Raj's food appeals to Nigella's taste

The 29-year-old, who grew up in Warwick Drive, Newbury, beat off competition from Michelin-star chefs to secure one of 25 places on The Taste, a cookery competition that is judged on flavour alone.
Having sailed through the audition process, Mr Bahra had to choose between Miss Lawson and fellow judge Anthony Bourdain as a mentor, after impressing both with his tandoori chicken dish in the first episode. On Tuesday night’s programme, he made it through to round three with spicy battered cod with mushy peas.
Mr Bahra said: “I started cooking around the age of 16, when my parents used to own the old Speenhamland post office and were working long hours. I decided it might be helpful to know my way around a kitchen and it went from there.
“Unfortunately my mother passed away a couple of years ago, but she was a massive influence on my cooking.”
Mr Bahra, who works as a tax accountant for KPMG, said that he currently had no plans to change his career.
“I just enjoy cooking good authentic food for family and friends and don’t plan on changing that, certainly not in the foreseeable future,” he said.
“It is an amazing experience. When I arrived it was quite daunting but I quite enjoy being around the cameras now.
“I arrived on the first day on this massive set at Pinewood Studios and was surrounded by professional chefs and people who have worked at Michelin star restaurants like The Fat Duck, and thought to myself, I’m just a home cook, what on earth am I doing here?
“Nigella is lovely and very down to earth. I think it helps that she is a homecook, too. She really looked after me and took me under her wing. She wasn’t like a strict boss at all.
Although Mr Bahra, who used to play football for Shaw Boys, now lives in London, he said he was still in touch with many people in Newbury.
“Newbury is where I grew up and my family and a lot of my friends still live there,” he said. “I try and get down at least once a month to catch up with them all.”
Find out how Mr Bahra gets on in the next round, cooking comfort food, on Tuesday, at 9pm.