Nayanjyoti Saikia is an Indian self-learned chef who participated as a contestant on MasterChef India season 7 in 2023.
Wiki/Biography
Nayanjyoti was born on Wednesday, 12 March 1997 (age 26 years; as of 2023) in Tinsukia, Assam. His zodiac sign is Pisces.
Nayanjyoti Saikia as a kid with his sister
He did his schooling at Saumarjyoti Vidyalaya, Tinsukia, Assam and attended Gyan Vigyan Academy, Dibrugarh for class 12 studies. He completed his graduation at Girijananda Chowdhury Institute of Management and Technology, Guwahati. In college, he was diagnosed with vitamin deficiency in his body because, in his hostel, he used to eat tasteless and sometimes spicy food. So, he used to eat plain rice with chips. After he was admitted to the hospital, the doctors told him to eat proper vegetables. When he entered the second year of college, he started living on rent with his cousin in Guhawati. His friends and cousin used to come to his house for parties and ate the food cooked by Nayanjyoti. They motivated him to learn to cook professionally. Before being a part of the show MasterChef India, he used to work with his father in their tea garden. In his free time, he used to cook new dishes. He helped his father grow vegetables like potatoes and cauliflower in their garden and the fruits they grew including starfruit and oranges were used to make wine.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 5″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
His father is a farmer. The names of his mother and sister are not known.
Nayanjyoti Saikia with his family
Caste
He belongs to the Sonowal Kachari community.
MasterChef India
In 2023, chef Vikas Khanna found his Instagram page and thought that he would be suitable for the show. He approached him, but Nayanjyoti’s father was hesitant to send his son to a cooking show. Somehow, Vikas convinced him and Nayanjyoti started his journey on the show. In an interview, he said that when chef Vikas visited his home, he cooked the regional food Pithas for him which he liked a lot.
A few days before the finale episode of the show, a fan page of the show shared the photo of Nayanjyoti wearing the winner’s golden apron and holding the trophy. After the picture went viral on social media, people started assuming that he won the show.
Leaked picture of Nayanjyoti Saikia as the winner of MasterChef India
Before entering the show, he was not confident if the judges would like his food because he was afraid that his dishes would match the standard of the show. However, the dishes he cooked on the show were chosen as the dish of the day many times.
Facts/Trivia
- He follows a non-vegetarian diet.
Nayanjyoti Saikia’s Instagram post cooking crab
- His hobbies include drawing and photography.
- In an interview, he said that he never attended any cooking classes and used to try new recipes from cooking books. In the interview, he further said that the first time he tried cooking, he baked a simple cake and later, he tried new frostings on the cake.
- When he used to cook, there were many ingredients that were not available in his village, so he used to cook with substitutes for them.
- His family used to taste the dishes cooked by him and give him positive reviews.
- Whenever he used to try new recipes, he used to click pictures of them and posted them on Instagram and has many followers.
- He has liked photography since childhood and had a digital camera. He also used to participate in many photography competitions. In an interview, he said that the pictures clicked by him were so beautiful that people used to think that he downloaded them from the internet. Also in the MasterChef audition, he was asked to sign a contract where it was mentioned that he and no one else clicked the pictures he had posted.
A picture of Nayanjyoti Saikia’s dish clicked and posted by him on Instagram
- He also likes drawing and sketching and has an Instagram page where he posts his work.
- In 2020, he won the first prize in the northeast cooking championship.
Nayanjyoti Saikia wins first prize in the northeast cooking championship
- According to him, he has never visited big restaurants because there are very less of them in his village and has learned to cook and decorate dishes through the internet.
- In an interview, he said that when he was on the show, many people were unaware of the food and spices used by people of the northeast. He further added that people had a misconception that northeastern people ate a lot of meat, so, on the show, he tried to make people aware of the vegetable and spices they use in their regional food by cooking regional dishes.
Nayanjyoti Saikia on the show MasterChef India
- He is often seen drinking alcohol on his social media posts.
Nayanjyoti Saikia’s Instagram post drinking wine