Darina Allen: Three Indian recipes from the inspiring London-based cook Asma Khan

Irish Examiner

24-05-2025

Darjeeling Express has been on my wish list for several years, but on my last trip to London, I finally managed to get a table there. Its owner, the wonderfully feisty Indian cook, Asma Khan has intrigued and inspired me for several years.
Asma has, for some time now, been one of the brightest stars on the London restaurant scene. Despite being proudly Indian, she was the first British chef to be featured on Netflix's Chef's Table.
Asma was born in Calcutta, the second daughter of royal parentage. That may not seem significant, but although attitudes are changing somewhat nowadays, in India daughters are often seen as a burden for various reasons, not least because families need to provide a dowry to pay for them to marry. 'A first born girl is sad, a second daughter is a disaster', so from the beginning, girls feel of lesser value with far fewer opportunities open to them than their brothers.
It's rare in India for people to marry outside their own region. Asma however, is descended from a warrior tribe, her father was a Muslim Rajput, her mother a Muslim Bengali, so it could be said that she inherited genes from two powerful traditions.
So, from childhood, Asma made a habit of rejecting expectations of a 'second daughter'. Most girls were in arranged marriages by the time they were 18. She loved cricket and played in the streets with the boys and her friend from the slums — at that time considered scandalous. Later, she became the first member of her family to attend college, qualified as a lawyer and completed a doctorate in British Constitutional Law.
She left home without ever learning to cook. When she moved to Cambridge to join her graduate tutor husband in 1991, she could scarcely make toast. She was in culture shock, frozen cold, incredibly lonely and unable to recreate the food of her country that she craved so badly.
She resolved to learn how to cook, so she returned to India for a few months to learn from her mother, mother-in-law and the cooks in her house. When she returned to the UK, she yearned to feed others who were going through the same loneliness and yearning that she experienced. When her husband was away on his travels, she invited other immigrants, housewives and second daughters whom she met at the children's school to dinner in her house. Eventually they became 'supper clubs'. Her home-cooked Mughlai dinners became legendary.
Vivek Singh of the Cinnamon Club in Westminster tasted her food and invited Asma to host lunch, the beginning of a new chapter.
Asma's rise to the top had many, many challenging twists and turns and there was much racial and gender discrimination before she eventually managed to open her first restaurant, Darjeeling Express. Her female kitchen team was and is still made up of immigrants and 'second daughters' who cook Asma's dishes with love and pride.
Asma is a force of nature, a relentless campaigner for social change, unstoppable in her mission to change attitudes to women in all areas of life. If you can get to her restaurant, brilliant, but otherwise seek out her books.
She has written two, Asma's Indian Kitchen which won a World Gourmand Award for best Indian cookbook in 2018 or her last cookbook Monsoon: Delicious Indian Recipes for Every Day, and Season, published by DK London (Penguin Random House) which these recipes come from.
Asma Khan's Omelette Curry
recipe by:Darina Allen
In Bengal, eggs are not just a breakfast item — they are served as a main course in a family meal.
Servings
4
Preparation Time 
10 mins
Cooking Time 
20 mins
Total Time 
30 mins
Course 
Main
Ingredients For the gravy (sauce)
100ml vegetable oil
2.5cm cassia bark (or cinnamon stick)
2 bay leaves
150g brown onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
250g fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp sugar (any type)
120ml water
1 tbsp lemon juice
For the omelette
6 medium/large eggs
2 tbsp vegetable oil
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves
Method
Start by preparing the gravy. Heat the oil in a deep saucepan over a medium-low heat.
Add the cassia bark and bay leaves, followed by the sliced onions.
Stir the onions until they start to turn dark brown, ensuring they cook evenly. Add the ginger and garlic paste and stir for a minute.
Add the chopped tomatoes and stir for a few minutes before adding the chilli powder, salt, and sugar. Add the measured water and bring to the boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer.
While the gravy is simmering, prepare the omelette.
It may be easier to make two omelettes if you have a small or medium frying pan. Whisk the eggs in a bowl.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the salt and pepper to the eggs and whisk again before pouring into the pan.
Sprinkle over the green chillies and coriander and cook until the eggs are set.
Remove from the pan and set aside to cool.
When cool to the touch, cut the omelette into thick strips. Ideally you want to have six thick strips. If you cut the strips too thin, they will break up and disintegrate in the gravy.
