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Chef Ajay Chopra

Chef Ajay Chopra shares Indian recipes for home cooks, judges food television and develops restaurants through Zion Hospitality.

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Ajay’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus his backstory and Starbook, where fans write.

Known for

Overview

Work: Chef, recipe creator, television judge and restaurant consultant
Training: IHM Goa, class of 1998; gold medallist at the Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development
Breakout: Original MasterChef India judge, beginning in 2010
Business: Founder and director of Zion Hospitality
Cookbook: The Big Daddy Chef Cook Book, 2022
Ambassador: European Union More Than Food campaign, since 2022

Mini bio

How it started.

Growing up in Alwar and later Sonipat, Ajay was fascinated by street-side chowmein cooks. A friend’s interest in hotel management drew him towards hospitality. Early jobs took him from TGIF in Delhi to The Oberoi Cecil in Shimla, before further training at OCLD.

From hotels to television.

His professional kitchens included JW Marriott, The Westin and Mint Leaf in London. MasterChef India introduced him to a wider audience as one of its original judges. He later brought his cooking and judging to shows including Hi Tea and Chef vs Fridge.

Cooking together.

During COVID, Ajay and his wife Amrita filmed recipes at their dining table and learnt editing together, with their children helping. His debut cookbook, The Big Daddy Chef Cook Book, arrived in 2022 with a simple aim: encourage fathers to cook and bring families into the kitchen together.

Beyond the screen.

Ajay runs Zion Hospitality and works on restaurant concepts and menus. His online recipes range across Indian regional food, while his EU More Than Food work explores how European ingredients fit into Indian cooking.

Creditschronological, newest first

Books

2026A Taste of Home with EU TadkaContributing chef and launch co-host
2022The Big Daddy Chef Cook BookAuthor

Television

2023Chef vs Fridge, season 3Host and judge alongside Shipra Khanna
2010–2012MasterChef India, seasons 1 and 2Judge

Restaurants

2026Sobombae, GurugramChef behind the Mumbai-inspired restaurant
2025Paashh, Pune and MumbaiCulinary face and voice
2025Plaka 2.0, BengaluruMenu creator

Awards

Quotes

For me, every chef deserves to be celebrated.Ajay Chopra, LinkedIn

In his announcement of the 2026 Celebrity Chef of the Year award, he turned the attention towards the wider cooking profession.

Trivia

Street-style chowmein has remained a favourite since his childhood.
His early home video crew included his wife Amrita and their two children.
The Big Daddy Chef Cook Book began as a pandemic writing project before becoming a printed book for Father’s Day 2022.
His first cookbook includes a section devoted to parathas of India.