If there is one chef who has a voice on gender equality and is actually making a difference with her impressive ‘all women kitchen’ model is her. She holds honorary fellowships from Queen’s College, Oxford, and King’s College London, with a PhD in British Constitutional Law. She is also the chef advocate for the UN World Food Programme. She is relentless and fearless while championing the cause of food justice, as she is also the first patron of the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation.
This Indian-born British restaurateur is Asma Khan, the culinary force who does not shy away from using her impressive stature to empower women, particularly immigrant women, and challenge archaic systemic barriers in hospitality. In this interview, we dive deep into her heritage, her philosophies, and her reverence for Indian cuisine.
Keeping Mughlai Ancestry and Bengali Heritage Alive in London
In an era when terms like innovation, fusion, and progressive menu have become more trendy, she continues to emphasise the joys of holding feasts, traditional recipes, hospitality, integrity, and community. The dishes at her restaurant ‘Darjeeling Express’ narrate her personal and cultural story.
She shares, “My Mughlai ancestry and Bengali heritage are not things I consciously try to keep alive; they live in me. The food at Darjeeling Express is a reflection of these roots, from the recipes to the hospitality. I want every guest to leave with the memory of being cared for, as if they had been welcomed into someone’s home.”
“Our menu at the Darjeeling Express tells my story, through every dish, I am preserving memories. I am not trying to reinvent the wheel; I am presenting something nostalgic, familiar, and almost spiritual. Food is not something I see as an implement to tweak to fit in with what may be unusual or different, so it stands out from the others. I want to present deeply rooted dishes on my menu, so if my mother or family members unexpectedly turned up, they would approve. This, to me, really matters. Although my restaurant, my cookbooks have all been UK-based, the nourishment, the inspiration and the sustenance for all of this comes from oceans away- my homeland in India”, she adds.
Darjeeling Express, a Favourite Among Hollywood A-listers
Asma is a chef who believes in doing rather than preaching. Her brain-child and award-winning restaurant ‘Darjeeling Express’ is iconic not just for its food but for its team. It is ‘the only restaurant in the world with a female founder and all-female staff in the kitchen’.
"The all-female kitchen is not a gimmick; it is my lived truth. These women were once home cooks and are now professional chefs, and that transformation is powerful. I want the industry to understand that talent is everywhere, and often the free labour of ‘housewives’ is overlooked. There are other restaurants that have an all-female kitchen, but these are still smaller cafes or NGOs like Suruchi in Kolkata. We are in the heart of London’s dynamic hospitality scene and at a price point that is similar to fine dining. The global fine dining industry is currently dominated by men who seem to have taken on the roles of Van Gogh-like tormented artists whom the world seems to be worshipping. This leaves little space for women who may have a different personality and perspective. This is also a straight-jacket in some ways, unless you use different ingredients like ants and live snails, it almost excludes anyone who wants to cook honest food without gimmicks and drama. There should be space for both styles of cooking," Khan says.
"We are not a zero-waste restaurant, but we do not fly in ingredients from great distances that require refrigeration in transit. Most of our ingredients are from the UK or Europe. We change our menu seasonally and do not serve out-of-season vegetables. In the next decade, I hope luxury dining will be more inclusive, sustainable, and grounded in authenticity," adds Asma.
When asked about the representation of regional food on global platforms, she agrees that Indian food has not yet been fully loved on global platforms. She shares that regional Bengali dishes like chingri malai curry, shukto, kosha mangsho, and paturi deserve more recognition for their complexity and beauty.
Asma's Role at the UN World Food Programme
Khan is also the chef advocate for the UN World Food Programme. Speaking of her role, she says, “The World Food Programme allows me to work closely with aid workers, nutritionists and the community to ensure that families who usually tend to be female headed have the best support available and that mothers also ensure that they get some nutrition, as we see in warzones and natural disasters, the women are running on empty to ensure their children get fed. The ‘Second Daughters Foundation’ is my charitable organisation, which is focused on highlighting gender discrimination, both overt and subtle, that occurs in families. This disproportionately impacts the second-born girl, where the disappointment of not having a son affects the way the family treats that girl. This is a very personal issue, which is not often discussed even within families. I want to raise this on a more public stage to highlight how this level of discrimination is deeply destructive.”
Asma's Favourite Culinary Indulgences That Make Her Feel At Home
1. Sweetcorn chicken soup in a Chinese cafeteria near South Kensington
2. Reza on High Street Kensington, also in London, serves Iranian jalebis called ‘Zoolbias’
3. Sema in New York, serving Malabar paratha
4. Bab al Yemen in London's lamb broth
5. Batata Harra from Yamal Alsham, also in London
In early 2026, Chef Asma will be doing a culinary trail in India, and she shares, “With JrnyOn, I will be taking travellers on a tour of cuisine and fabrics. I believe the pulse of a city is often felt off the beaten track, so I look forward to taking people away from the usual tourist spots.
