THE owner of a popular Indian restaurant is selling onion bhajis for charity in memory of his late friend who was a Bournemouth restaurateur.

Kuti Miah, who owns, Southampton restaurant Kuti’s Brasserie, will be donating all money raised from bhaji sales to help fight cancer as part of British Curry Day.

Mr Miah, who employed chancellor Rishi Sunak as a waiter during his student days, will be donating profits to Cancer Research UK in memory of his late friend Shab Uddin, who owned the Momtaz restaurant in Boscombe.

Mr Miah said: “Shab was a great friend and he worked very hard.

"We worked together in Southampton and when I opened my first restaurant he helped me out.”

Bournemouth Echo: Kuti MiahKuti Miah

The donation is part of the ‘Back The Bhaji’ campaign launched by Asian restaurants sector magazine Spice Business.

The campaign aims to celebrate the curry industry post-lockdown and commemorate the pioneers that have made the industry such an integral part of British society.

Enam Ali, publisher of Spice Business said: “Tragically we are losing many of the country’s first curry restaurateurs, who are now elderly with severe underlying health issues, to the pandemic.”

“These people came to a strange foreign land at the invitation of the British government and through their own endeavours and willingness to work anti -social hours – often enduring blatant racism from post pub closing time drunks – built a special industry, which is now an integral part of British society.”

Mr Miah said: “Curry isn't just Indian anymore - the Chicken tikka masala is the UK's favourite dish!

"I'm very proud to be British, to cook with British produce and of the revenue the curry industry brings to the UK economy."

It is hoped British Curry Day will become an annual fixture in the culinary calendar which will support the sector and raise money for good causes.