It was third time lucky for Rahman, who specialises in dishes from Northern India and Bengali, as he was runner up in the competition in 2012 and 2013, and also won the special Health award last year for his healthy dish.
Second place went to Shire Yu, head chef at Maguro Restaurant in London, and third place to chef Marzena Nowakowska from the Crown Moran Hotel in London, who won trophies, and £1,000 and £750 respectively.
Now in its 10th year, the competition for all professional chefs who are able to produce innovative South Asian cuisine, is spearheaded by Mohammed Aslam, managing director and executive chef of the Aagrah Group of Restaurants.
This year eight chefs from across the UK competed in the final held at Bradford College’s new David Hockney Building in front of expert industry judges under the chairmanship of Craft Guild vice president and trustee, Andrew Green.
All the dishes had to be creative and adventurous, with chefs using their own original recipes to win the title. The competition also awards special prizes for innovative and healthy dishes. This year the Healthy award went to chef Matthew Carter, while the Innovative award went to Shire Yu, who also won it last year. Both special awards were sponsored by a leading Leeds-based law firm DLA Piper.
The winners were awarded their trophies at Aagrah’s annual charity business dinner held at New Dock Hall, Royal Armories, Leeds, on October 20 attended by more than 700 business guests, which raised £120,000 on the night for the Prince of Wales Trust.