THEY are usually ordered as starter or side with a curry, but poppadoms were the main event for visitors to an Indian restaurant at the weekend.

The Bengal Merchant, in Barnard Castle, hosted a poppadom eating contest on Friday night (October 26) when Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman opened the restaurant’s new function room and bar.

Unlike other Indian food challenges, when contestants have to face the hottest curries a chef can rustle up, competitors thought the innocuous looking wafer-thin breads would be a breeze.

But as the challengers tackled plates piled high with poppadoms they were left bloated, with dry mouths and gasping for glasses of water to wash down the crispy crackers.

Chad Choudhury (correct), who runs the establishment with his brother Naz, said: “I like poppadoms, but maybe one with pickles.

“When we said the world record is 15 in five minutes people thought that wasn’t many and it would be easy, but they are dry and it is hard work to get through them.

“The winner did well and it was really good fun, fortunately nobody was ill.”

Shane Gibson, from Barnard Castle, took the honours after he managed to swallow seven poppadoms before the finishing bell sounded and went away happy with a £40 meal voucher.