There are certain assignments at Asian Standard that are considerably harder than they first appear.

Choosing our favourite curry dishes in Bradford is one of them.

This is, after all, a city where asking somebody to name the “best curry” can spark a debate almost as fiery as the food itself.

Do you judge the karahi? The masala? The daal? Does nostalgia count? What about the restaurant you’ve been visiting with your family for 30 years? And then there is that one dish you order every single time despite promising yourself that this will be the visit when you try something different.

So, in celebration of National Curry Week 2026, we decided to compile Asian Standard’s 10 must-try curry dishes in Bradford.

There was just one problem.

We couldn’t get the list down to 10.

We debated. We reconsidered. We could probably have debated some more.

In the end, we did what anyone faced with an impossible curry decision should do.

We ordered an extra one.

So here they are: Asian Standard’s Top 10 – well, 11 – Bradford curry picks.

And before anybody starts arguing about which restaurant should be number one, save your breath.

They’re in no particular order. Choosing the dishes was difficult enough. We’re not brave enough to rank them as well.

Pind – Lahori Chicken Karahi

There is something quite special about the way Pind prepares its Lahori Chicken Karahi, beginning with the pot itself.

The dish is cooked in a traditional iron karahi, which Pind describes as being made from the meetha or “sweet” type of iron, rather than karwa, meaning “bitter”.

Into it goes the chicken alongside large, ripe tomatoes, placed in whole rather chopped turning immediately into a sauce. As the karahi cooks, the tomatoes slowly collapse in their own steam, releasing their juices into he added peppery, spicy masala.

There is no need to drown it in oil. The chicken cooks in its own natural fats and the moisture released from those tomatoes, gradually creating a rich, intensely flavoured sauce while leaving the meat succulent and melt-in-the-mouth.

It’s rustic, fiery and deeply comforting, a karahi designed to evoke the flavours and street-side cooking of Lahore.

For a few mouthfuls, Bradford suddenly feels a little closer to Pakistan.

Sweet Centre – Lamb and Spinach Karahi

You cannot really talk about Bradford’s curry scene without talking about Sweet Centre, one of the city’s longstanding curry institutions, feeding generations of Bradfordians since the 1960s.

Our pick is its Lamb and Spinach Karahi, made using lamb leg and shoulder, slow-cooked with spinach, fresh tomatoes, green chillies, garlic, mint and an extra helping of coriander.

The slow cooking gives the lamb time to become tender while soaking up all those fresh herbs and spices, with the spinach adding richness to the karahi.

It’s hearty, fragrant and unmistakably desi – the kind of dish that needs little more than fresh roti or naan alongside it.

Sometimes old-school really does win.

Akbar’s – Charsi chicken Karahi

This one comes with a piece of Bradford restaurant history.

Akbar’s Charsi Chicken Karahi was created by the late Shabir Hussain, the Bradford restaurateur who founded Akbar’s and helped turn the home-grown name into one of the best-known restaurant brands to emerge from the city.

Inspired by the traditional roadside dhabas of Peshawar in Pakistan, this is a rustic, tomato-heavy karahi where subtlety takes something of a back seat.

The chicken is cooked with tomatoes and a punchy blend of spices to create a rich, buttery sauce with plenty of heat and a distinctive smoky character.

And there is no unnecessary ceremony when it reaches the table. The Charsi Chicken Karahi arrives in the very pan it has been cooked in – bubbling, aromatic and ready to be attacked with fresh naan.

It is bold, fiery and unmistakably Peshawari-inspired, but with a story firmly rooted in Bradford too.

A dish created by one of the city’s best-known restaurateurs – and one that continues to carry his legacy to the table.

International Restaurant – Garlic Chilli Chicken

If your idea of ordering a curry is to ask for the mild option, you may want to keep scrolling.

International Restaurant’s Garlic Chilli Chicken is for diners who like their curry turned up several notches, on both spice and flavour.

Prepared in a karahi with a generous helping of fresh garlic cloves, traditional spices and a fiery chilli sauce, this is a dish that makes absolutely no attempt to hide its two headline ingredients.

The garlic brings an unmistakable savoury punch, while the chilli sauce delivers the heat, tang and zest that give the curry its distinctive character.

It’s fiery, garlicky and full-on, exactly as a Garlic Chilli Chicken ought to be.

One for Bradford’s chilli lovers. Just don’t blame us if you need an extra jug of water on the table.

MyLahore – Daal Tarka

We’ll put our cards on the table with this one: this is undoubtedly one of the best daals we’ve tasted.

