THE winners of the second annual Bradford Curry Awards were revealed at a glittering ceremony to honour the district's rich curry heritage.

From more than 90 entries and thousands of nominations eight curry establishments in Bradford went home with nine awards after winning their categories at a ceremony held at the Cedar Court Hotel on Tuesday evening.

My Lahore was prominent among the winners again as the restaurant walked away with two awards.

Bradford has held the Curry Capital of Britain title for six year’s running and so the local awards were first launched last year to promote pride in Bradford and profile the food industry.

A surprise Industry Pioneer of the Year award went to CEO of Akbars, Shabir Hussain, who has three restaurants on one road in Bradford and has been running his chain of Akbars restaurant for more than two decades now.

A special award was also given to guest Asma Khan for her contribution to empowering women in the curry industry. Asma is the founder of the popular Darjeeling Express in London and is the first British female chef to have appeared on Netflix’s Chefs' Table.

More than 300 people attended the awards ceremony where they were treated to a sumptuous banquet of street food, selection of curries followed by tea and coffee courtesy Regal Foods Plc.

The event was compered by the highly amusing Hardeep Singh Kohli, TV personality, chef and comedian, who had the audience in rapturous laughter.

Bradford Curry Awards founder and director Fatima Patel introduced the event and thanked everyone for their support and their contribution to Bradford and the local economy.

She said: "Congratulations to all the winners, everyone in the curry industry deserves to be celebrated. They contribute so much to our economy and help to bring much needed tourism to our city. I am really delighted we have had another successful year celebrating the industries achievements.

“It’s been particularly wonderful hosting Asma Khan in our lovely city and showing her the abundant yet diverse food offering we have on our doorstep."

Ms Patel also highlighted this year’s theme as being more aware around food wastage. Charity partner Inn Churches were at hand to offer tips on food wastage and also to highlight the importance of support from the community for foodbanks.

The full list of winners is:

Best Restaurant, Judges' Choice - EastZEast

Best Restaurant, People's Choice - My Lahore

Best Dish - Dhesi Grill

Best Chef - Minal Patel of Prashad

Best Manager - Naseem Akhtar of Aakaash

Best Newcomer - Tazza Kitchen

Best Outside Caterer - My Lahore

Best Takeaway - Bengal Tiffin Tandoori

Best Customer Service - Shimla Spice