Remove the lid from the gravy and stir. If there is still a lot of liquid, increase the heat and let it evaporate.
The gravy should have the consistency of thick soup. Add the omelette strips and stir to cover all the strips with the gravy.
Add the lemon juice, taste for seasoning, and serve warm.
Asma Khan's Achari Murgh
recipe by:Darina Allen
Chicken cooked in pickling spices and yogurt. This dish is a family favourite in my home in India. The use of pickling spices has been linked to the royal family of Bhopal, where some say the dish originated.
Servings
6
Preparation Time 
10 mins
Cooking Time 
1 hours 15 mins
Total Time 
1 hours 25 mins
Course 
Main
Ingredients 6 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, halved and sliced into thin half-moons
¼ tsp fennel seeds
¼ tsp black mustard seeds
¼ tsp nigella seeds
1/8 tsp fenugreek seeds
¼ tsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tbsp ginger paste
1kg skinless chicken thighs on the bone
½ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
1kg plain yogurt
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 fresh green chilli, slit open lengthways; plus extra, chopped,
to garnish
handful of coriander leaves, chopped, to garnish
Method
Heat the oil in a deep, heavy-based saucepan that has a lid over a high heat.
Take one tip of sliced onion and dip it into the edge of the oil.
The oil is hot enough when the onion starts to sizzle immediately.
If the onion does not sizzle immediately, wait for a minute and try with another slice of onion.
Do not use the previous onion slice for the test, add that slice to the pan with the rest of the sliced onions when the oil is at temperature.
Fry the onions until golden brown and caramelised, then remove with a slotted spoon and spread over a plate so they don't become soggy.
To the same oil, add all the seed spices at the same time.
Wait until you hear the mustard seeds pop, then add the garlic and ginger pastes and stir until fragrant.
If the paste is sticking to the pan, add a splash of water to deglaze the pan. Add the chicken thighs and seal the meat all over, then add the ground turmeric, coriander, and chilli powder.
Crush the caramelised onions in a pestle and mortar (or in a bowl with the end of a rolling pin) and mix them with the yogurt, then add the mixture to the pan along with the salt and bring to the boil.
Cover the pan and reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove the lid, add the slit chilli and continue to cook uncovered for a further 30 minutes, stirring the chicken until the sauce clings to the meat.
Taste for seasoning and adjust if required.
Garnish with chopped green chillies and coriander and serve with rice and salad.
Asma Khan's Shadha Bamdhakopi
recipe by:Darina Allen
The cabbage in this recipe should still have a bit of a crunch in it and the addition of cashew nuts gives the dish a lovely texture.
Servings
6
Preparation Time 
10 mins
Cooking Time 
20 mins
Total Time 
30 mins
Course 
Side
Ingredients 4 tbsp vegetable oil
150g raw cashew nuts
2 dried red chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
400g canned chopped tomatoes (or 3-4 medium fresh tomatoes, chopped)
½ tsp chilli powder
1 ½ tsp salt
750g white cabbage, shredded
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill (or any fresh herbs you have available), to garnish
Method
Heat the oil in a karai, wok, or deep saucepan over a medium heat until shimmering. Add the cashew nuts and stir to ensure all sides are cooked. As they will continue to cook in the residual heat, do not wait until the nuts turn dark brown – turn the heat off and use a slotted spoon to remove them to a plate. Remove and discard any burnt cashews as they will make your dish bitter. Try to leave as much of the oil behind in the pan.
Check there are no cashew pieces left in the oil and set the pan back over a medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the whole dried chillies and cumin seeds, and stir until the chillies darken.
Add the turmeric, then immediately add the chopped tomatoes followed by the chilli powder and salt. Reduce the heat and keep stirring at regular intervals until the oil comes to the edges of the spiced tomato mix. With the heat on low, add the shredded cabbage and coat with the tomato mix. Increase the heat to medium-high.
If the slices of cabbage are thin, stir-fry for 4-5 minutes. Thicker slices will need 6-8 minutes, covered, and a further 2 minutes of stir-frying uncovered.
Taste for seasoning, then return the cashew nuts to the pan and mix through. Garnish with the chopped herbs before serving.
This goes with any rice dish or bread. It is also the perfect texture to wrap in a chapati or tortilla accompanied with a raita.
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Helen Finnegan of Knockdrinna Farmhouse Cheese is offering a one day cheese making course which is designed to show you how to make and mature your own cheese at home. Cheese tasting lunch with wine included.
Takes place on the last Saturday of the month located in Stoneyford, Co. Kilkenny. For more information, contact Helen on 086 859 7716
knockdrinna.com
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Darina Allen: Three recipes to try at home inspired by the London food scene