Curry Challenge 2021 Winners

The 6th Vancouver Foodster Curry Challenge was a success featuring unique curry creations at restaurants around greater Vancouver. Each restaurant featured their creation on their menu from March 11 – April 4, 2021 and their customers voted for their favourites daily throughout the challenge.

The Winners are:

1st Place: {102 points}

Ban Chok Dee

Massaman Lamb Pommés Purée 

Price: $29

Created by: Chef Parinya Loptson

Description:  The blending of Indian and Thai spices mixed harmoniously to create this aromatic and delicious Massaman curry. The sweetness from palm sugar; creamy & nutty from coconut milk and cashew nut and macadamia; a soft sourness from tamarind; the saltiness from fish sauce and salt and mild spicy from the paste. This flavourful lamb shank is served with hand mashed pomme purée, tamarind carrot and broccolini.

Offered: Dinner daily

Ban Chok Dee Thai

20563 Douglas Crescent, Langley

Tel: 778-278-3088

Web: http://www.banchokdee.com

Instagram @bcdthai

2nd Place (tie): {95 points}

Bombay Masala Restaurant  

Nargasi Fish Kofta

Price: $18

Created by Chef Jasvir Singh

Description: Cod Fish kofta in a smooth creamy and nutty mild sauce.

Offered: All the time for dine-in.

Bombay Masala Restaurant

4473 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver

Tel: (604) 224-1111

Web: https://bombaymasala.ca/

Instagram @bombaymasalaindiancuisine

2nd Place (tie): {95 points}

Indish Food Truck

The Royal Whitecaps Curry

Price: $16

Created by: Tushar Shroff with help from the rest of the Indish Team

Description: The Royal Whitecaps Curry is a bold and creamy yet plant-based sauce that we created to enhance the flavor of each food that it is paired with. Just like the snow-capped mountains of Vancouver add majesticness to this already gorgeous city, the curry adds the same royal majestic feel elevating any veggies or proteins to the next level. To showcase how beautifully the Royal Whitecaps curry not only complements but adds to these elements, our plate features our melt-in-your-mouth chana kebab, tandoori spiced veggies, and delicious Mixed Ground Meatz prepared by our friends over at PlantBase. You will experience the perfect alchemy of spices when you taste the layers of complexity through flavors such as cardamom and caraway, followed by green chili, cloves, star anise, and mace with a peppery finish, all rounded in a creamy mouthfeel.

Offered: All the time and wherever the truck is.

Available for take-out. Orders can be placed on our website’s ordering page here

Indish Food Truck

(rotates locations)

Instagram @indishfoodtruck

3rd Place: {87 points}

Karakoram Restaurant

Chicken Lahori

Price: Half chicken $26 comes or Full chicken $46 with with naan 

Created by: Chef Qasim Mehmood

Description:  Karahi is authenticated Pakistani dish which was started in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. Karahi travel to different cities and got different flavours. Not just in Pakistan, but the dish travelled to different countries like India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan etc.

We are the first one to launch Authenticated Chicken and Lamb Karahi in entire BC, bringing the authenticated taste of Pakistan to the people living far away from their countries. We believe this kind of food helps you to connect to the roots of your country and culture.

This dish is made to order, and it takes around 35 minutes to make any Karahi as it is made from scratch. We have 2 different servings, ½ chicken (serving 2 people), Full Chicken (serving 4 people.)

Offered: All the time for dine-in, pickup or delivery, if at all possible please call to pre-order.

Karakoram Restaurant

6990 Victoria Drive, Vancouver

Tel: (604) 737-1000

Web: http://karakoramrestaurant.com/

Instagram @karakoramrestaurant

In the People’s Choice Awards category, the public who tried the Curry creations were the ones who had the opportunity to cast their vote throughout the challenge.

The Winners are:

1st Place People’s Choice:

Indish Food Truck

The Royal Whitecaps Curry

Price: $16

Created by: Tushar Shroff with help from the rest of the Indish Team

Description: The Royal Whitecaps Curry is a bold and creamy yet plant-based sauce that we created to enhance the flavor of each food that it is paired with. Just like the snow-capped mountains of Vancouver add majesticness to this already gorgeous city, the curry adds the same royal majestic feel elevating any veggies or proteins to the next level. To showcase how beautifully the Royal Whitecaps curry not only complements but adds to these elements, our plate features our melt-in-your-mouth chana kebab, tandoori spiced veggies, and delicious Mixed Ground Meatz prepared by our friends over at PlantBase. You will experience the perfect alchemy of spices when you taste the layers of complexity through flavors such as cardamom and caraway, followed by green chili, cloves, star anise, and mace with a peppery finish, all rounded in a creamy mouthfeel.

Offered: All the time and wherever the truck is.

Available for take-out. Orders can be placed on our website’s ordering page here

Indish Food Truck

(rotates locations)

Instagram @indishfoodtruck

2nd Place People’s Choice:

Karakoram Restaurant

Chicken Lahori

Price: Half chicken $26 comes or Full chicken $46 with with naan 

Created by: Chef Qasim Mehmood

Description:  Karahi is authenticated Pakistani dish which was started in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. Karahi travel to different cities and got different flavours. Not just in Pakistan, but the dish travelled to different countries like India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan etc.

We are the first one to launch Authenticated Chicken and Lamb Karahi in entire BC, bringing the authenticated taste of Pakistan to the people living far away from their countries. We believe this kind of food helps you to connect to the roots of your country and culture.

This dish is made to order, and it takes around 35 minutes to make any Karahi as it is made from scratch. We have 2 different servings, ½ chicken (serving 2 people), Full Chicken (serving 4 people.)

Offered: All the time for dine-in, pickup or delivery, if at all possible please call to pre-order.

Karakoram Restaurant

6990 Victoria Drive, Vancouver

Tel: (604) 737-1000

Web: http://karakoramrestaurant.com/

Instagram @karakoramrestaurant

3rd Place People’s Choice:

Bombay Masala Restaurant  

Nargasi Fish Kofta

Price: $18

Created by Chef Jasvir Singh

Description: Cod Fish kofta in a smooth creamy and nutty mild sauce.

Offered: All the time for dine-in.

Bombay Masala Restaurant

4473 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver

Tel: (604) 224-1111

Web: https://bombaymasala.ca/

Instagram @bombaymasalaindiancuisine

Our media judging panel determined the ultimate winners of the challenge, and this was quite the task as each judge who tasted each creation with a rigorous process based on taste, originality/uniqueness and presentation/appearance.

Each media judge scored each creation with a maximum of 40 points as follows: Overall Taste 20 points, Originality and Uniqueness 10 points, Presentation and Appearance 10 points. The highest number of points a challenge creation could have been awarded is 120 points.

Our Media judges for this challenge were: Jacqueline Chui, Rick Green and Yuki No

Thank you to the chefs and restaurants that accepted my invitation and featured their curry creations on the menu for the past few weeks during this challenge.

I encourage you to visit the winning restaurants to try their curry creations! See all the Challenge entries here.

By: Richard Wolak

Leave a Reply