She bowled the judges over with her soups and salads, and walked away with the title of Masterchef India with aplomb.

Shipra Khanna, who is adept at a variety of cuisines ranging from Italian, Mexican, Thai, Himachali and French, took time off her busy schedule to answer Sify readers` questions on cookery.

Read the complete chat transcript.

any south indian recipe you like?
I like appam stew !

madam, pl share your recipe for dal makhani, its my sons fav recipe
Soak the dal overnight..add one bowl of tomato paste in one bowl of dal.. add 2 tbs of ginger garlic paste and salt to it... add 3 cups of water in a pressure cooker and put it on low flame for atleast half an hour.. after it is cooked now add the oil tadka with dal makhani masala added to it...

how many drops of lemon to add to get perfect paneer?
One lemon for half a litre of milk...

hi shipra, what are the ingredients u used most in your winning recipe?
I made Amritsari fish with a potato au-gratin and burr blanc and a garam masala carrot cake.. The ingredients I used were ginger garlic paste, kasuri methi, cheese and parsley...

how to prepare kulfi
For kulfi cook milk till it becomes thick in consistency..add a can of condensed milk and add pistachios, cardamom powder and put it in the mould and deep freeze!!

Congrts!Pls tell me what is the quality a young Chef should have!
Thanks.. A young chef should be vibrant, energetic and full of ideas...

do u try some punjabi food?
Ofcourse I am a Punjabi and just love Punjabi food!!

give a sugarless rajasthani dish
Gatte ki sabz is sugarless and quite a popular dish in Rajasthan.. Makhan ka samosa has white butter stiuffed with raisins and mishri or gulukand for sweetness with rest of the dry fruits...

hi shipra, what is the best topping for quiche
The best filling is spinach and mushrooms with lots of cheese...

cooking is gods gift - would you say we should be born with this skill - it cant be learnt ?
There is nothing that cannot be learnt in life! If you are not born with it please learn it!

whats you fav french food? pl tell me how to make waffles at home
My fav french food is chocolate croissants...You could follow this; Ingredients: 4 cupss of maida, 4 cups of whole-wheat flour, one tablespoon of sugar, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, some salt, three eggs, one and a half cup of milk, and some vegetable oil. And a waffle iron. How to make a waffle in five easy steps: 1. Put all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) into one bowl. 2. Put all the wet ingredients (eggs, milk, and oil) into another bowl and beat, mix, shake, stir until the eggs and milk become one. 3. Pour the mix you've just made into the bowl with dry stuff and mix again, until there are no lumps left. 4. Now put half cup of batter you made in the waffle iron. It would be a good idea to have the waffle iron hot and ready if you are really hungry like us. Or you can wait for it to warm up since the batter can rest for a while anyways and even tastes better if it does.

i have tried italian foods like bruschetta, is it possible to make it just like in restaurant
Of course yes it ! You can make your own version of bruschetta if you like ... you can try it with sun dried tomatoes pesto...

what is the correct proportion of butter to maida in nankhatai
To every 1/3 rd of maida add half cup butter...

pl suggest ways/spices to make dum biryani tastier
Add 2 drops of edible 'itra' to dum biryani towards the end or before putting the dum and it would taste awesome...

do you think akshay is a good cook?
He hasn't cooked in front of me or I haven't tried any of his recepies so how can I comment on that?

whats ur take on the masterchef series?
I think it was a very difficult show and to come out as a winner was even more difficult because the contestants were strong and the task were unimaginably difficult...but it was only the food that the person was judged upon...

hi shipra, any tip to make thai curry less spicy
You can reduce the amount of chillies you are adding to it and also try to add thick coconut milk to it and that will reduce the amount of spice in the dish...

how to make pasta tasty with indian sauces?
You can put garlic and tomato paste and saute and put kasuri methi to it..and enjoy the Pasta...

hi, how to make salsa with indian ingredients?
Just add coriander instead of parsley and rest all Indian ingredients could be used...

Dear Shipra, I am getting standard Rajma here. I am soaking it overnight. In the morning I am cooking it in pressure cooker for three-five whistles. Even after that the rajma is not getting soft. Why? is there alternative procedure? Please respond. Rgds
After soaking the rajma you have to cook it for one hour on low flame and there is no way it can be uncooked then...

please give the recipe for easily cooked dish for lunch main course with very less oil
Rajma could be made with just a spoon of oil... put all the ingredients together in the pressure cooker along with soaked rajma and one tbsp of oil and cook it on low flame for atleast an hour..and you will not feel the lack of oil in the dish but you can still relish it...

why did you want to come to masterchef in the first place
I gave my auditions because my mother suggested me to..and with every step I felt the strength of cooking and thats when I realized that I can make it to the top...

