IT has been 12 months since Moonira Hinglotwala appeared on BBC’s MasterChef, impressing judges Gregg Wallace and John Torode with her Indian fusion cooking.

Since then, she has opened a post office, hosted private dining sessions across the North West and worked in a Michelin star restaurant.

Now the 40-year-old has her sights set on opening her own restaurant.

Moonira, who made it through to the final of last year’s series of the BBC cookery show, said: “I would love to open a restaurant but would need to find the right place. It’s unlikely to be bang in the middle of Blackburn but as soon as I see the place I want, I will go for it.”

The mum-of-two said her time on MasterChef changed her life and she also hopes to write a book featuring the traditional recipes she has cooked throughout her life.

Moonira, who lives with her husband Riaz, 44, daughter Alisha, 14 and son, Ibrahim, 12, in Billinge Avenue, Blackburn, said: “It has been a year where so much has happened and I’ve had a lot of great experiences. I could never have imagined having such an amazing year. MasterChef has made things possible. It shows there is light at the end of the tunnel and you can achieve your dreams.”

The MasterChef finalist stepped into the Michelin star Northcote kitchen, in Langho, last September with executive chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen, who won BBC Two’s Great British Menu in 2010.

More than 50 people visited Lancashire’s top restaurant for the sell-out event, where she cooked five different courses, including traditional Indian cuisine and a dish from MasterChef Indian scotch eggs.

She has also hosted two pop-up cooking events at Westholme School, Blackburn, since March last year, adding: “The events are hard work but very rewarding.”

For the past four weeks Moonira has also hosted private dining events for guests, which allows customers to hire a chef and enjoy eating a cooked meal from the comfort of their own home.

The menu is selected by the guests, up to 10 people, and Moonira said she will bring her own equipment to the home and keep the kitchen tidy.

She said: “It’s £60 a head and the host chooses the menu. I take all the ingredients to the house and use their kitchen and provide them with the food. A lot of people say they enjoy it.”

Moonira has already visited Longridge, Horwich, Fleetwood and Liverpool and plans to visit other places across Manchester and East Lancashire.

This is all in addition to running a pharmacy and post office in Granville Road, as well as Riaz Pharmacy, on Randal Street.

She said: “I believe if there is something you really want you should go for it. I’m really lucky I got that opportunity and I hope that one day my children can look back and say: ‘I’m proud of you mum’.”