A CURRY chef was voted the hottest in town yesterday at a North-East cooking contest.
Syed Hassain, from the town's New Bengal Tandoori, in Victoria Road, claimed first prize in Darlington's Curry Chef 2003 contest with a spicy chicken tikka korai.
Mr Hassain, who said he was delighted with his win, will go on to a regional round of the competition in October and could go on to the national final in Birmingham, where the winner picks up £3,000 in prize money.
He competed against eight other chefs from curry houses throughout the town in front of a panel of judges, including an environmental health officer from Darlington Borough Council.
The contest, at Darlington College of Technology, is run nationally by the Food Standards Agency and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.
Peter Bell, the college's head of catering, said: "The chefs have shown they have very good skills overall and have prepared a very wide range of menus."
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