New Albany cook dishes on Gordon Ramsay, 'Next Level Chef' appearance, homemade food brand
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Normally, one has to apply to appear on competition-oriented TV shows, but "Next Level Chef" host and chef extraordinaire Gordon Ramsay came looking for Monika Arora.
"I do cooking segments on 'Good Day Columbus' and '(Living) Dayton.' (Ramsay) was in Ohio for some reason and saw me, liked my personality and the whole ball started rolling," said Arora, who lives in New Albany.
From there, Arora went through a lengthy vetting process to appear on "Next Level Chef," which is entering its third season. "I had to send in my medical records, they looked at whether I had any tickets, I had to talk to a psychologist," she said.
"It was laborious; they were very particular with all the background checks. They try to put a puzzle together of who you are and have the contestants come from varying backgrounds."
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Finally, Arora got the greenlight to be a competitor on the Fox show. Her appearance on "Next Level Chef" will air at 8 p.m. Thursday. (New episodes can be streamed on Hulu the day after the initial run date.)
Arora, whose frozen Indian foods were sold in several stores, also makes her own line of spices, teaches culinary classes, talks about her business, "Next Level Chef," and lets the cat out of the bag about the notoriously fiery-tempered Ramsay — he's actually "very nice."
Question: What was your 'Next Level Chef' experience like?
Monika Arora: The season was shot in Dublin, Ireland. They built this gorgeous site, but you were sequestered in your room, you couldn't talk to each other, and you could only go outside about 15 minutes each day. I was there for 12 days.
I was very frightened, but Gordon Ramsay was wonderful — he's very tall and very nice. It was nice to cook for him and the other chefs, Richard Blais and Nyesha Arrington.
They had home cooks, professional cooks and social-media chefs. I was the only Midwest home cook and they were all professional chefs — they kicked my butt!
Q: What did you cook?
Arora: ... I was working with mackerel. You're just panicking and grabbing things without thinking because of the tension of the show. I grabbed a carrot, tomato puree … I ended up making spiced mackerel and vegetable korma. My thinking was that the judges have steak, a piece of chicken, they've even had kangaroo … I thought by the time they got to my dish, they'd enjoy a little flavor, spice. But I needed onion, garlic, ginger — some aromatics — and I didn't have them.
Q: Tell me about your background in the food industry
Arora: I'm originally from Rochester, New York, and my parents had an Indian restaurant there called Raj Mahal. (Later) I was in corporate America, and I got to thinking that there's no good frozen Indian dishes. So, I came up with Maani's frozen food line, which was sold at Dorothy Lane Market (in Dayton), Weiland's (Market), Whole Foods, Lucky's (Market).
Q: Where have you taught cooking classes?
Arora: I've taught in Mitchell Hall at Columbus State (Community College), Healthy New Albany, Dorothy Lane Market, the Little City Cooking School in Dayton, The Seasoned Farmhouse, among others. I also teach at people's home's — I bring all the ingredients. They learn quite a bit, like from one recipe, there are many permutations. Chicken tikka masala can make naan pizza the next day, put in puff pastry to make calzone … from one recipe, they'll make six more. I love teaching people how to make good food.
Q: What inspired you to create a line of spices?
Arora: I had to pivot because about the time of COVID, the frozen-food industry was not as profitable and had gotten expensive. So why not teach people how to fish? Why not teach them how to make the food? I took the recipes and made them into a spice blend. Everybody has tomato paste and water at home; it takes the guesswork out of making Indian food.
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The spices can also be used to make shrimp pasta and sloppy Joes — the (product) is very versatile because of the warm spices. I make omelets, sandwiches, chicken salad and also the fundamental Indian dishes.
Q: What's next on your menu?
Arora: I'll be coming out with a couple new spices. One is a chai which makes good tea, but also makes really good baked goods, and a spicy coconut fish curry blend. I'm also hoping to do a pop-up dinner club.
For more details about Arora's cooking classes, Maani's spice blends and more, visit maanisfood.com.
At a glance
"Next Level Chef" competitor Monika Arora of New Albany will appear on the Fox cooking show at 8 p.m. Thursday. The show airs on Fox weekly at 8 p.m. Thursdays and each new episode is available on Hulu the following day,
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Q&A: Monika Arora of New Albany to appear on 'Next Level Chef' Feb. 1
