Chef Vikas Khanna with winner Nayanjyoti Saikia. (courtesy: vikaskhannagroup)

Congratulations, Nayanjyoti Saikia. The talented chef from Assam has emerged as the winner of the cooking reality show MasterChef India season 7. He started the journey with 35 other contestants and continued to overcome the obstacles till this Friday, when he lifted the trophy and won prize money of Rs 25 lakh. For Nayanjyoti Saikia, judge Vikas Khanna also shared a heartwarming post on social media. He shared a photo of himself and Nayanjyoti holding the trophy and wrote: “Nayan, your journey from the hidden kitchen in your bedroom to the vastness of the Universe. You make us all believe that if we are honest, work hard, focused, learn, train nonstop and stay calm… the victory is ours. Presenting to you the winner of 1.4 billion hearts and MasterChef. Bless you, Nayan.”

Apart from Nayanjyoti Saikia, another contestant from Assam has made it to the top three on MasterChef India 7. Santa Sarmah bagged the first runner-up title while Nazia Sultana, who is also from Assam, proved her culinary skills and cemented her spot among the top 10 contestants of the season. The second runner-up of the show is Suvarna Bagul from Mumbai. Celebrating his victory, Nayanjyoti Saikia posted a photo of himself showing off his shining trophy. He wrote: “And the winner is….”

A few posts on the official page of MasterChef India also shed light on Nayanjyoti’s “inspiring” journey from a home cook to a chef. Alongside a few pictures of the winner with judges Vikas, Ranveer Brar and Garima Arora, the caption read: “Assam boy Nayanjyoti Saikia wins Masterchef India Season 7. Congratulations on a wonderful and inspiring journey and for making all of us proud.” 

“It’s notable that Santa Sharma, who is also from Assam, bags the first runner-up title. Nazia Sultana from Assam was also in the top 10 league of the season. Congratulations to all three of them for making the entire Assam and Northeast proud by their culinary skills,” read the full post. 

Another clip featuring glimpses of Nayanjyoti Saikia with other contestants from the show was shared by MasterChef India 7. In the caption, the makers hailed the chef for showing us that “with hard work and determination, and a splash of genius, anything is possible.” Take a look:

The journey of MasterChef India 7 started with 36 contestants and Nayanjyoti Saikia won the show by completing a task given by the judge and celebrated chef Sanjeev Kapoor.