Darjeeling Express, afternoon chai
A colourful, spicy and tasty adventure, a Darjeeling Express Afternoon Chai hosted by the Asma Khan, who has been living in London since 1991, and only started cooking when she went back to India in 1993 to learn and master her ancestors cuisine, back four generations of cooking wisdom.
Learning cooking from her family started a long love affair with food and the now well known Darjeeling Express Supperclubs in Kensington. Asma’s love for cooking and feeding is translated in a vibrant table of fresh and delectable fare.The Darjeeling Express, afternoon tea, no cake to be seen at this tea party – I called it Afternoon Chai, is the latest of Asma venture in her beautiful, full of light and airy home. I was invited by Asma to experience the traditional Calcutta afternoon tea. I felt the love for Calcutta. You will not go hungry for days afterwards….
We started with a refreshing Indian lemonade, which I forgot to take picture!
lemonade- a lemonade made with freshly squeezed lemon juice- with
sugar and a touch of Himalayan rock salt- perfect for the humid summer of
Bengal- the touch of salt is to replenish the body salts lost in the humid
muggy climate.
Darjeeling Express, afternoon chai menu
 Darjeeling Express, afternoon chai |
| Momos and Paneer samosas with homemade chutneys and tamarind sauce by Asma |
Darjeeling Beef Dumplings with Sesame and red chilli Chutney- the momos were steamed in the traditional
Maktu (an aluminium steamer- so not bamboo!)- The sauce with sesame is the
traditional dipping sauce- together with the spicy green chutney! All chutneys and sauces were homemade, I really enjoyed the superb heat of the green chutney.
Tamarind Chutney- Homemade Samosas- for Indians Samosa are like a sandwich- there
are endless types of fillings you can put in a samosa!
Darjeeling Express, afternoon chai
Coriander and Green Chilli Chutney- Spicy Potato Chops- street food- every city in India
has a version of potato chop or patties- fried in big iron karai (similar to a
wok) or cooked on an iron tawa- cheap and cheerful street food! Simple snack made of potatoes, the texture is fluffy and the subtle mix of of ginger, onion, turmeric, mustard was delightful.
Darjeeling Express, afternoon chai
*Dahi Puchkas- Chaat with spiced yogurt and Tamarind
Chutney-
I ate this before at Asma’s pop-up in Soho and I learnt that this street food has different names in different Indian region-
Pani Puri, Golgappa, Pani Batasha- In Bengal it is called Puchkas. A street food speciality from
Calcutta- the stuffing is the same as the Puchka- but instead of the tangy
tamarind water- the shells are layered with two sauces- the first is a homemade Tamarind
sauce that has been cooked for several hours and the second is spiced yogurt.
The “chaat” is then garnished with served with chopped coriander.
an explosion of flavours and texture – amazing!
*Masala Chai Asma’s Chai had been cooking since early morning- with fresh ginger, peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamom
and bay leaf- a fragrant sweetened tea which despite the combination of
different spices still tasted delicate – not too sweet, delightful aromas and flavours, it’s one of those things that you want drink more and more…
Darjeeling Express, afternoon chai
*Calcutta Chicken Kati Roll- The paratha, egg and chicken kabab wrapped roll
was developed in the 1800s in Calcutta to make it possible for the newly
settled British residents of the East India Company eat something with their
hands without coming into direct contact with the food! Some clever food stall
owner realised these and that newly arrived Brits could increase sales- so found a
clever technique. Juicy morsels of marinated chicken served in a warm paratha layered with egg, very feeling and again genius!
 Darjeeling Express, afternoon chai |
| Channa Masala – chickpeas, Venison Kofta, and Puri (bread) |
Chickpeas – white and black chickpeas loveleliness
“Shikar” masala (traditional Indian spices for game) Hunting game is no longer
allowed by law in India. The recipe for this kofta comes from Asma’s family and
is a traditional recipe for cooking game- usually was made by men in the family
and contained much simpler combination of spices as this dish was often cooked
outdoors during a hunt and away from the kitchen. – Beyond amazing, I can’t explain how good this kofta is! Clever combination of spices made this, in my view, the star of the tea.
bread
 |
| Gjjar Ka Halwa |
cream-This
dish is a labour of love! Asma told us the Halwa takes hours to cook and has to be stirred
regularly to prevent the milk from getting stuck and burnt at the bottom of the
pan. This halwa was made in ceremonial and festive occasions in Asma’s family
and often prepared with cooks working in pairs to take turns at stirring the
halwa as it was too much work for one person to attend to all day! The Halwa
was served with two kinds of cream- clotted and double! I can confirm that this dessert doesn’t taste carrot! I am not sure what happens in the cooking process the carrot taste disappeared. Served warm, it tastes heaven in double cream and topped with clotted cream that slowly melts into the pudding. I heard angel’s singing! well, almost…
Asma Khan, Darjeeling Express, afternoon chai
Brilliant experience of Indian afternoon tea, vibrant, colourful, explosion of tastes, great company and superb hostess. Highly recommended! The afternoon chai costs £25/head, BYO. The next Afternoon Chai is scheduled to take place on the 30 of August 2014.
for more last minute updates on Darjeeling Express supperclub and Afternoon Chai party follow Asma on Twitter: @darjeelingexpress
How lovely! great photos too
cheers Fede (PastaBites), it was a great experience! 🙂
Wonderful pictures! Thank you for coming- I am so happy you enjoyed the afternoon!
Lovely photos as always Rosana, I've had the pleasure of eating Asma's food and this looked to be delicious as expected. Asma's a feeder par excellence 🙂
thank you Asma for feeding me with delectable food x
Ailbhe, gosh it was such a feast and Asma is such a brilliant host too. x
Wow, that looks amazing. Well done Asma. Will try to get to your next one.
Hi May, you should go, one advice: don't have lunch beforehand! What delicious way to spend Sunday afternoon…;-)