Contents
Asma Khan
Founding Darjeeling Express and championing women in restaurant kitchens.
Darjeeling Express · Asma’s Indian Kitchen
- Born
- July 1969
- Birthplace
- Kolkata, India
More people
Asma Khan
Asma Khan is an Indian-born British restaurateur and author. Her London restaurant developed from home supper clubs and became known for regional Indian cooking and its all-female kitchen team.
Early life
Kolkata childhood
Grew up with family cooking traditions and a mother who ran a catering business.
Learning to cook
After moving to Cambridge in 1991, learned recipes from relatives to recreate food she missed.
Career
- 2012
Supper clubs
Began hosting meals at home after completing a law doctorate.
- 2017
Darjeeling Express
Opened a permanent London restaurant.
- 2019
Chef’s Table
Appeared in the Netflix documentary series.
Restaurants & books
Darjeeling Express
Created a restaurant drawing on home cooking and women’s culinary knowledge.
Asma’s Indian Kitchen
Published her first cookbook.
Ammu
Published a book centred on food and memories of her mother.
Beyond work
Legal education
Earned a doctorate in law from King’s College London.
Hunger advocacy
Became a World Food Programme advocate in 2022.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Padma Lakshmi's tribute ↗Photo: Calcutta1969. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