MyLahore’s Daal Tarka proves that you don’t need meat, elaborate ingredients or scorching heat to produce a curry that you keep thinking about afterwards.

Split yellow channa daal is slowly simmered with garlic, ginger, onions and spices until it develops that wonderfully creamy, comforting consistency. Then comes the tarka – the tempering technique that adds another hit of flavour and fragrance at the end.

The result is creamy, warming and beautifully spiced, with layers of flavour that make something seemingly simple feel anything but.

Among a Bradford curry scene famous for its lamb, chicken and sizzling karahis, this humble daal more than holds its own.

Give us a bowl, some fresh roti and we’re happy.

Sultan’s – Chicken Masala

Don’t let the simplicity of the name fool you.

Chicken Masala might be one of the least elaborate-sounding dishes on our list, but Sultan’s version has the accolades to prove that sometimes the classics are hardest to beat.

Tender cubes of chicken sit in a rich, deeply flavoured masala sauce with a distinctive smokiness, finished simply with fresh coriander.

There’s no elaborate presentation or unnecessary dressing up – and that’s rather the point.

It has the comforting quality of home-cooked food: the sort of curry that makes you want to forget the serving plates, put the pan in the middle of the table, tear off some fresh roti and get stuck in.

And we’re not alone in rating it highly. Sultan’s Chicken Masala was named Best Dish at the fourth annual Bradford Curry Awards in 2023, adding to the recognition the dish has received for its original and authentic flavours.

A small name, a simple presentation, but a curry with some serious credentials.

Mumbai Bites – Lamb Masala

Not every great curry needs an elaborate name. Sometimes, as any desi mum will tell you, it’s simply masala.

That’s very much the philosophy behind Mumbai Bites, where recipes have been passed down from mother and grandmother and the emphasis is less on whether something should be labelled a balti or a karahi and more on whether it tastes right.

Its Lamb Masala is a perfect example.

The lamb is cooked home-style with rich spices, fresh ginger and garlic, producing the kind of deeply comforting masala that feels less like restaurant food and more like something that has come straight from mum’s kitchen.

And perhaps that’s exactly why it belongs on our list.

There are curries designed to impress when they arrive at the table – and then there are those that transport you back to the flavours you grew up with.

No fancy name required. Mum’s masala will do nicely.

My Peshawar – Charsi Lamb Karahi

Yes, we know. Another Charsi Karahi.

But before you accuse us of running out of curry ideas, hear us out.

We opted for My Peshawar’s Lamb Charsi Karahi because, while Bradford has no shortage of excellent Charsi dishes, this one has a slightly different bite and, quite simply, we think it’s delicious.

Rooted in the minimalist cooking traditions of Peshawar and northern Pakistan, the dish strips things right back. Lamb is cooked in an iron

karahi with fresh ripe tomatoes, green chillies, black pepper and salt.

That’s largely it.

There are none of the heavy cream or onion-based sauces associated with some curries. Instead, the tomatoes slowly cook down, the heat works its magic and the natural juices of the lamb become part of the sauce, while black pepper and green chillies provide that characteristic kick.

The result is intensely savoury, fresh and meaty rather than overwhelmed by a long list of ingredients.

It also demonstrates something important about a great karahi: simplicity doesn’t necessarily mean simple.

When you’re working with so few ingredients, there is nowhere for poor cooking to hide.

And My Peshawar’s version has that little extra bite that keeps us going back for another mouthful.

So yes, another Charsi made our list. Taste it first. Then argue with us.

Shimla Spice – Desi Chicken Karahi

By now, we’ve accepted that our National Curry Week selection has developed something of a karahi habit.

But Shimla Spice’s Desi Chicken Karahi earns its place for a different reason – it’s one of the restaurant’s signature dishes and delivers exactly what that all-important word desi promises.

Cooked in a traditional Punjabi style, chicken is brought together with fresh tomatoes, ginger, green chillies and rich spices, cooked down until the masala becomes robust and the oil begins to separate – that familiar sign of a curry that has been given the time it needs.

There is nothing shy about the flavour. It’s rich, punchy and unapologetically homestyle, with the freshness of the ginger and chilli cutting through the deeply cooked masala.

It’s also become one of Shimla Spice’s standout menu favourites, earning plenty of praise from diners over the years.

Another karahi on our list? Absolutely. But when Bradford does them this well, what are we supposed to do?

Punjab Restaurant – Fish Karahi

Ask many Bradford seafood lovers what they associate with Punjab Restaurant and chances are its famous masala tandoori fish on naan will get a mention.

