HEREFORD'S 'spice girls' proved Hereford can pack a punch when it comes to curry.

Mum and daughter duo, Rayeesa and Farah Asghar-Sandys, started their frozen curry sauce business last year from their home in Mordiford and are now busy travelling the country promoting and selling their sauces.

They recently visited the Great British Food Festival at Harewood House in Leeds where customers told them their sauces rivalled those found in the nation's curry capital.

Rayeesa said: "The locals up there began by telling us how close to Bradford – curry capital of the UK – we were and that we had our work cut out for us.

"But once they tried the sauces they were telling us that Hereford just might be better than Bradford.

"This is the furthest north we have been so far and we now have a long list of Yorkshire shops wanting to stock our range so we are really pleased at how the weekend went."

Spiced by Rayeesa is a range of frozen curry sauces, individually designed using ingredients from authentic recipes.

Rayeesa was brought up in Hyderabad by her grandmother and uses the techniques she learned from childhood to offer an easy way to cook a great tasting curry.

"I thought there was a gap in the market for a sauce which was high quality, fresh tasting and easy to use," she said. "Something that you could pass off as home made to your guests. The brand has grown from there.”

The entrepreneurial pair is launching four new sauces on June 17 at Hereford’s Left Bank.

Rayeesa added: "We are very excited to be able to take our business forwards in this way, we went from 15 stockists to 40 in 2014 and intend to increase that trend in 2015 – we are certainly on track so far this year."