British-Pakistani doctor wins UK Masterchef 2017

Saliha Mahmood-Ahmed, 29, defeated 64 amateur cooks to win the competition

With an "East meets West" menu inspired by her Pakistani heritage, a junior doctor, Saliha Mahmood-Ahmed, won the title of BBC’s Masterchef 2017.

The 29-year-old from Watford defeated 64 amateur cooks to win the competition.

Ahmad wanted to bring together her love of cooking and her medical career, by helping people with exceptional dietary needs find their ideal meals.

The junior doctor and mum-of-one swapped on-call shifts with colleagues to ensure she could take part in the contest.

A specialist in gastroenterology, Ahmad also wants to write cookbooks and tackle obesity.





"To be the Masterchef champion is fantastic and wonderful...this is definitely the coolest thing I've ever done in my life,!" she said after winning the competition.

"It involved a lot of hard work and early starts - late nights cooking after 13-hour long shifts, no holidays, no breaks, no sleep - but it was well worth it."

Ahmad’s winning dishes in the finale included Venison shami kabab, with cashew and coriander green chutney, chana dal and a kachumbar salad, which she made in memory of her grandmother's house in Pakistan.

She also impressed the judges with Kashmiri-style sous-vide duck breast and Saffron rosewater and cardamom panna cotta, served with a deconstructed baklava.

According to one of the judges, Greg Wallace, Ahmad’s food was: "East meets West" and "simply stunning - beautiful art on a plate".

Companion judge John Torode said: "She's walked in here and taken her food culture apart and put it back together in a modern and very exciting way".

Ahmad’s love of cooking was inspired by her family and encouraged by a teacher at school.

"I'm from a big Pakistani family and we use food as a way of bringing everyone together," she said. "I had very passionate grandmothers who cooked traditional Pakistani food and my mum is also an excellent cook. We love to feed people - it runs in our genes."