ASMA KHAN broke the mold in 2017 when she opened one of the world’s only all-female kitchens staffed by home cooks rather than professionally trained chefs. Nearly a decade on, the Indian-born British restaurateur continues to eschew convention, prioritizing locally sourced over out-of-season produce and pushing back against culinary fads that she says wreak havoc on the environment.
Considered one of Britain’s most influential food voices, Ms. Khan’s work has been recognized by the Michelin Guide, the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, and the Johannes van Dam Prize, a lifetime-achievement award for contributions to gastronomy that she won in 2024. Since 2022, she has served as a UN World Food Program chef advocate for her work raising awareness of global hunger crises.
Speaking with Reuters from Kolkata, she makes her case for seasonal cooking and why she thinks following culinary hype can do more harm than good.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Q: You recently completed your first culinary tour of India. How did that project come about?
A: I’ve always felt that India has so many layers. A lot of people don’t even understand that there is nothing called an Indian cuisine. It’s like saying I’m having “American food” or “European food.”
India is divided into wheat-growing areas and rice-growing areas. It’s not just that the staple is different; the food is different. With rice, we eat with our hands. The dal is watery. Whereas if you look at the dal makhani (a dish made of black lentils and kidney beans), it’s so thick because it’s being eaten with bread. You don’t want it to be soggy. I’ve never heard a chef explaining these things.
I come from an area where there’s a lot of fish, and that completely changes what you do because it also depends on where you are, how hot the chilies are. In Gujarat and Bengal, we don’t have a lot of chilies because they’re damp. The drier areas, the chili is stronger. So I wanted to do a culinary trip (that’s) not like a encyclopedia, taking them around and blinding them with science. I wanted them to taste the difference.
Q: Your third and latest cookbook, Monsoon, focuses on seasonal cooking. Should home cooks be thinking about seasonality more — and how practical is it in a place like Britain?
A: Absolutely. I don’t think that the customer is always right. Very often we have customers asking us, “Why don’t you have jackfruit?” or “I would love to have okra.” I don’t want a jet-lagged okra on my menu. I don’t want the air miles and the carbon footprint. So I gracefully say no, we go by the seasons in Britain. The most classic aloo gobi matar (a dish made of cauliflower, potatoes, and peas), which is an all-time favorite of Indian vegetarian food, it’s all British — the potatoes and the cauliflower. We make beetroot chop with smoked chilies and fennel, and the beetroot comes from the Fens, (marshy lands drained for agriculture) near Cambridge.
The reason why the Earth has this ingredient for you is because your body needs it. When you look at what happens in a place like Rajasthan, where there is this wind which is called “The Loo,” it’s so hot — it’s like fire on your skin. But that same (hot wind) that goes over the watermelon sweetens it, and when everything else has died in the heat, there is that fruit for you. We are being compensated by nature and by the universe. Let us embrace it.
Q: To your point on the carbon footprint of jet-lagged okra, it sounds like there’s an environmental argument for eating more seasonally too.
A: When I moved to England 35 years ago, you never saw strawberries year-round. Now you do, and no one is surprised. And when you look at where the strawberries have come from, (they’re) from Argentina, Peru. We have become so arrogant in our power and our sense of being invincible when you can eat whatever you want to eat when you want to eat (it).
Q: You’ll be delivering the SOAS Food Studies Center Annual Distinguished Lecture next month on food and heritage. Can you give us a preview of what it will entail?
A: I’m using that SOAS lecture to really talk about the power politics of food — from the way that farmers are treated, the fact that everybody feels they’re being extremely pious when they have jackfruit because they’re not killing an animal. But the farmer who is growing that jackfruit is borrowing money to use fertilizers. Jackfruit is a huge fruit; it takes a long time to grow. They are growing for the Western market. The farmer is going to go into debt growing jackfruit for this person who thinks they’re being very noble by eating pulled jackfruit instead of pulled meat.
I think we should do everything within reason, in moderation. You know, like what’s happening with matcha. I mean, why are we so driven by trends and obsessions (to the extent) that, in Japan, they’re running out of matcha?
I want to use the SOAS lecture to talk about honor and respect, the politics of food, but also the fact that food should always be interwoven with justice. We need to know this fruit, this vegetable, whose water was (used to grow) it, whose land was it grown on? These are very important things. We need to also make choices. If it is out-of-season strawberries, or when you know that the water came from a source that was not (ethical), choose not to buy it. I think that’s really important.
Q: Darjeeling Express is known for its all-female, immigrant-led kitchen. How radical was this concept when you first pitched it?
A: I still remember when I spoke about opening my restaurant in 2017 with an all-female kitchen. Everybody, including well-meaning women in the industry, came and told me I would fail. They said you need professionals — i.e. men — who’ve been to culinary school, who’ve trained under the Taj and Oberoi’s and five-star hotels in India. One of the things everyone was concerned about was that we didn’t have the professional skills that you needed to run a restaurant. Everyone said, “You don’t have culinary experience. Maybe you should go to culinary school.”
I have life experience. I have failed more times than anyone can imagine. But I thought, if I succeed, every woman who’s going through this dark phase in life can look at Darjeeling Express and see we are victorious.
Q: What tips do you have for other women aspiring to break into the industry?
A: I think the main important thing is you believe in yourself. You’re the boss. Respect yourself and honor yourself. Then everybody else will.
The other thing is build your tribe. And your tribe doesn’t have to be women. Your tribe doesn’t have to look like you. Your tribe can be just empathetic men and women. Yes, I have an all-female kitchen, but I have incredible men who support me. Never think you can make it on your own. You don’t become weak because you’re asking for help. I still ask people for help. I don’t think it makes me less successful or powerful.
Q: London’s food scene is constantly evolving. Which chefs or trends are exciting you right now?
A: I’m watching, from the Indian perspective, a lot of regional dishes coming in. Thank God people no longer feel that they need to have butter chicken and Kali Dal, which is only eaten by a microscopic number of people in India.
I also am very optimistic that you will see more African food coming in. I’m seeing it still on the street level and some in restaurants. Because we have so many opportunities to start from the street (in London) — I started from my house (hosting) supper clubs — it allows you to build a following. I’m enjoying seeing a lot of dishes whose names I’ve never (heard before).
Q: Finally, Ramadan begins this week. How are you preparing for it this year, and what does cooking during the month mean to you?
A: It’s very hard to explain how, unless you go through this, it’s a month where suddenly everything shuts off. Even though the whole world around you isn’t fasting, somehow you’re in this zone of huge humility to understand that I have chosen not to eat and drink because of my faith. But so many people of every faith and none live this life of food insecurity. And the fact that I’m going through this, I feel that this is so sacred and so important for me, especially as a restaurateur. We have people who come and break their fast with us. And I’m grateful. I serve them personally if I’m there because I want them to feel that I respect them. — Reuters
