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My Kitchen Rules' Alyse and Matt were labelled as cheats but we've made a curious discovery.

On Monday night’s My Kitchen Rules, newlyweds Alyse and Matt were busted using curry paste and labelled cheats by judge Pete Evans and fellow contestants. The whole time I was thinking, “What the hell is curry paste?”

I’m not much of an Asian cook.

After Googling what it is and how to make it, I’m pretty shocked Alyse and Matt used store bought paste. All they needed to do to make a good red curry paste was chuck some ingredients into a blender and blitz it.

I found a basic recipe for Thai red curry paste on The Spruce which just calls for some onion, lemongrass, chillies, garlic, ginger, tomato puree, cumin, coriander, pepper, fish sauce, shrimp paste, chilli powder, maybe some coconut milk, a squeeze of lime, cinnamon if you like…

Some recipes are more complicated, calling for the frying of peppercorns and then crushing them using a mortar and pestle.

Amy from MKR on what competing on the reality cooking show is really like. Article continues…

Sure, making red curry paste is fiddly but I agree with Pete, it really is a must if you decide to be a competitive cook who enters a reality TV competition.

Still, Alyse and Matt aren’t the first contestants on MKR to be accused of cheating by using a shortcut. Season four of the show was rife with shortcuts. Kerrie and Craig from Victoria used Thai green curry paste, Ali and Samuel from Tassie also used store-bought curry paste during the series.

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In season five Kelly and Chloe used store-bought bread and puff pastry but weren’t accused of cheating but Manu was “disappointed”. But when someone tells you they’re disappointed in you rather than getting angry, it’s way, WAY worse.

However it seems an acceptable shortcut for all contestants to use pre-made stock, which would never happen on Masterchef, FYI.

The rules need to be clearer when it comes to the competition, to ensure it is fair.

Pete was VERY disappointed. Image: MKR, Channel 7
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Pre-made stock, yes,

Pre-made curry paste, no.

Pre-made tomato puree, yes.

Pre-made oven fries, no.

A "cheat sheet" if you will.

Of course the obvious question was - why the hell were they using curry paste in a satay dish in the first place? Were they confused?

A satay sauce is VERY different from one with a curry paste and includes peanut oil, garlic, onion, chilli, brown sugar, soy sauce and peanuts. Well, that's how Nigella makes it.

Tonight Alyse and Matt face of against Amy and Josh, and don't forget Matt's blistering attack on Amy where he accused her of "batting Merins" which means to date someone way better looking than you, which you can read more about here.

Tonight is going to be EPIC. If you've never watched an episode before, this is the one to watch.

Here are some of Instagram's best foodies to follow, just in case you needed a little more. Click through our gallery for inspiration.