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Asma Khan: My life in five dishes

A disregarded daughter who defied expectation to run one of London's top restaurants

When Asma Khan was born it was said her mother cried, but not tears of joy. As a second daughter born in 1960s India, Asma felt she was a disappointment, even a burden, because she could not inherit and would cost her family a fortune in dowries. But she went on to defy those low expectations and open one of London鈥檚 most sought-after restaurants.

Asma tells us how she could barely boil an egg when she first got married and moved to England, about the intense loneliness she felt so far from home, and how the smell of paratha convinced her that the only way to recover was to learn how to cook.

The Darjeeling Express founder describes the restaurant鈥檚 humble beginnings as a supper club in her London flat, why it has always had an all-female kitchen, and her plans to use food to empower female refugees and prostitutes.

This programme was first broadcast in January 2020.

Let us know what you think about the show - email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Asma Khan with a pakora and chutney. Credit: 成人快手)

Available now

26 minutes

Last on

Mon 20 Jul 2020 00:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 9 Jan 2020 02:32GMT
  • Thu 9 Jan 2020 03:32GMT
  • Thu 9 Jan 2020 04:32GMT
  • Thu 9 Jan 2020 05:32GMT
  • Thu 9 Jan 2020 11:32GMT
  • Thu 9 Jan 2020 18:32GMT
  • Thu 9 Jan 2020 21:32GMT
  • Thu 9 Jan 2020 23:32GMT
  • Sun 12 Jan 2020 08:32GMT
  • Thu 16 Jul 2020 10:32GMT
  • Thu 16 Jul 2020 15:32GMT
  • Thu 16 Jul 2020 21:32GMT
  • Thu 16 Jul 2020 22:32GMT
  • Sun 19 Jul 2020 07:32GMT
  • Mon 20 Jul 2020 00:32GMT

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