Asma’s Indian Kitchen

Darjeeling Express, the popular London restaurant founded by Asma Khan, started as a dinner for a dozen guests in a home where Indian food was lovingly cooked from family recipes going back generations. The pop-up in Soho was wildly successful and led to a permanent restaurant location at Kingly Court, Carnaby in London. The kitchen at Darjeeling Express is run by an all-women team and features home-style food cooked with passion. The restaurant champions females as a portion of the profits from the restaurant go to the Second Daughter’s Fund. You can read more about this charity and donate at the link provided. Asma’s debut cookbook, Asma’s Indian Kitchen: Home-Cooked Food Brought to You by Darjeeling Express pays homage to the author’s royal Mughlai ancestry and the busy streets of Kolkata, where she grew up. Winner of a World Gourmand award in the Indian Food Category UK, this title has made many best book lists in 2018.  The author’s bio is impressive. After completing her law degree she went on to earn a PhD in British Constitutional Law at Kings College London. Cooking was always her passion which spurred Asma to register for a food business. As mentioned above, Asma is a staunch advocate for social change and will be the first British Chef to star in Netflix’s award-winning series Chef’s Table. Asma’s Indian Kitchen was published in the US in February of this year by Interlink Books (and in the UK by Pavilion in October 2018). It is beautifully photographed with chapters organized as follows heavily focusing on feasts: Feasts for Two, Family Feasts, Feasting with Friends, and Celebratory Feasts. The book ends with menu suggestions to guide the reader in preparing an Indian spread. The dishes here are approachable with ingredients available at most major markets. There are recipes that I haven’t come across myself before in an Indian cookery book. Those dishes include Chicken chaap (a unique dish from Bengal), Spicy roast beef, and Broccoli with nigella seeds and egg.  We have a number of Asma’s recipes indexed from various publications that you can try now, as well as three from this particular book:  Asma is a force of nature and while I have never met her and likely never will – I want to be her friend. Her drive and compassion inspire me. Many thanks to Pavilion and Interlink for supplying copies of this brilliant title in our giveaway below.

Pavilion is offering 1 copy of this book to EYB Members in the UK and Interlink is offering 2 copies to members in the US. One of the entry options is to answer the following question in the comments section of this blog post.

Which recipe in the index would you try first?

Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest before posting or your entry won’t be counted. For more information on this process, please see our step-by-step help post and this forum post. Once you log in and enter your member name you will be directed to the next entry option – the blog comment. After that, there are additional options that you can complete for more entries. Be sure to check your spam filters to receive our email notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at midnight on June 1st, 2019.

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79 Comments

  • mpdeb98  on  April 1, 2019

    Saffron chicken korma

  • lauriesk  on  April 1, 2019

    Rice pudding with brown sugar

  • rchesser  on  April 1, 2019

    Sautéed okra with garlic (Sukhi bhindi)

  • AlexH  on  April 1, 2019

    Narangi (Orange) korma! Actually, everything.

  • Nkrieda78  on  April 1, 2019

    The Masoor Dal for sure!

  • love2chow  on  April 1, 2019

    Dahi baingan, the butternut squash with curry leaves

  • merkusje  on  April 2, 2019

    Hard-boiled eggs in gravy (Anda curry)

  • lapsapchung  on  April 2, 2019

    Shredded chicken with eggs in gravy (Chicken bharta)

  • Zaira  on  April 2, 2019

    Saffron Chicken Korma

  • StokeySue  on  April 2, 2019

    Ghee-fried prawns (Chingri bhaaja), they are just glorious in the restaurant

  • lean1  on  April 2, 2019

    Aubergine with potatoes

  • Zephyrness  on  April 2, 2019

    the garam masala, love a good spice blend

  • JenjiRM  on  April 2, 2019

    Lemon rice with cashew nuts!

  • jmay42066  on  April 2, 2019

    Potatoes with cashew nuts (Kaju aloo)

  • Sfz74  on  April 3, 2019

    Chicken chaap sounds tasty

  • ravensfan  on  April 3, 2019

    Spinach with Indian cheese (Saag paneer)

  • annmartina  on  April 3, 2019

    Egg halwa

  • banba1  on  April 3, 2019

    Shredded chicken with eggs in gravy (Chicken bharta)

  • uk2nl  on  April 4, 2019

    beetroot raita

  • kmn4  on  April 4, 2019

    Spiced chickpeas (Channa masala)

  • lpatterson412  on  April 4, 2019

    Smokey mashed tomatoes!

