by The Great Indian Bread Basket Challenge continued in episode 5 of MasterChef India Season 9, which aired on January 9, 2026. On this episode, viewers saw the elimination of 13 contestants out of 25, as the top 12 were selected, who will finally begin their journey in the MasterChef kitchen in the coming episodes.
During episode 5, Chef Vikas Khanna, Chef Ranveer Brar, and Chef Kunal Kapur were seen observing all the contestants during round 1 and round 2 of the Agni Pariksha, as contestants cooked all night until 4 a.m. to impress the judges and earn their aprons to enter the MasterChef kitchen. To find out which 12 contestants made the final cut to enter the MasterChef India Season 9 kitchen by earning aprons from the judges, read the article further.
At the start of episode 5, all 25 pairs were seen trying to make rotis in the Great Indian Bread Basket Challenge, with 18 spots up for grabs. The pairs of cooks started making hard efforts to quickly prepare 4 perfect breads as per the criteria in order to get a pass to the next round from the judges.
Mehfooz and Yasmin finished first and three of their breads were perfect, but the Malabar paratha was not up to the mark, so they were told to make a perfect Malabar paratha and come again. Meanwhile, the brother-sister duo of Anshmeet Singh and Prabhjeet Kaur became the first pair to pass the Agni Pariksha round 1 of the Great Indian Bread Basket Challenge.
More pairs were announced as safe as soon as their four rotis were passed by the three judges. After the end of round 1 of Agni Pariksha and the selection of 18 contestant pairs, round 2 of Agni Pariksha was announced.
Agni Pariksha Challenge Round 2
Your Choice of Dish Challenge: In this challenge, all 18 pairs of contestants had to cook a dish of their choice in 1 hour to impress the judges. The cooking time limit for this challenge was only 1 hour and only 12 contestant pairs would reach round 3 of Agni Pariksha by the end of this challenge.
All the pairs then started cooking the dishes of their choice, which they specialise in the most, keeping the 1-hour time limit in mind. All three judges observed each pair at their cooking stations while they were cooking.
The cooking of all 18 pairs went on until 4:00 a.m., and once the 1-hour time limit was over and all pairs were done with their cooking, the judges started tasting the dishes made by each pair and finally selected 12 contestant pairs.
Names of 12 Pairs Who Got Aprons from Judges to Enter the Kitchen
Below are the names of all 12 pairs of contestants who were selected by the three judges and were given aprons so that they can enter the MasterChef kitchen and start their cooking journey in MasterChef India Season 9:
- Deepali Abhijeet Bihani and Jamuna Somani (Cousin sisters)
- Anshmeet Singh and Prabhdeep Kaur (Brother and sister)
- Archana Manoj Dhotre and Rupali Vikash Jadhav (Jethani and Devrani)
- Anju Pradhan and Manju Ohja (Sisters)
- SaiSri Rachakonda and Chandana Rachakonda (Mother and daughter)
- Vishnu Purohit and Harshani Awasthi Purohit (Father-in-law and daughter-in-law)
- Avani Sharma and Venu Sharma (Father and daughter)
- Kanchana Devi and Raksha Devi (Saas-bahu)
- Yasmin Ansari and Mehfooz Alam Ansari (Brother and sister)
- Parvathi Soni and Himang Soni (Mother and son)
- Ajinkya and Vikram (Brothers)
- Simran and Himanshi (Sisters)
The judges gave aprons to all these 12 selected pairs, while the remaining ones were eliminated from the show. These selected pairs will now begin their MasterChef journey in the MasterChef India kitchen.
Next Episode Precap: In episode 6 of MasterChef India Season 9, all 12 selected pairs will start their MasterChef India Season 9 journey in the MasterChef kitchen, and some special guests will also arrive and make their presence felt by causing trouble for the selected pairs.
Keep checking this website for more latest updates related to MasterChef India Season 9, and if you have any queries related to episode 5, then drop a comment below.
