A CONTEST has been launched to find the best Indian dessert created by Oxfordshire catering students.

And the winner of the competition will see their pudding taking pride of place in the menu of new Indian restaurant The Spice Guru set to open in Watlington this month.

Chef Muhammad Ali has teamed up with Oxford and Cherwell Valley College’s catering programme to set the challenge for NVQ level 3 students at the college’s Oxford and Banbury campuses.

Mr Ali said: “The aim is to motivate students and encourage up-coming chefs. After we ran a UK Indian chefs competition this year which was a huge success, we were thinking why not give a chance to up-and-coming chefs.”

On Wednesday, November 30, students at the two campuses will compete against each other, with an Oxford and Banbury winner cooking head-to-head in the final on Wednesday, December 7.

Programme manager Mark Roberts said: “I’m looking for soft, delicate spices coming through, something that’s will work well as a part of a menu.

“They need to bear in mind that Indian cooking includes a lot of cream and yoghurt, so they should look for something lighter and less fattening.”