IF you were ever fortunate enough to attend one of British chef Asma Khan’s infamous supper clubs, you’d be the envy of thousands of food fanatics across the country.
Khan, the brains behind the immensely popular London eatery Darjeeling Express, has become known as one of the most influential and sought-after female restaurateurs of current times.
The origins of her professional culinary journey is a story in itself, beginning when she set up a supper club at her home in Kensington in 2012.
The inspiration came after she noticed that a number of South Asian women who worked as nannies and housekeepers in her local area did not appear to have any close relations. In seeing this, Khan invited them to her home to join her for dinner.
Soon, after building strong ties with the women, Khan decided to launch a supper club project in her home.
A relatively small-starting scheme, the club became infamous for the delicious dishes on offer and the inevitable feeling of community and family. Soon, word had spread and the demand for the supper clubs grew.
However, things became problematic when it emerged her two sons disliked the clubs and the presence of it within their house.
“In my own excitement and joy of cooking, I had forgotten that my children also have equal rights in that house,” Khan recalled.
Although she put the supper clubs on hold, she began to reach out to see if she could continue them elsewhere. Offered the opportunity to hold the club as a pop-up in a central London venue, she eventually went onto establish the Darjeeling Express in 2017.
Serving an array of dishes marketed as a “homage to Khan’s royal Mughlai ancestry and the busy streets of Kolkata, where she grew up”, the menu promises to take customers on a journey unlike other Indian eateries. A visual pleasure too, the restaurant’s interior is inspired by Khan’s childhood memories of growing up in West Bengal.
Even the name is a reference to Khan’s childhood – the Darjeeling Express was a train she used to ride upon as a youngster.
Over the last twelve months, the 50-year-old has arguably become more high-profile than ever before. She became the first British chef to feature on the popular Netflix documentary series Chef’s Table this spring and released her first cookbook, Asma’s Indian Kitchen, to critical acclaim last October.
In June, she was ranked number one on the Business Insider 2019 list of the 100 Coolest People in Food and Drink.
However, her move into the restaurant and food industry was not driven by aspirations related to wealth or recognition.
“It isn’t about the money, the accolades, it is a platform for me to talk about politics and race,” she stressed in an interview earlier this year.
It is also an opportunity for her to lend her voice to causes close to her heart.
In particular, Khan holds interests in the celebration of women and their right to thrive in the world. A percentage of all proceeds from Darjeeling Express will go to Second Daughters, a project founded by Khan, which sends celebration packages to families in India who bear a second girlchild.
A second daughter can be seen as a financial burden in India, due to the dowry expenses expected when a child marries.
A second daughter herself, Khan said she wanted to change the way a birth of a girl child is greeted in Indian families.
“The perception of being "unwanted" is something many second daughters talk about,” she remarked.
In her own restaurant in Soho, culinary staff are all female and most have never previously worked professionally in a restaurant before. Khan hopes the mentoring skills she has already learned can aid her in empowering more women.
“The ripple effect cannot be underestimated- empowering one woman can change the attitudes of the entire family,” she previously told GG2. “Financial security is an important part of this process and my future plans is to work on projects where women can achieve financial independence and also emancipation from the chains of patriarchy.”
