It is fitting that chef, Asma, decided to name her one-of-a-kind, culinary franchise, The Darjeeling Express. Though she hopes to arrive at a permanent location in the future, her temporary pop-up service has already earned her 8th place in the Evening Standard’s top 15 restaurants of 2015, and together with the many specially themed supper clubs she enjoys hosting, her authentic and time-honoured Indian cuisine has erupted on social media to the point where Klout – a statistics-gathering site that keeps tabs on the people who have the most influence over certain topics – ranked her third in the world for Indian gastronomy. It seems that the magic in Asma’s dishes emanates from the very transience of her kitchens. As we talked more with the gushing restaurateur, we found that this was not so far off from the truth: “from the porters to the cooks,” she told us “my staff are all women, who come from different class backgrounds. They are also not necessarily qualified in the official way. Some have no formal training to speak of, but can cook exquisitely. In fact, one of my proudest accomplishments with Darjeeling Express is proving how valuable a home cook can be. It is a gendered occupation, but not a skill to be looked down upon.” Asma’s warmth towards her team naturally extends to the customer: “I really believe there is a power and place with good, regional cooking. I do not believe in treating the customer as if they’re on a carousel: I don’t rush them to leave the table; all my dishes are inherited family recipes that I prepare with care, and people can feel that. Regulars call me auntie because they feel that they’re at home: the heart recognises the food, cooked with love. It’s very distinctive. I have a customer-base comprised of different ethnicities - Italians, Japanese, Pakistani, French – and I’ve been told, “if my mum did cook Indian, it’d probably be like this. This also provides a social platform where people can feel relaxed about discussing their interests, India, film, politics, where they came from, how they grew up.” Though Asma’s Darjeeling Express provides local, Indian cooking then, it is clear that the experience one takes away with them is truly cosmopolitan.