  • janv  on  April 4, 2019

    Baked saffron bread (Sheermal)

  • verorenee  on  April 4, 2019

    Ghee-fried prawns

  • saregama  on  April 4, 2019

    Spicy beef roast, with Aloo bharta, two of my dad’s favorites

  • ktcupcake  on  April 5, 2019

    Spiced rice and lentils

  • t.t  on  April 6, 2019

    Spinach with Indian cheese (Saag paneer)

  • cake17uk  on  April 6, 2019

    Saffron chicken korma (Zafran murgh korma)

  • LaurenE  on  April 6, 2019

    Saffron chicken korma

  • bhatch777  on  April 6, 2019

    channa masala

  • tennyogirl  on  April 6, 2019

    Courgette sabzi

  • bopper  on  April 7, 2019

    Masala omelette

  • jezairey  on  April 7, 2019

    I'm a tea addict, so I would try the Spiced Himalayan Tea – a new variation on the there, for me.

  • dtremit  on  April 7, 2019

    I was so inspired by Asma's episode on Chef's table!

    I've never seen an orange korma before — might be an interesting place to start.

  • elsid22  on  April 7, 2019

    Saffron bread!

  • sarahawker  on  April 8, 2019

    Lamb meatballs in a rich gravy (Shahi kofta)

  • thecharlah  on  April 8, 2019

    Spicy potato mash, raw version (Aloo bharta 1)

  • Livia  on  April 13, 2019

    Everything ! or could start with the Saffron chicken korma and the fried aubergine

  • jifar  on  April 14, 2019

    Shredded chicken with eggs in gravy.

  • liasim  on  April 14, 2019

    Spicy potatoes

  • Avrlind  on  April 14, 2019

    Sautéed okra with garlic

  • Jenamarie  on  April 21, 2019

    Spiced rice and lentils (Khichree)

  • rashaye  on  April 21, 2019

    Smoky mashed tomatoes

  • EmilyR  on  April 24, 2019

    Lemon rice with cashew nuts (Peela pulao)

  • jenmatt  on  April 24, 2019

    Spiced whole cauliflower

  • edyenicole  on  April 28, 2019

    spicy potatoes!

  • AnnaZed  on  April 29, 2019

    Hard-boiled eggs in gravy (Anda curry)

  • auntietina  on  May 1, 2019

    Spiced aubergine in garlic raita (Dahi baingan)

  • Sand9  on  May 1, 2019

    Rice Pudding with Brown Sugar x

  • AEA  on  May 2, 2019

    Narangi Korma

  • Dannausc  on  May 6, 2019

    Paneer

  • demomcook  on  May 10, 2019

    Enriched unleavened bread (Rogni roti)

  • sequoia55  on  May 11, 2019

    Spiced chickpeas (Channa masala)

  • mklittle  on  May 11, 2019

    Stuffed bell peppers!

  • Shelley.b  on  May 11, 2019

    Ghee-fried prawns

  • Elve56  on  May 11, 2019

    Beetroot raita, the combo of yogurt and beets sounds delicious.

  • virjeania  on  May 11, 2019

    I'd like to try making Tomato chutney with prunes and apricots

  • fluffies  on  May 12, 2019

    Chicken chaap!!

  • Sfgordon  on  May 12, 2019

    I'd try Spiced aubergine in garlic raita (Dahi baingan)

  • RickPearson54  on  May 13, 2019

    spicy potatoes

  • tararr  on  May 13, 2019

    Masoor Dal

  • lgroom  on  May 15, 2019

    Saffron Chicken Korma

  • cellenly  on  May 16, 2019

    Baked saffron bread

  • bookmark77  on  May 18, 2019

    Spicy potatoes

  • bookmark58  on  May 18, 2019

    Saffron chicken korma

  • silversand  on  May 18, 2019

    Spicy fried aubergine slices (Begun bhaja)

  • sidarlo  on  May 18, 2019

    Saffron chicken korma

  • bookmark31  on  May 18, 2019

    The saffron chicken korma.

  • vickyallum84  on  May 18, 2019

    Spicy Potato Mash

  • dazman  on  May 19, 2019

    Masoor dahl

  • zeenie  on  May 19, 2019

    Spiced chickpeas

  • carajanehunter  on  May 19, 2019

    Chicken chaap!

  • Isis1981uk  on  May 19, 2019

    The Vegetable pulao

  • Peach1234  on  May 19, 2019

    Saffron Chicken Korma

  • paulbing  on  May 19, 2019

    Anda Curry

  • mhindle  on  May 19, 2019

    Fish in coconut milk

  • sheridarby  on  May 19, 2019

    Saffron Chicken Korma

  • DimensionAEB  on  May 19, 2019

    I'd try the Saffron Chicken Korma

  • Julia  on  May 28, 2019

    Spicy potato mash cooked version

  • DarcyVaughn  on  June 1, 2019

    Tangy meat with lentils (Hyderabadi dalcha)

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