Andrew Kay is currying favour with the curry champions at Brighton & Hove City Council’s Curry Chef of the Year 2012 Competition

A good clean fight

For the third year in a row I was invited by Brighton & Hove City Council’s Curry Chef of the Year Competition 2012 to chair the panel of judges. It’s a great event in so many ways. It shows that the city’s Food Safety Team and their Environmental Health Officers are not just out there wreaking havoc on the restaurant scene. Of course the main thrust of what they have to do is ensure hygiene and safety standards are maintained to the highest possible level. But this, their competition, shows they also want to honour those who achieve the highest standards, not only in hygiene but also in culinary prowess. I like the fact it encourages the chefs to come out in a competitive environment and meet each other. Finally it spreads the word, it helps promote Brighton’s curry scene and promote the good work of health officers. On a less important note, I get to taste lots of dishes, meet with lots of chefs and make new friends.
This year I was joined on the judging panel by Stephanie Powell, Green Party Cllr for Queens Park Ward, and Adam Brine, catering and entertainment manager for Hardings, based at Brighton Racecourse, where the final judging was being held. Stephanie brought to the table expertise in the form of enthusiasm and appetite. Clearly a curry fan she was undaunted by what lay ahead. Adam is a professional chef so was well aware of what to expect. It made for a pretty well balanced team and after a short wait the food started to arrive.
Charged with the task of cooking one main course , one side dish and one accompaniment like rice or bread, the chefs seemed hell-bent on making our life difficult by sending out far more than expected – or at least some of them did. After a short discussion we judges devised a method by which to deal with this to make things fair for those who stuck to the plan, and in the end I think all worked out well.
So here are the results: The winners were Pavel Indian Restaurant at 40
St James’s Street, Brighton (01273 626335) run by Syed Forid Ali, and Chef Syed Kasru Ali. In second place and also winner of the Healthy Choice Award, a separate category judged independently, was Karims Restaurant at 15 Blatchington Road, Hove (01273 739780) run by Chef Din Mohammed
In third place was Sabai at 165-169 Princes House, Princes Place, Brighton (01273 773030) run by Wilawan Horsham with Chef Pornthip Parson.
The other two very worthy finalists were Chaula’s Indian Restaurant, 2-3 Little East Street, Brighton (01273 771661) run by Chaula Patel with Chef Jagdamba Dangwal and The Rock Inn, 7 Rock Street, Brighton (01273 697054) run by Chef Neville Ackord. Both of these chefs cooked dishes that in my view were outstanding.
This excellent competition deserves a far wider audience and recognition which next year the organisers aim to achieve. I only hope they ask me along to play judge once again.