Curry house hits big time - in Spain

But for one Bradford family business it has certainly proved a recipe for success.

The Nawaab, one of the many famous names in Bradford's curry empire, is no longer just a successful restaurant.

It is a booming business which now boasts four restaurants scattered around Majorca and a further two in the popular resort of Benidorm. And then there's the restaurant where it all started in Bradford's Manor Row, plus two outlets in Huddersfield and a further two in Manchester.

The international portfolio is just one of the claims to fame for the curry house.

The restaurant hit the national tabloids in 1996 when its chefs served up a right Royal feast for Princess Diana.

The giant curry spread was ordered by former cricketer Imran Khan - a big Nawaab fan - for a charity dinner attended by Diana at the Dorchester Hotel in London.

But the Nawaab is more famous for satisfying the appetites of Bradford's discerning curry connoisseurs. The business was launched by Mahbood Hussain in 1988 at the distinctive, elegant building at the top end of Manor Row in Bradford city centre.

Today Mahbood's nephew Mohammed Ejaz, pictured, is one of the directors and manages the Bradford and Huddersfield restaurants.

He came over to England after being urged by his uncle to leave the Pakistan army and join the family business five years ago.

Since then, softly-spoken Ejaz, who will be known to anyone who has visited the Nawaab's flagship restaurant, has quietly helped build a family empire.

And it can truly claim the title of Bradford's international restaurant group, with a chain now numbering 11, a turnover of £7.5 million, and staff of 200.

Not that modest Ejaz is going to go boasting about the firm's rapid growth.

He said the decision to branch out overseas was simply seen as an opportunity that was too good to miss.

"My uncle was out there on holiday and he thought it was a good opportunity waiting to be snapped up," he said.

"It tended to be the British holiday-makers who came to start with, but now it has expanded to everyone, even the locals.

"We knew that it would be successful because there were already two little takeaways there which were doing well, but nothing like this.

"To start off we took all the staff from those who were working in Bradford - a lot of them were quite pleased to do that, and it has gone very well."

Back in England, the chain has branched out with two restaurants in Huddersfield and one in Manchester.

It has recently added a sumptuous 1,000-seat wedding hall-style venue to its Manchester portfolio.

But it is in Nawaab's home city of Bradford where the firm is really focusing its future plans.

Nawaab has just opened its first own-name Halal butcher's shop in Keighley Road, Frizinghall, which supplies meat to the restaurant as well as the public, and has taken on five new staff.

And it is actively on the look-out for a site to build a new 700-seat Asian wedding venue similar to that which has proved such a hit in Manchester.

"We were buying so much meat in for the restaurants, it seemed to make sense to open our own butchers shop," said Ejaz.

"It uses local meat and we can then ensure the very highest standards, because they are extremely modern premises and have all the latest technology.

"Now we want to open the same sort of thing that we have in Manchester here in Bradford, because we see there is a lot of scope out there for the Asian wedding market," he added.

The restaurant has also built a proud reputation for community involvement, and last year helped raise thousands of pounds for the Telegraph & Argus Bradford Can... Cancer research Appeal.

"I think because we started in Bradford, we still feel we owe something to Bradford," he said.

"We felt that the cancer appeal was something we ought to be a part of and we became one of the biggest fundraisers.

"We have looked towards opening a restaurant in Leeds as well, but we are from Bradford and we are proud of that." And Ejaz is convinced Nawaab can continue with its impressive growth, as long as it maintains the high standards which saw it crowned Bradford's only five-star restaurant by one prestigious guide book.

"The business is growing very much and I think curry still has a long way to go," he said.

"We still come across a lot of people who have never had curry before and there are lots more like them out there.

"It is a very exciting and challenging field to be in. You come across so many nice people here and it gives you such great satisfaction as well.

"I've got no regrets at all about coming to Bradford. It is a good place to be in business and is still developing. We're happy to he here.