Welcome to the Leicester Curry Awards blog. Our very own corner of cyberspace dedicated to all that brought us into existence; a love of Leicester, an appetite for Asian cuisine and an admiration of the cultural diversity that makes our city so unique.

Photo Credit: Pukaar News
Photo Credit: Pukaar News

If you’ve read about us in the news, heard us on the radio or taken a tour of our website, you’ll know a little bit about our history. Founded by independent news agency Pukaar News, the Leicester Curry Awards has two main goals; to celebrate the thriving Asian food scene across the county of Leicestershire and Rutland and to give well deserved recognition to the hardworking folk that feed our ever growing hunger for curry. But beyond that, the awards serve a wider purpose……

Over the past couple of years we’ve seen Leicester hit national headlines with stories of recovered royals and football fairytales. Yet there’s one crown that continues to evade us. One trophy we can’t quite get our hands on.

Leicester was last named the Curry Capital of Britain over a decade ago, back in 2007. Since then we’ve ranked at a variety of places near the top of the pile, narrowly missing out this year when we fell second to the city of Bradford. And why is this, we wonder? Truth be told we don’t have the answer. But we hope that with the Leicester Curry Awards, we may have stumbled on a solution.

Photo Credit: Pukaar News
Photo Credit: Pukaar News

In honouring our county’s finest Asian restaurants and takeaways, we’re not only celebrating a fantastic food scene, but proudly building on Leicestershire’s rich cultural heritage. Our unique make up, with influences from both East and West. We’re boosting cross community relationships in an untied effort to establish ourselves as a proud population. We’re encouraging better service, better value and better standards across our dining establishments. And we’re taking a long overdue journey into our culinary past for the benefit of our future.

Which brings us nicely back to the blog. Over the coming months we’ll be sharing this journey with you, posting everything from features charting the history of Leicestershire’s rise to multicultural unity, to foodie facts and mouth-watering interviews. We’ll be bringing you some great content as part of our Leicester Curry Talks segment and indulging in some late night takeaways behind the scenes. For us, the Leicester Curry Awards aren’t just about the final results; they’re about the journey taken to find them. And we’re inviting you all along for the ride.

Welcome to the blog. And welcome to the first ever Leicester Curry Awards.