, co-founder of Ellipayakaram restaurant in Hyderabad, oversees the catering business inherited from her parents, while Chandana is an organic farming crusader and advocates women’s rights. They brought national-level recognition to authentic cuisines of Telangana by displaying their culinary prowess in the show, drawing plaudits from Vikas Khanna, Ranveer Brar and Kunal Kapur, judges of the programme.
A 24-year-old engineering graduate, Sai Sri earlier entered the semi-finals by exhibiting mastery in cooking in Telugu MasterChef Season-1. She said she and her mother bagged an opportunity to showcase their culinary skills in the show featuring 50 pairs from several parts of India after excelling in five auditions.
The young chef expressed happiness over winning the first runner-up award in the grand finale of the programme and attributed the success to encouragement from her family members. The duo was flooded with congratulatory messages from locals and friends in Mancherial district, while their achievement was widely shared on social media platforms along with their videos.