Curry houses across the north have been recognised as part of an annual celebration of the popular spicy food for the first time.
The Aberdeen Curry Awards was extended to cover the Highlands and Moray in its fourth year, after restaurateurs from those regions appealed to enter the contest.
Cinnamon has now been crowned the best Indian restaurant in Inverness, while Qismat won the prize for best in Elgin and the overall winner for the Highlands was Sam’s Tandoori in Inverness.
The rising star award went to Mutlid Chowdhury from the Sylhet Brasserie in Grantown.
More than 500 people attended the colourful awards ceremony at Aberdeen’s Treetops Hotel, which featured Bollywood and Bhangradance performances.
Syed Abdul Hamid, known as Raj, organised the event and praised it for bringing different cultures together.
He said: “The Highlands community asked to be featured, and we were honoured to have those businesses take part.
“As well as recognising great food, this ceremony gets the Chinese, Thai, Indian and Pakistani communities together under one roof to celebrate their cultures.”
A dozen judges with curry expertise roamed the region sampling different dishes before picking their winners.
The Best of the Best award went to Nazma in Aberdeen, while 8848 was crowned the best Indian restaurant in the city and Alma, in Laurencekirk, was named the best in Aberdeenshire.
Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, Alistair Carmichael, was given a special prize in recognition of his longstanding support for the curry industry.
