MasterChef India contestant Manisha Sharma refused to let Parkinson’s decide her limits : “I did not know how to cook, but now I will open a cafe as I want to employ people” |

Manisha Sharma, a MasterChef India contestant, found her calling in cooking after a childhood act of love and later, as a way to cope with Parkinson’s. Her journey from home kitchens to the show highlights her resilience, unique fusion style, and unwavering confidence, proving that passion can be found in unexpected places.

When Manisha Sharma from Udaipur answered the phone with a soft, polite “Hello, Manisha ji is speaking,” there was nothing to suggest that the voice belonged to one of the most quietly powerful contestants of the latest MasterChef India kitchen season, who has been fighting against secondary Parkinson’s for more than a decade. But then again, Manisha’s story has never been about spectacle. It has been about resilience—slow-cooked, deeply personal, and fiercely honest.At 29, Manisha is not just a MasterChef India contestant, but a living reminder that food is not merely sustenance or skill—it can be survival, therapy, rebellion, and hope, all served on one plate. Wondering how? Scroll down to find the answer.

Manisha doesn’t romanticise her relationship with food. In fact, she is the first to admit that cooking was never her childhood dream. That moment came unexpectedly when she was just seven years old. Her mother had been hospitalised with low blood pressure, leaving Manisha alone at home for the first time.“I thought I should make something for my mom,” she recalls. With no experience and no guidance, she entered the kitchen and attempted dalia (porridge). Water boiled, grains were added and then came the salt. “I added one pinch of salt ten times,” she laughs now, fully aware of the innocence of the act.

Manisha Sharma and her mother

She adds, “I also sent extra salt in a box for mom”. She ate the dalia happily for two reasons. First, it was her daughter’s first cooking experience and second her body needed extra salt in that hour, she notes.It was imperfect, naïve, and entirely heartfelt. That was the first time Manisha cooked—not for passion, but for love. She didn’t know it then, but that moment would quietly anchor her future.

In 2011, Manisha’s life changed drastically. Health complications led to the development of secondary Parkinson’s, bringing tremors that altered her everyday reality. Dreams she once held, like becoming a fashion designer—felt suddenly impossible. “If my hand shakes, how can I draw straight?” she says matter-of-factly.What followed was not immediate clarity, but confusion. Cooking wasn’t a plan. It wasn’t a strategy. It simply found her.For years, food existed in the background—until 2024, when Manisha decided to take professional training under Nirmala Soni, a respected master chef from Rajasthan. For three months, she learned vegetarian cooking and basic techniques. Not with a grand vision, but with quiet curiosity.“I don’t know how cooking became my dream,” she admits. “Some things aren’t planned.”

Manisha Sharma and her father (left)

Training gave Manisha confidence, but action gave her purpose. She began cooking from home, first opening Mini’s Magic Kitchen for three months. Then came stints with Zepto and Dhabalogy, before she finally launched Mini’s Mysterious Magic Kitchen—a pick-up–based home kitchen where food is made with instinct rather than imitation.Her cooking style is playful, intuitive, and deeply personal. “I give my fusion to every dish,” she says. One of her most talked-about creations? A chocolate halwa designed for children who dislike traditional sweets—made with multiple flours, fresh cream, chocolate cream, and gently balanced sweetness.

Dishes made by Manisha Sharma

Her gujiya, too, defies convention: reshaped, filled with grated vegetables, tossed with spice and salt, then finished with sugar. Sweet, spicy, salty—confusing at first, comforting by the second bite. Even the MasterChef judges noted how effortlessly she packed vegetables into a dish people usually avoid eating “healthy.”

Manisha Sharma with Nirmala Soni

Manisha didn’t apply to MasterChef India on her own. It was Nirmala Soni, her mentor, who gave her name. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gone,” she admits.Her first dish on the show wasn’t a flashy crowd-pleaser but a deeply rooted Rajasthani recipe—Sethani ki Sabzi, a lost dish layered with sangri, mangodi, mawa, curd, fruits, and spice. She reimagined it with modern plating, baked accompaniments, and avocado-cheese dips.“I didn’t copy anyone,” she says simply. That became her strength. Judges praised her originality, not just her food.

Manisha is strikingly unaffected by criticism. Asked if society ever made her feel less because of her condition, she replies firmly, “No one can make me feel less.”Her confidence doesn’t come from applause—it comes from solitude. “I talk to myself,” she says. “People think that’s crazy. But they don’t shout at themselves. They don’t take selfies with themselves. So why should they care about me?”Her family, including her mother, father, and elder brother and herself, stand firmly by her side. Her friends never demotivate her. And when she feels low, she talks. She always talks.

Manisha doesn’t see cooking as therapy. She sees it as direction. By March 2026, she wants to open a café in Udaipur, not just as a business, but as a space of opportunity.“I want to motivate people,” she says. “I will give them jobs.”In a world obsessed with perfection, Manisha Sharma’s journey reminds us that brilliance can shake—and still stand tall. On MasterChef India, she didn’t just present dishes. She presented courage, plated with honesty and served without fear.And that, perhaps, is the most unforgettable flavour of all.