A CURRY chef from Bicester has been named the first winner of the UK Indian Chef Competition with a spicy menu to wow the tastebuds.

Arzoo Miah, of Arzoo restaurant, in Market Square, picked up the king of the kormas crown after two hours in the kitchen at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College (OCVC).

The four-man judging panel was won over with spicy duck stuffed with butternut squash and king prawn fish cake.

Mr Miah said: “I feel very proud to have won. It will be very good for me and for my business.”

Mr Miah won a trophy, £500 and the right to represent the UK at the International Indian Chef of the Year Competition next year after coming top in the competition that lasted two months.

Four of the finalists were from Oxfordshire, including Mr Miah, Najrul Islam, from Maliks in Cowley, Abdul Karim, from Purple Mango in Banbury, and Anil Rozario of Elaichi, in Grove.

Head judge Mark Roberts, from OCVC, said: “I was very pleased with the overall standard, but Mr Miah was a clear winner.

“His presentation was head and shoulders above the rest and his dessert was the best dish of the day.”

The competition’s founder Muhammed Ali, head chef of Karma restaurant in Oxford Road, in Cowley, had previously won the International Indian Chef of the Year Competition in Bangladesh.

He said: “It has been a dream for me and I thought I would give one of these guys a chance. Hopefully, we can do this every year. This is going to get bigger.”

The other judges were Steve Jones, from Four Pillars Hotels, Ian Francis, the vice principle of OCVC, and James Orford, section manager for catering at Uxbridge College.