The judges and some of the contestants of Junior Masterchef at the show’s launch in Mumbai

Come August 17, Masterchef India will roll out its bachcha version. Called Junior Masterchef Swaad Ke Ustaad, the cookery competition will have kids in the range of eight to 12 wielding the ladle to battle it out and woo the judges — and viewers — with their culinary skills.

“The third season of Masterchef had a viewership of 20 crore! While thinking of how to take it forward from there, we thought of doing the show with kids. We were worried if kids would be able to cook, but you will be amazed at their talent and knowledge on the subject. And we are just not talking about preparing vada pav or omelette,” Nikhil Madhok, senior vice president, marketing at STAR Plus, said at the launch of the 23-episode season at the ITC Grand Central in Mumbai last Monday evening.

New York-based Michelin chef Vikas Khanna, who has cooked for the likes of Barack Obama and the Clintons, returns to the show as judge. Joining him will be Masterchef veteran Kunal Kapur. Rounding off the panel will be chef Surjan Singh Jolly, a first-timer on Masterchef India. “These kids can do anything. Kya bachche khana banaa sakte hain? I didn’t believe it till the time I went to the auditions,” smiled Vikas.

Even before the show has gone on air, Junior Masterchef India is off to a flier. Around 70,000 young hopefuls auditioned for the show, out of whom 200 were selected. This was subsequently slashed to 40. The launch witnessed five contestants being introduced on stage, among them 12-year-old Roshan Kumar Saw from Dhanbad and Howrah’s Pammi Singh, 11, both of whom had made it from the Calcutta auditions. Around 400 youngsters had auditioned from Calcutta in June, out of whom four have made it to the main draw.

It was the stupendous success of the two seasons of Junior Masterchef Australia that gave birth to the Indian version. “Last November, while we were working on the third season of Masterchef India, we got the news that Junior Masterchef in Australia had got a very good response. That inspired us to do it in India,” said STAR Plus’ Madhok.

Junior Masterchef India will be aired on weekends. “With children, we have restrictions like the number of hours we can shoot because we have to make sure they don’t get exhausted,” said Madhok.

The show goes on air on August 17 and will air at 9pm, Saturdays and Sundays, on STAR Plus.

We’ve seen kids sing and dance, but cook? That’s a different ball game altogether. But I learnt soon enough not to underestimate the contestants of Junior Masterchef. As part of a media activity at the launch, I was called on to compete with a contestant called Eva. My task? Icing the Masterchef logo on six cupcakes in the shortest possible time. Gulp! I might have had plenty of cooking experience but it was my first time at holding an icing cone in my hand. Just as I was finishing the icing on the sixth cupcake, I was informed that I had drawn the logo upside down! Although I finished my task on time, Eva won for her finesse.