But we’re going slightly off-script.

Our pick is the Karahi Fish – something of a sleeper hit on a menu from a restaurant already well known across the district for its fish.

A marinated haddock fillet is lightly fried first, helping it retain its texture before being tossed through a thick, traditional Punjabi masala

sauce.

That first step matters. Fish can easily disappear into a curry, but here the haddock remains the star, with the masala clinging to it rather than overwhelming it.

Rich Punjabi spices and delicate fish make it a welcome change of pace among the chicken and lamb dishes dominating our list.

You may go to Punjab for the famous fish on naan. Just don’t overlook the fish in the karahi.

Mumtaz – Murgh Makhani

We said ten.

We really did try.

But then there was Mumtaz’s Murgh Makhani and we couldn’t bring ourselves to leave it out. Sorry to the many other Bradford favourites we love too, but if we carried on like this, our Top 10 could very quickly become a Top 20.

Better known to many as butter chicken, this is the indulgent one on our list. Marinated chicken breast is cooked with tomato, homemade butter, fresh cream and Mumtaz’s signature blend of spices to produce a beautifully rich, velvety sauce.

Where some of our other choices hit you with green chillies, black pepper, garlic or robust masala, Murgh Makhani takes a gentler approach. It’s creamy, buttery and decadent, with the tomato bringing enough acidity to balance all that richness.

It’s also a dish that has become a firm favourite with generations of families and visitors to Mumtaz – one of the names most closely associated with Bradford’s modern curry story.

And perhaps it’s fitting that our supposedly Top 10 list ends here.

Because after all those karahis, chillies and punchy masalas, sometimes you need something gloriously creamy to calm things down.

So Mumtaz gets number 11. Not because it came last, remember, we’re not ranking them, but because some curries are simply too good to leave off the table.

More than 80 years of Bradford curry

The jokes aside, there is a reason compiling a list like this in Bradford is so difficult.

Curry isn’t simply another category of restaurant food here. It has become woven into the migration, social and cultural history of the city.

For generations, restaurants established by families with roots across South Asia have fed Bradfordians while creating businesses that would eventually help put the city on Britain’s culinary map.

Some began with a very different purpose from the large restaurants we know today.

Asian Standard has previously explored the history of Bradford’s early curry houses and how restaurants and cafés provided migrant workers with familiar food, somewhere to meet and, importantly, a taste of home.

Sweet Centre opened in 1964, while Karachi traces its roots to the Karachi Social Club, established in 1958.

Research revealed during the World Curry Festival in 2025 pushed Bradford’s curry story even further back, uncovering an advert from December 1942 for Cafe Nasim on Morley Street, which described itself as “Bradford’s First Indian Restaurant”.

More than eight decades later, what began partly as food serving migrant communities has become part of Bradford’s wider identity.

The six-time Curry Capital of Britain

That reputation eventually earned national recognition.

Bradford was crowned Curry Capital of Britain for six consecutive years, culminating in its sixth successive victory in 2016, an extraordinary run which cemented the city’s reputation as one of Britain’s great curry destinations.

Today, Bradford district boasts more than 200 Asian restaurants, from traditional curry houses and family businesses to major restaurant groups and contemporary dining concepts.

And curry isn’t simply something visitors eat once they arrive in Bradford.

For some, it is one of the reasons they come.

Former students return to old favourites. Bradfordians who have moved away revisit restaurants they grew up eating in. Families have establishments they have visited across generations. And newcomers arrive wanting to discover what earned Bradford its Curry Capital reputation in the first place.

And the story keeps evolving

Perhaps one of the most encouraging things about Bradford’s curry scene is that it isn’t simply surviving on its past.

New restaurants and dining concepts continue to join an industry built by generations before them.

Golden Palms is among the newer additions to the city’s food scene, while Manor Row has also joined Bradford’s changing restaurant landscape.

They enter a city where expectations are high.

Restaurants may be bigger, menus broader and dining rooms considerably more elaborate than the cafés that served Bradford’s early migrant communities.

But the essentials haven’t changed all that much.

Good food. Generous hospitality. Families and friends around a table.

And passionate disagreement over where you get the best curry.

Which brings us neatly back to our list.

These are Asian Standard’s 10 – sorry, 11 – must-try Bradford curry dishes for National Curry Week.

They’re not ranked.

They’re not definitive.

And we’re under no illusion that Bradford will agree with all of them.

So, what have we missed? Which Bradford curry dish would make your list?

And if you insist we really must stick to ten…

Which one of ours are you brave enough to take off?