Minoli De Silva defies Mindy Woods during tense MasterChef service challenge

A tense moment between two favourites threatened to derail Tuesday’s service challenge, with one chef deciding to go against her teammates in a shock move.

MasterChef stars Minoli De Silva and Mindy Woods were tested during Tuesday’s stressful team challenge in a moment that could easily have ended in disaster.

Minoli, from last season, and Mindy, from MasterChef season 4, appeared on the brink of an uncomfortable clash over their entree dish during the night’s service challenge, with Minoli disagreeing with her team leader over the strength of flavour.

It came after the fans and favourites were divided into teams and tasked with creating three dishes for 40 guests, featuring Jerusalem artichoke in the entree, eggplant in the main, and raspberries in the dessert.

Minoli featured in last year’s MasterChef season. Picture: Channel 10

During the cook, Minoli had questioned whether the favourites’ first dish of the night had a strong enough artichoke flavour, reluctantly speaking up to the group while tasting their tuna tartare with artichoke chips.

“Can I be honest? I can’t taste the artichoke in there,” Minoli had put to the others.

“I’m left with the artichoke,” Mindy responded curtly, as season five’s Christina Batista and Aldo Ortado from season 10 agreed.

Mindy seemed taken aback at first by Minoli’s remark. Picture: Channel 10

Speaking to producers, Minoli tossed up whether to “stick with her team” or stick to her guns, pointing out that she has less experience than them by comparison.

“It’s like having my mum’s food, and then saying ‘I don’t think that you’ve seasoned it properly’,” she joked.

“I’m from last season, I haven’t had much time out of the comp. These three have worked out in the industry for years and years … (there’s) no way am I going to tell them what to do … but my gut is telling me we have to feature Jerusalem artichoke.

“I’m just going to go rogue, I’m just not going to tell anyone,” she decided.

Taking matters into her own hands, the 35-year-old altered the dish slightly by adding a hint of Mirin to the sauce to “bring the sweetness out” in the artichoke.

Minoli was torn over whether to speak up or not. Picture: Channel 10

Rather than rub her fellow chefs the wrong way, Minoli was praised for the gutsy move.

“Team work! I love it,” Mindy responded when hearing the Mirin suggestion.

“I’m really glad that you don’t mind speaking up … You're a rock star girlfriend.”

But while the team operated like a well-oiled machine, their entree still failed to measure up against the fans’ artichoke entree created by vegetable queen and immunity pin winner Harry.

With ex-contestant Sashi Cheliah’s eggplant curry the clear winner for the mains, it was all down to the desserts to decipher a victor.

Ultimately, it was the fans’ raspberry-loaded friand that met the brief, beating the favourites overall.

MasterChef Fans and Favourites continues Wednesday night from 7.30pm on Channel 10