1. Asma Khan — Chef and owner of Darjeeling Express

It's fair to say Asma Khan didn't get into cooking via the traditional route. She didn't train at Le Corden Bleu and she didn't work her way through the ranks under a Michelin-starred chef.

Khan was born into Indian royalty, but moved to the UK to be with her husband in 1991 when she was 22 years old. She graduated with a PhD from King's College London after turning down a place at Cambridge, specialising in British Constitutional law, which she later said was "an excuse to write about politics."

Cooking started off as a relief from homesickness, and grew into a supper club, which, in turn, has grown into one of the most respected restaurants in London: Darjeeling Express.

Her kitchen is run entirely by South Asian women, many of whom, like Khan, are second daughters. Unlike the births of boys, births of a second girl are mourned in India instead of celebrated. Part of the proceeds from Darjeeling Express goes to Khan's Second Daughters Fund, which raises money to send "celebration packages for the birth of the second daughter and continue to support her through her education."

"It isn't about the money, the accolades, it is a platform for me to talk about politics and race," Khan recently told Eater.

Though she might not be in it for the trophies, that hasn't stopped her from racking up the awards.

Khan has been voted "Female Entrepreneur of the Year" at the Asian Restaurant Awards, "Entrepreneur of the Year" in the Asian Women of the Year Awards, and this year she became the first British chef to be featured in Netflix's Emmy-nominated series "Chef's Table."

The chef celebrates her 50th birthday in July, and in typical Asma Khan style, she told Business Insider she's marking the occasion with a trip to Northern Iraq to open an all-female cafe for ISIS survivors.

What have you got planned for your birthday?