Bradford is crowned Curry Capital of Britain
City fights off competition from Glasgow and Wolverhampton to regain title.
Bradford is to be crowned Curry Capital of Britain at a ceremony in one of the area’s leading restaurants, the Aagrah in Shipley.
It beat off competition from last year’s winner Glasgow and from Wolverhampton to take the title. The prize is awarded as part of National Curry Week.
The competition asks for competing cities to nominate four restaurants that best showcase curry in their region. Following a public vote, Bradford put forward Prashad and Kipling’s in the city centre, the Aagrah and Shimla Spice in Keighley.
Each city had to prepare a bid document for the independent judging panel, which included Anjali Pathak, chef and granddaughter of the founder of the Pathak spice company.
The shortlisted cities were also put to a public vote.
Record-breaking bid
As part of their submission, the Bradford team broke the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest onion bhaji. Theirs weighed in at a whopping 102.2kg.
Runner-up Glasgow submitted a takeaway bag and containers outlining why they should win while third-placed Wolverhampton’s bid included a rap extolling the virtues of the city’s curry.
There was some consolation for Glasgow as it took home the title of Curry Capital of Scotland.
Charity and community
Bradford was also praised for its charity work. Its Asian restaurants collectively raise money for charity The Curry Tree, which provides money for relief work in south-east Asia.
It also got plaudits for its International Food Academy and the Jamie Oliver-inspired Ministry of Food.
Government Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, a former leader of Bradford City Council, has also proposed a ‘curry college’ in the city. This proposal was made in response to an immigration ban on chefs from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, which has led to a shortage of qualified people in the industry. Pickles’ vision, which has attracted a lot of negative press, is to train British people in the skills of Asian cookery.
Shimla Spice won Customer Restaurant of the Year.
Visit Bradford says the city has over 200 Asian restaurants and takeaways.
The map below shows six of the most highly rated:
View Bradford's top curry restaurants in a larger map
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