“Food is an important touchstone of society,” said Aman Dosanj, a former Southampton and Arsenal goalkeeper, a marketing geek, and a culinary storyteller to Outlook Traveller Eats. Dosanj’s path has been anything but linear. Before the world of food called out to her, she trained day and night to become the first British South Asian woman to represent England at any level.
Her love for the sport started early, long before food entered her life. “We had cricket stumps on one end and a football goal on the other; we were quite outdoorsy that way.” Her natural flair for the game, coupled with the support of her family and her coach, inspired her to reach great levels as she became the only South Asian woman to represent Arsenal in the top flight.
However, an injury and her father’s deteriorating health changed the course of her path. Dosanj moved to Canada with her family, and her focus shifted towards realising her father’s dream: to open a restaurant of his own. “That’s how food entered my life,” reminisced Dosanj, who, along with her family, went on to start Poppadoms in Canada. For her, this venture also doubled up as a way to form relationships in a new country. However, with her mother’s health deteriorating, it no longer felt worth it to keep pushing through. The toll it was taking—physically and emotionally—left the family with no choice but to close its doors. However, it opened up the space for her to create something better with paisley.
But for a family like the Dosanj’s, giving up is not in the DNA. In the face of this hardship, they realised it was even more crucial to strengthen the connection they had with Indian food. Therefore, they planned a trip to their homeland, which revitalised their passion for the cuisine. “India is such an amazing place, vast with its diversity, there is still so much we don’t know,” said Dosanj.
She was particularly fascinated by the beauty of simple ingredients that are reflected most authentically in Indian home cooking. “I think the best food comes from people’s homes. And it’s a side that never really depicted in Western menus,” she adds. This realisation gave her a new goal—to highlight and document the true essence of Indian cuisine, far from what’s stereotypical—and inspired her to start “The Paisley Notebook” in 2017, a culinary project focused on highlighting lesser-known regional dishes and sustainable practices through pop-up dinners.
For Dosanj, these dinners are not just another culinary experience, but a way of sharing stories about fairness, equality, sustainability, and people. With surprise menus that are only revealed on the spot, diners are invited to accompany their appetite with curiosity and an open mind. “I craft an inclusive menu. My idea is to show people that they are not just coming for a fancy dinner, but a story as well. These dinners are my way of creating a better culinary space, especially for women and women of colour. It is also important that this experience remains real and grounded—if I mess up, you see me messing up because it’s always an open-plan kitchen,” she said.
Although one can never guess what’s on the menu, Dosanj ensures that India and quality, locally-sourced ingredients are always at the heart of it. The recipes for what Dosanj cooks come straight from her grandmom’s and mom’s kitchens, whether she’s serving a classic Indian-style samosa or her favourite, meen pollichathu, from Kerala. “Food is sacred for me, and it is magical when you let the ingredients shine,” she said.
