THREE teams of military chefs went head-to-head in a spicy challenge to see who could cook the most popular curry to raise funds for charity.

During the fiery fundraiser, chefs from the 5th Regiment Royal Artillery, based at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, battled it out against caterers from Sodexo and a team of Gurkha chefs to see who could rustle up the greatest curry in field conditions in Darlington’s market place.

For just £5, visitors sampled the three dishes and voted for their favourite, while raising money for ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and Sodexo’s charity, Stop Hunger.

After a heated battle, the team from 5th Regiment Royal Artillery emerged victorious with 80 votes for their lamb curry, while the Gurkha’s pork curry came second, and Sodexo’s chicken dish coming in third.

Regimental Catering Warrant Officer, Chris Marsden, helped devise the winning recipe. He said: “We are very pleased to have won. We were up since 5am to make sure everything was ready so the guys have put a lot of hard work into it.”

Michelin-starred chef Kenny Atkinson, from nearby Rockliffe Hall Hotel, was also on hand to give cookery demonstrations and teach passers-by how to create the perfect curry themselves, while the Army School of Ceremonial from Catterick Garrison provided musical entertainment.

Jim Duffy, liaison officer at ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and co-organiser of the event, said: “It went really well. From the word go we had fantastic support from people who were really enjoying themselves.

“It encourages people to cook and is a different way of raising money for charity.”