Spice master keeps it simple at home

Rishi Desai's kitchen is surprisingly normal. Just like the man himself. For someone who's right in the middle of his 15 minutes of fame, he's humble and friendly, welcoming us to his kitchen table with a meal and a smile.

When the invitation came (well, we invited ourselves actually, and thankfully he was obliging), we were keen to have a stickybeak at the kitchen of the man who should have won MasterChef.

The encouraging thing is that there's nothing special about his kitchen, other than the food coming out of it. Drawings by his son Sharang, 6, and notes from school are stuck on the fridge. The pantry's a little disorganised, and bottles and jars on benches and in baskets are in every corner. There are no gleaming stainless-steel appliances, a large mixmaster is on the bench, but the oven and fridge are standard fare. There are exotic condiments in old pasta sauce bottles next to Vegemite and barbecue sauce.

He got home from MasterChef to find out that his wife, Mitra, had thrown out his favourite wok. ''It was too big,'' she says laughing.

Other things he can't live without are garlic and chilli, especially chilli, which caused problems with judge George Calombaris at times.

A prized possession is his traditional masala dabba spice holder, a round stainless steel container with seven removable containers inside. It's filled with coriander seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, chilli powder, mixed spice and a gum powder called asafoetida, which is a common Indian flavour enhancer. The container smells divine, looks divine and we want to know where to buy one.

The other thing he uses is a pressure cooker. It, too, is a simple one that whistles when the food is done. Slow-cooked lamb takes about 20 minutes, or eight whistles - even Sharang has the whistle counting down pat. We can hear Calombaris in the MasterChef kitchen, ''Chop, chop, there's only three whistles left.''

Desai's mother sends chilli powder from India - he keeps it in the freezer - but on the whole he shops locally, getting his goat, which they eat once a week, from the Jabal Halal Markets in Mawson. Other frequently visited shops include Fresh Life Grocers in Tuggeranong, Kitchen King Grocers in Phillip, and the Fyshwick Markets.

He's happy to divulge a little gossip from behinds the scenes of MasterChef. He's made some great friends from the show, talks to Christina Batista regularly, and is in contact with Lynton Tapp and Lucy Wallrock. Inside the house, the days were long, up at 5am and home about 10pm. Some days they would be cooking, other days they would film the pieces to camera. They weren't allowed internet access in the house. Nor could they watch Channel Ten. Favourite shows were cooking shows on SBS and Foxtel, and The Voice became a firm favourite among the housemates.

The house was dry, no alcohol for almost six months, although when it was down to the final six or so there was the occasional champagne to celebrate.

There was a cooking and cleaning roster. And meals weren't exotic, given the large numbers that needed to be fed. Desai says spaghetti bolognaise was on the menu regularly and he thought his was the best.

There was a pantry the size of his Queanbeyan garage in the house, rivalling the pantry in the MasterChef kitchen. Pretty much any ingredient you wanted for practice would be delivered.

Early on, Daniel Churchill decided to practise pasta making and the others joined in, going through 180 eggs in less than two days.

Desai says he loved every minute of the experience and would do it again in a flash.

Then Mitra brings him back to earth, reminding him he has to get Sharang from school and do dinner. A normal man in a normal kitchen.

>> Karen Hardy is Canberra Times Sunday magazine editor.