Saliha Mahmood-Ahmed is crowned winner of MasterChef 2017

SALIHA Mahmood-Ahmed has tonight been crowned the winner of MasterChef 2017.

The budding-chef has taken the culinary crown after beating off Giovanna Ryan and Steve Kielty to win the grand final.

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Over the last few months the show has seen amateur cooks competing through a variety of heats under the watchful eye of chefs Gregg Wallace and John Torode.

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Over the course of the competition, they have cooked for the show’s judges, a litany of unforgiving restaurant critics and top chefs, the cast and crew of TV drama Holby City and 40 game park workers in South Africa.

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But tonight it was all about Saliha as she won the series.

Saliha is a hospital doctor and has been cooking since she was just 12-years-old.

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During the competition she has impressed with her unusual flavour combinations and exciting dishes.

Speaking of her big win she said: "It is the most wonderful feeling.

"A shock, a surprise, I'm happy, excited...if you've got an adjectives dictionary then I could fill it with all the positives. It's great, absolutely great.

"Watching back brings back all those memories. It's a very emotive thing cooking the food you've designed when you love to cook and love to please people with your food."

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Her winning starter was a Venison shami kebab with cashew and coriander green chutney, chana daal and a kachumbar salad.

It was followed by a Kashmiri-style sous vide duck breast, with crispy duck skin, freekeh wheatgrain, spiced with barberries, walnuts and coriander, a cherry chutney and a duck and cherry sauce.

And the champion dessert was a Saffron rosewater and cardamom pannacotta, served with deconstructed baklava, including candied pistachios, pistachio honeycomb, filo pastry shards and kumquats.

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The victor began cooking at a young age, influenced by her family and with the encouragement of a teacher.

She dedicated the win to her colleagues and her family:"I have a lot of support from my wonderful husband and family, who gave me the strength and encouragement to go through this incredible experience.

"I have great work colleagues, who swapped on-call shifts with me so I could attend the filming days. I feel like winning MasterChef was a team effort for us.

"It involved a lot of hard work and early starts - late nights cooking after 13-hour-long shifts, no holidays, no breaks, no sleep - but it was well worth it!"

Viewers immediately took to Twitter to praise the newly crowned winner, with one saying: "Well done Saliha"

Another said: "well deserved winner"

While this one commented: "Massive congratulations! Wonderful food and a lovely person"

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