The Bradford-based Nawaab restaurant chain is hoping to curry favour in India in what is believed to be a UK business first.

The Asian restaurant empire is to sell its trademark dishes to diners in Delhi and Mumbai as part of a bold new global venture.

Mohammed Yaser, a director of Nawaab, concedes that it is a huge challenge but he is confident that the restaurant's traditional and trademark dishes will go down a treat in India.

And he told the Telegraph & Argus that breaking into the Asian market was the next move in a global expansion plan.

There are also plans for Nawaab restaurants in Barcelona and Ukraine.

Mr Yaser, nephew of Nawaab founder and chairman Mahboob Hussain Senior, said: "It is a big challenge for us and a big, big step but we are simply the best.

"In India we will serve top Asian cuisine with a Bradford twist."

He said popular specialist dishes would include chicken tikka masala.

Mr Yaser, 31, a father of two, who lives in Bradford, said the 2007 International Indian Film Awards, to be staged in Yorkshire, would attract a galaxy of stars to the Nawaab.

He is hoping that Bollywood customers will be so impressed by the family-run restaurants that they will spread the word back home in India.

Nawaab's flagship eatery on Manor Row in Bradford was opened in 1981.

The Indian venture is part of a five-year expansion plan by Nawaab, which already has restaurants in Manchester and Benidorm and Majorca in Spain.

The Delhi restaurant and takeaway will be sited in a new shopping mall, set to be completed in the next 18 months.

e-mail: jenny.loweth@bradford.newsquest.co.uk