AN Indian restaurant has teamed up with Blackburn College to tackle a shortage in the number of trained chefs.

Due to changes in immigration laws, like many restaurants the Mai’da, in Eanam, Blackburn, has struggled to recruit chefs.

So it is now focusing on training cooks in the UK to learn and perfect the art and techniques of Indian cooking.

The college, together with the restaurant’s owner Mohammad Ali have put together a full-time year-long assessed level two NVQ Diploma in Professional Cookery, one of the first of its kind in the North West, to give the chefs the best grounding.

The six chefs currently on the course will learn core skills such as spice blending with 28 different spices, tandoori cooking, marination and roomali roti making as well as hygiene and health and safety while working in the restaurant’s kitchen under the head chef.

And if successful, both the college and the restaurant would look to extend the programme.

Mr Ali owns award-winning restaurants in London and two in Bombay and is also a supplier of Indian food for Emirates and Singapore Airlines.

He said: “Working with Indian cuisine and training chefs in this industry is in its infancy in this country and it is great that Blackburn College is at the forefront of this provision.

“When the new Government came into power, they put a stop to the number of skilled workers such as chefs coming into the UK, so there is a shortage.

“Sadly skills are also being lost because Asian parents want their children to train to be doctors and lawyers rather than chefs even though there is money to be made in this industry.

“I am eager to work in partnership with the college as I firmly believe that all my workforce should be trained to the best of their ability.”

Ian Sutherland, lecturer at Blackburn College, said: “I have found all the chefs incredibly motivated and eager to learn.

“The diploma will provide them with the recognition they deserve and hopefully fill them with a sense of pride and achievement.”