Schoolchildren replicated dishes created for them by an Michelin award-winning chef.

Dayashankar Sharma, head chef at the Michelin Plate winning Grand Trunk Road restaurant in South Woodford, ran a cookery session for pupils at Highams Park School on July 17.

Mr Sharma answered questions from pupils and told children about how his mother had inspired his love of cookery, his love of foods from other countries and his belief that cooking is a life skill.

He showed knife skills and stressed the importance of top quality ingredients. Pupils then split into small groups to recreate the chef's demonstration of butter chicken masala, butter masala paneer, rawalpindi ka kebab, jeera aloo and pilau rice, using ingredients provided by the restaurant.

The session was part of the school’s Inspire Aspire program which aims to give motivational experiences and learning opportunities for students.

Simone Piggin, the teacher who organised the event, said: “We would like to thank Grand Trunk Road for the amazing opportunity which they afforded to our students.

“Mr Sharma and restaurateur Rajesh Suri kindly volunteered hours of their time to ensure that this event ran smoothly. This included of making a pre-visit to our school to review our facilities and also creating a four-course menu that was palatable for 13 to 14 year olds.

“Our students were also lucky enough to receive detailed recipe cards from Chef Sharma for each of the dishes they prepared and consumed as an extra memento of the day.”