A CELEBRATED chef will draw on his experience of seeing people dying of hunger in his Indian homeland to create a banquet in benefit of some of the most needy people in Sussex.

Curry Leaf Café executive chef Kanthi Kiran Thamma has always wanted to do something about the desperate food poverty he witnessed growing up.

The experience has inspired to create a four-course banquet of traditional Indian and street food dishes from Kerala to Kashmir, which aims to raise £4,000 for FareShare Sussex.

The Curry Leaf Café Indian Banquet is part of the Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival’s Spring Harvest.

FareShare intercepts surplus food that would otherwise go to waste and turns it into nutritious meals for those who need it.

The evening will also include Indian inspired music and entertainment.

Kanthi said: “Coming from India, I have seen hunger very close and people dying of hunger which is very disturbing and have always thought about doing something about it.

“FareShare is such a great thought and concept that I did not think twice to help them raise money with this Indian Banquet and I would like to thank Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival for providing me this opportunity to be part of a good cause.

“As chefs I think we all have social responsibility towards food wastage and recycling and many chefs in Brighton do it.

“We are hoping that many other parts of the world will take a page out of FareShare and start doing what they do to tackle the major hunger crisis across the globe.”

Beth Parry, from FareShare Sussex, said: "The Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival have long supported FareShare Sussex and we are extremely grateful for our ongoing partnership which enables us to keep the project going strong.

"Year on year the fundraising events get bigger and better and it has been an honour to work with some of the city's best chefs and producers and have them champion our work.

"This event is hoping to raise an incredible £4000 which would make a huge difference to the project, enabling us to make 120 deliveries of food to feed over 5000 people across Sussex and preventing over seven tonnes of food from being wasted."

Hosted in Hotel du Vin’s Dome Room behind Pub du Vin, the banquet takes place on Thursday, May 24.

Curry Leaf Café has a restaurant in Ship Street, serves food at The Temple Bar on Western Road, and has a kiosk at Brighton Station.

As well as the banquet, the business will be donating money from sales at a 3-day Taste of India event on the Hove Lawns, part of the food festival’s May Bank Holiday events.

The food will be accompanied by gin and tonic from Blackdown Artisan Spirits and craft beer from The Beer Collective, with wines available to buy on the night.

There will also be a blind auction with prizes from local restaurants and hospitality businesses.

Guests are invited to arrive at 7pm for a 7.30pm start, with tickets costing £45 and available directly from Curry Leaf Café by calling 01273 207070 or emailing info@curryleafcafe.com.