‘Hidden talent’ uncovered at first ever UK Asian cook-off for women, hosted in Northampton

The first ever UK Asian cook-off competition for women was hosted in Northampton, and the organiser says you could sense the participants’ “determination and hunger” to succeed.

Held at Northampton College on May 15, the competition had more than 100 entries from female home cooks from all over the United Kingdom.

After the tough task of whittling it down to just 12 finalists, they all gathered at the college to compete in a 90-minute live cooking battle to create their signature dishes.

Kefa Tabet was awarded first place, earning £500 in prize money. Fatima Abdo won £200 for placing second and Razmin Kamali won £100 for taking the third spot.

The competition was organised by Muhammad Ali, an award-winning chef of more than a decade from Northampton who now owns a restaurant in Warwickshire.

This is the second UK-wide competition he has organised and hosted at Northampton College, following the success of the International Bangladeshi Masterchef competition at the end of last year.

Talking to this newspaper, Muhammad says the Asian cooking industry is male-dominated and the aim was to encourage women to be confident in their abilities and push themselves out of their comfort zone.

“Female home cooks are much better,” said Muhammad. “There is so much hidden talent.

“This was a chance for them to come out, introduce themselves to others and get that experience.”

With such an “amazing” response and more than 100 entries, people are already calling for the competition to make a return next year and to be kept informed about when applications open.

Muhammad says a variety of West Northamptonshire councillors have expressed their interest in helping to make next year “bigger and better”.

“It was really difficult to decide on first, second and third place,” said Muhammad. “The food was tasty and it was great to try different dishes we hadn’t seen before.”

Muhammad was one of the five judges from across the UK, accompanied by a representative from Northampton College, a food blogger, and the multi award-winning Indian food expert the ‘Curry Queen’.

The competitors were given just an hour-and-a-half to cook their dish from scratch and many of them were “nervous” about not being able to prepare anything ahead of time.

Muhammad said: “I told them about my experience of losing so many competitions and not giving up, to give them motivation ahead of starting the cook off.”

The ladies were supportive of one another, with the chefs coming together to give someone a helping hand when her blending machine broke mid-cook.

The day’s stand out dishes included masala chicken roasted in tandoori spices, spinach and lamb saag, and a fish dish named thali – served with chicken, vegetables and rice as a taster dish.

Kefa not only claimed the top spot, but was awarded a certificate for dish of the day.

2024’s competition will be earlier in the year and Muhammad is hoping to secure sponsorships after the pleasing response to the first event of this kind.

He will also be organising the International Bangladeshi Masterchef competition again in November, as well as a UK-wide cake baking competition with £1,000 prize money to mark the King’s birthday the same month.