Midlothian entrepreneur named UK’s top curry chef - and his son wins national restaurant title

A family affair for Midlothian duo at the Curry Life Awards in London

A Midlothian entrepreneur who runs two restaurants on the outskirts of Edinburgh, has been named the UK’s top curry chef by the industry’s trade magazine.

Matin Khan, executive chef of Itihaas in Dalkeith and The Radhuni in Loanhead, was given the accolade on Sunday, October 15 in front of an audience of 500 at the Curry Life Awards at the Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel in London’s Mayfair. In a double triumph for his family, his son’s Loanhead restaurant Radhuni was awarded the title of the UK’s best curry restaurant.

Since Matin opened the 80-seat Itihaas in 2007 its titles have included Scotland’s Curry Chef of the Year, Best South Asian Restaurant, and Restaurant of the Year in the Midlothian and East Lothian Chamber of Commerce Awards.

Habibur Khan (second from right) with his guests and the two national awards at the Mayfair hotel ceremony.

His son Habibur, who accepted the award on his behalf, has managed Radhuni since it opened in 2011. At the age of 23 in 2019 he became the youngest person to win a major award in the British Curry Awards.

A chef for over 40 years, Matin was born in Bangladesh. After his family moved to Cambridge when he was a teenager, he began honing his cooking skills in the family home.

“It’s a great honour to be described as the finest curry chef in the United Kingdom,” he said. “There are so many wonderful chefs working in thousands of restaurants all over the country that I am truly humbled and very proud. My emphasis has always been on developing authentic recipes and working with the finest kitchen and front of house staff.”

The 120-seat Radhuni (its name means ‘passionate cook’) is one of only three Indian-style restaurants in Scotland to have been awarded an AA Rosette for culinary excellence. Regularly placed in the British Curry Awards’ “Hot 100”, it was named Scottish Curry Restaurant of the Year in 2020 and 2021 and in July this year took the same title in the Scottish Restaurant Awards.

Matin Khan with one of his many previous awards

His son, Habibur Khan, owner of Radhuni in Loanhead added: “These are remarkable achievements for my father and the restaurants he established. His legacy is assured. Helped by my father’s guidance, the team at Radhuni have worked tirelessly and with great skill to create a constantly first class dining experience. We are overwhelmed by this latest honour.”

Curry Life magazine reaches 10,000 Indian, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Nepalese and Pakistani restaurants serving millions of customers a year. The audience at the awards, which celebrate the best of the UK's multi-billion-pound curry industry, included Minister for London Paul Scully, former UK Health Secretary Baroness Virginia Bottomley and Lord Karan Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer and a former president of the Confederation of British Industry. The annual awards ceremony in London was hosted by ITV news presenter Lucrezia Millarini.

The curry industry is said to account for two thirds of all eating out in the UK. With Indian-style restaurants getting through more than 200,000 tonnes of rice a year.