The College is delighted to announce the election of Asma Khan as an Honorary Fellow. Asma Khan is the chef and owner of Darjeeling Express. She moved to Cambridge from Calcutta in 1991 and now resides in London with her husband and two boys. After studying law, she went on to complete a PhD in British Constitutional Law at King’s College London.
Cooking was always her passion and she began her food career in 2012 with a supper club in her home. In 2015, she opened a pop-up in a Soho pub to much acclaim, and the restaurant Darjeeling Express opened its doors in June 2017. A year later, her debut cookbook Asma’s Indian Kitchen was published and crowned winner in the UK category for food publishing in Indian cuisine in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.
The Evening Standard listed her in The Progress 1000 as one of London’s most influential people in 2019. She has been included in the eighth edition of the GG2 Power List – profiling Britain’s 101 most influential Asians – and she is the first chef to be featured on Vogue‘s list of 25 most influential women of the year (for 2020). In 2021 Khan was shortlisted by GQ Food & Drink Awards in the Veuve Clicquot Innovator category.
Asma took part in the College’s programme of meals and discussions featuring innovative guest chefs that forms part of a wider sustainability initiative to explore the College’s food systems. Current students welcomed the opportunity to hear her experiences and greatly valued the time she spent in College. The College looks forward to deepening its connection with her and is especially excited about planning a cookery masterclass for students with her in the coming months.
