Sethurajapillai said he was overjoyed at winning the coveted title – his second SACC win having won the competition 10 years ago – alongside the top prize of £2,000 and membership of the Craft Guild of Chefs.

In second place was Kevin Hughes, chef tutor at the International Academy Culinary Arts at Leeds City College, who won £1,000, and in third place was Bishal Rasaily from Pushkar Cocktail Bar & Dining in Birmingham, who won £750.

Additional awards included the Healthy Dish award, which was presented to Ranjit Salian from the CH&Co Group – The Law Society, London, and the Innovative Dish award presented to Rehan Ahmed from S&A Foods, Derby.

The national competition is open to all restaurateurs and their chefs, and any restaurant nominated by their customers for their Asian cuisine. The eight finalists had to produce creative, innovative dishes using their own original recipes in a bid to win the title, and were examined by a panel of chef judges representing the Craft Guild of Chefs and the catering industry.

These included: chair of judges Andrew Green, Craft Guild vice president and governor, Alan Colley from stocks and sauces specialist Major International, Stephen Gomes from Moksh Restaurant in Cardiff, consultant chef Stephanie Moon, and Andy Bray from Bradford College.

The winners were presented with their trophies at the Aagrah Group’s 33rd annual business dinner held at the Magna Science Centre in Rotherham, near Sheffield, attended by more than 800 high profile business guests and dignitaries.

Mohammed Aslam, SACC founder and managing director of the Aagrah Group restaurant chain, said: “This proves there is a great appetite for this competition. We received a high level of entries, some with very imaginative culinary recipes. We are passionate about supporting the industry by recognising these great curry chefs.”

Each year the Aagrah dinner supports charities and this year’s beneficiaries are Weston Park Hospital Cancer Care, Sheffield, and Mosaic. The dinner raised a higher amount than previous charity dinners with this year’s total hitting £125,000.