This
year, for the first time, the contest, which is backed by the Chartered
Institute of Environmental Health, was open to all food outlets that can
cook a curry, not just Indian and Asian restaurants.
Entrant have to present a main dish, a side dish and rice or bread dish for judging on the basis of appearance, aroma, texture and taste.
The judges – curry lover Melvyn Blackman, Howard Taylor of GWR, environmental health officer Lionel Starling and Evening Advertiser reporter Bhavani Vadde tasted three diverse dishes in three very different settings.
They started off in the Spice Express a takeaway in Purton.
Chef
Jamal Miah served up a sweet cinnamon chicken curry, shahi pilau rice
and a begum bortha, which was grilled aubergine cooked in yogurt and spices.
All entrants
had to pass a spot check to make sure they reached the required hygiene
standards before judges tasted their wares.