A Bridport family has picked up a hat trick of awards in recognition for their contributions to the curry industry.

The Choudhury family, who own the Taj Mahal restaurant in Bridport, were praised at the high-profile Asian Curry Awards.

The awards recognise the successes of restaurant owners, and individuals across the whole Asian food industry and ensures that key players are recognised for their achievements.

Sarah Ali-Choudhury received a ‘Special Recognition Award’ in the personality of the year category.

This was introduced by Mr Yawar Khan, chairman and founder of the Asian Curry Awards.

Mr Khan said: “The award was created to recognise Sarah’s unique background and story as a female chef and mother in a predominately male industry.

“It was designed to recognise concepts of entrepreneurship, innovation, motivation and for a celebration of skills, vision and foresight.

“Awards such as these are vitally important in recognising and encouraging an individual’s confidence and the motivation to set sights higher.”

Sarah’s dad, Rafique Choudhury, who is joint owner of the Taj Mahal, received an esteemed honoured award from artistic director, Mohammed Ali.

Mr Ali is curator of ‘Knights of the Raj’, an ongoing project that explores the passion of giving a voice to the Bangladeshi migrant communities, in particular the Indian restaurant sector.

Rafique arrived in the country in 1964 and to honour his contribution to the trade, he was presented with the ‘Knights of the Raj’ legend award.

Mr Choudhury said: “It is extremely difficult to find the words to describe how it feels to receive this particular award.

“Mohammed Ali is a legend in himself and is creating huge change for the curry industry through his artistic field.

“I was called on stage by him and there was a video he created which brought to life the reality of the history of our industry, so to receive this award from him felt absolutely phenomenal.”

Rafique has now won three awards over the past 12 months and adds this most recent accolade to his ‘Legend Award’ from Tommy Miah’s International Indian Chef of the Year, and the ‘Honorary Lifetime Achievement’ from the Dorset Ethnic Minority Awards.

The Taj Mahal restaurant also received ‘Highly Commendable’ in the south west best Indian restaurant category.

Managing director Sanjay Choudhury said: “I am so honoured and privileged that the Taj Mahal has been recognised as one of the best Indian restaurants in the south west.

“It is due to all the hard work and dedication of the team and in particular my mum Harmattie (Helen).

“I will be placing the award in a prominent position in the restaurant to share our pride with all our customers.”