A YORK family has won a television cooking competition to find Britain’s best cooking family.

The Raman family, from Strensall, won the Hairy Bikers’ Cook Off in the finals shown last night on BBC2.

Priya Raman and her two aunts Geeta and Rajee made a festive dish for Diwali of masala vada, coconut chutney, tomato rice, plantain crisps and a carrot dessert to win the show.

The family had been knocked out of the competition at the semi-final for not getting their final courgette on the plate during a timed competition, but their south Indian vegetarian cuisine was so popular with the Hairy Bikers, they were invited back.

Priya, who moved to the UK from Chennai, southern India in 1999, said: “Cooking is a tie which binds my family and always has been. It’s an honour to have won this title alongside my aunts, as they are the ones, along with my mother and grandmother, who inspired my love and passion of cooking.

“I think our dishes demonstrated that south Indian vegetarian cooking is very different from the typical baltis and tikka masalas that are usually associated with Indian cuisine.”