Sharing secrets of Punjabi food: What it's like to...Run a cookery school

And for this home cook, who runs classes teaching people to create a variety of delicious dishes, it all comes down to the seasoning.

"Spices are so important because they add flavour and they are really good for you.You are putting goodness into your meal.

"Once you have learnt the art of making a fresh curry sauce, you can’t go back to jars or ready made sauces," she says.

Known as Lajina Masala, she has built up a reputation for her friendly and hands-on cookery lessons and also makes and sells her own spice mixes.

"Spicing is the hardest part of Indian cooking and it's what puts people off cooking from scratch.

"We have a jar culture because people either don't want to or don't know how to cook from scratch," says 48-year-old Lajina.

Her classes teach people all about how and when to use spices to get the best from them as well as how to combine them to create tempting dishes.

Lajina's aim is to give her students the confidence to use the likes of paprika, turmeric and cumin seeds and to teach them classic Indian cooking styles and techniques.

"A lot of cooking is about the senses - how it looks, tastes and smells. You don't have to be an expert cook if you just follow your senses," she says.

She runs classes on Tuesday evenings offering people the chance to learn how to make a starter such as a vegetable samosa or lamb kebab, accompanying dips and a main curry base which can be used with different meat, fish and vegetables.

There are also sessions on Sunday afternoons which are longer and teach students how to make a curry such as a keema, a rice dish, accompanying dip and a naan or flatbread.

Lajina, who holds the classes at Little Wenlock Village Hall, near Telford, says she wants them to be as welcoming as possible and no one should worry that they don't have the necessary skills to get involved.

"These courses are for any ability, you need to know how to cook already as I talk through all of the steps.

"They are very friendly and relaxed - people are usually laughing before they've even put their apron on.

"I love to teach cooking and sharing what I have learned and also meeting new people, learning is very much a two-way process. It's a lot of fun," she tells us.

Her cookery school also goes on the road as she teaches corporate teams, schoolchildren and in customers' own homes throughout the region.

"I've turned a doctor's surgery and an accountancy firm into a cooking school for the day. It's good for team building because it's about communication. I've also done one-to-one lessons in people's homes.

"I really enjoy teaching children because it's so important that they learn how to cook. Some children don't even know what an onion is.

"I find they are really fascinated and interested in learning," says Lajina, who lives in Telford with her husband Krish,53, and son Sam, 21.

For Weekend's visit, she made tandoori chicken with salad and a mint raita. The meat had been left marinading overnight in her own tandoori spice mix.

The blend contains coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cloves, black pepper, dry ginger, garlic granules,nutmeg, methi leaves, black cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, chilli powder, turmeric, pomegranite and paprika.

To make the dish she creates the marinade by mixing together 100g of Greek yoghurt, half a teaspoon of salt, the juice of half a lemon, a tablespoon of tomato puree and a tablespoon of sunflower oil.

She then combines it with her tandoori masala spice mix, three garlic cloves, which can be crushed or grated, a half an inch of grated ginger and an optional tablespoon of butter.

She uses 1kg of chicken, preferably chicken thigh on the bone, which takes 45 minutes to cook, but chicken breast can be used instead.

The meat is left in the marinade for a minimum of half an hour or overnight and then baked in an oven pre-heated to 200c. It's important to turn and baste the chicken every 15 minutes.

"It really doesn't take as long as you might think to make," says Lajina, who volunteers with young enterprise students at Telford College.

For Lajina the enjoyment is in teaching others how to cook without relying on ready-made sauces.

"I think everybody should cooking from scratch, at least some of the time. That's not to say I don't eat any processed food, but when I can I cook from scratch because healthier and you don't have all of the preservatives," she says.

Alongside her cookery lessons, she sells her six blends of curry spice mixes which include Curry Masala that can be used to create a range of different restaurant favourites such as a jalfrezi, korma, tikka masala and rogan josh.

The former accountant set up her business in October 2013 after deciding on a change of career. "My girlfriends thought I should open a restaurant as they've always said my cooking was good, but I decided I wanted to teach what I know.

"I'm not a professional chef, I'm a home cook. I enjoy cooking hearty meals and I don't just cook Indian food, we eat lots of different cuisine. It's just something I'm really passionate about," says Lajina.

*To see the latest programme of cookery classes go to www.lajinamasala.com