Asma Khan, the renowned British-Indian chef and author behind London’s Darjeeling Express, recently hosted a special event: a visit from King Charles and Queen Camilla. Before Ramadan, the royals experienced the restaurant’s hospitality, assisting with charitable food preparations. King Charles, notably, was so impressed with the fragrance of Khan’s biryani that he received a takeaway.
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Who is Asma Khan?
Originally from Calcutta, Asma Khan moved to the UK in 1996 to study law at King’s College and later earned a PhD in 2013, according to the BBC. Despite having no formal culinary training, she pursued her passion for food after becoming a mother of two. Her journey in the food industry began in 2012 with a supper club at home, which quickly grew into a successful business. In 2017, she launched Darjeeling Express, a unique restaurant where many of the chefs were South Asian nannies who had worked for local families.
TIME describes Khan as “a ball of energy with a wicked sense of humour” and “the auntie you would have called your favourite growing up.” Unlike many Indian restaurants in the West, where dishes often taste similar, TIME praises her food for being refreshingly different, calling it “the highest compliment.”
Beyond running her restaurant, Khan is also a celebrated author. Her first cookbook, Asma’s Indian Kitchen (2018), featured family recipes, while her second, Ammu (2022), was a tribute to her mother’s home-cooked meals. She gained international recognition in 2019 as the first British chef to appear on Chef’s Table on Netflix and has also been featured on BBC Saturday Kitchen and Celebrity MasterChef. In 2024, she was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People.