howz life after Master chef....
Life is even more beautiful after Master Chef...

how come ur so good in cooking?..................do u take it as ur passion or profession?......
First it was my passion and now it is my profession!

any tips to make dosa crisp? when we make at home, it turns soft
Dosa is always made on high flame and thats how it cooks to be crisp and the batter should be in perfect consistency..otherwise if it is too thick then the dosa also will turn out to be thick and if the consistency is too watery then the dosa cannot be made...

hello, how to make manchurian batter?
You need a cup of grated cauliflower/cabbage, one tsp of finely chopped ginger, green chillies and coriander, put one egg and a spoon of maida..add salt... mix the batter till well blended and fry small balls...

do you think food can make us look great?
Yes ..if you are eating healthy it would make you look great but a workout is a must and the real beauty lies within!

how to make perfect shaped boondi, when i tried, it comes long..
Put the boondi in small quantity in the sieve while frying..it would come out to be round only if the batter used is less...

whats the healthy alternative to besan in kadhi? can we use oats powder?
I am really impressed by your creativity..go ahead and try it... Kadhi has anyways been best with Besan...

pl suggest a easy bachlor recipe for dinner
You cn make some grilled chicken which is very easy to cook. Marinate chicken with the ginger garlic paste, salt, red chillies and oil..keep it for an hour and grill for 10-15mins... and eat with chappattis and sliced onions...

any good lunchbox recipe for my 10 yr old son?
Give him a grilled vegetable sandwich which is very healthy too... you could put corn and boiled and shredded spinach in the sandwich or you could add any other green vegetable too... put 2 cheese slices and add salt and pepper...grill and serve...

is it compulsory to use baking powder and soda together to make cake fluffy?
No not all.. its not necessary.. in fact there are many of my recepies which I make without adding any of these...

i learnt baking from a local class. but still my cakes dont rise well. any tips?
Don't over beat the cake after mixing all the ingredients and this will never let your cake rise...

hello, u are very pretty. does your food contribute to your glowing skin?
Yes it does... Thanks for the compliment...

will u open a veg or nonveg restaurant
I will open a multi cuisine restaurant

got a party on friday, 20 ppl, whats the best veg dish to make in microwave?
You can make a chocolate cake int the microwave.. thats the best and quick dish to made...

How to use Rajma and corn so that they are soft after cooking.
You have to pressure cook it for atleast an hour for rajma and atleast 20mins for corn...

can u suggest some healthy garnishes for curries?
Coriander is the most common garnish...you can also serve it with crisp tortilla of the wheat chappatis

Do you have a cookery show on TV ?
Yes you will soon see me again on Star Plus .. My show would be called Chef Shipra Ka Zayeka... Pls watch it..!! : )

Hello Shipra, Congrats on your superb performance, i watched as if my own sis was taking part
Thank you sooo much ...

hi shipra liked u on show...but dont u think u were projected as a 'am desperate' pls let me win kind of way.......giving too much of importance abt ur personallife......
No I don't think so... I was not projected in any such way...I won the title because of my cooking skills...And Master Chef is all about cooking and good food.. And nothing else besides that!

whats ur favorite breakfast.lunch.dinner .snack and dessert
Breakfast: Muesli and milk Lunch: Chicken steak with grilled vegetables and cream cheese Dinner: Bowl of veg/nonveg soup

I am very passionate about cooking & been running a food blog for 3 years now 4thsensecooking.com I would like to train professional in baking and pastry. Can you suggest which institute is good in India or outside India?
You should go to Le Corbom Bleu in London or Paris for formal education I think...it will really help you in achieving what you aim for....

Hello Shipra, Congrats on your superb performance in Master Chef. We have to admit that you were the best looking chef on the show too. Congrats again!
Thanks a lot!

Hi Shipra, Congratulations on winning the master chef title! Have you had a formal education in cooking or was it by accident?
It was trial and error for me! I have really cooked in life to reach here I should say... Experience has helped me get here...

my husb wants oily food all the time, he thinks oil makes food tasty. is thr any way to make food tasty with less oil
you can do that...try cooking in a griller and you even get a grill pan in the market wherein you don't have to use any oil for cooking thing like sandwiches or some snacks... and try for some italian dishes which has less oil..prefer to use olive oil..

would you say healthy food is more imp than tasty food?
I think if you make a blend of both and come out with something good ...then nothing like it!!

what is your most favorite food,snack, sweet dish & desert
I like punjabi and french food, fav snack is mushroom vol-u-von, fav dessert chocolate fudge pastry, fav sweet dish-rasagulla, : )