At Ammi’s Kitchen, the recipe for change is simple: mix one part delicious, home-cooked food with a generous helping of community spirit and serve it up with a side of empowerment. This isn’t your typical community project—it’s a space where migrant women from one of Sheffield’s neighbourhoods turn their culinary heritage into paid work, serving up the flavours of Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and more. But here’s the secret ingredient: it’s all about solidarity, not charity. Ammi’s Kitchen is where people come together—not just to eat—but to support, learn, and celebrate one another, one plate at a time.
Ammi’s Kitchen is an employment pipeline designed specifically for migrant women, providing paid opportunities to those with abundant culinary skills but limited formal qualifications or confidence. These women are trained in bespoke food hygiene courses tailored for individuals with English as a second language. Once they’ve gained a food hygiene qualification, they take their place as chefs at Ammi’s Kitchen, bringing the rich, diverse flavours of their home countries to the community.
The social enterprise is unique in that all its chefs are paid for their work—there are no volunteers here. This is not an act of charity but a step towards meaningful employment designed to build skills, confidence, and financial independence. The kitchen of Ammi is a women-only space, ensuring that the workplace remains trauma-informed and supportive. For many, it’s not only their first job in the UK but their first job ever. The emphasis is on nurturing employees, not just as workers but as individuals, through workshops on communication, budgeting, and business development.
This commitment to personal growth is bearing fruit. Several of Ammi’s Kitchen’s chefs have gone on to launch their own ventures: Prem is now a lunchtime trader at Union Street, Gowri is cooking at Cole’s Corner and Cambridge Street Collective, and Azra’s famous samosas are featured on Sheffield Table’s Menu at Leah’s Yard. These success stories highlight the incredible potential that exists within Sheffield’s migrant communities, unlocked through the nurturing support of Ammi’s Kitchen.
Ammi’s Kitchen offers a pay-as-you-feel Community Lunch every other Friday at Common Ground Community Centre. This inclusive model ensures that good, healthy food is accessible to everyone. The lunches bring people from different backgrounds together, fostering a sense of belonging and integration.
These events are more than just meals—they are moments of cultural exchange. As people taste dishes from across the world, they also share conversations about their lives, families, and experiences. It’s an afternoon that brings joy to the chefs as they witness the delight their food brings to the other locals in their community while gaining confidence through customer interaction and improving their English.
For those who prefer to enjoy these international flavours at home, Ammi’s Kitchen offers a takeaway service on alternate Fridays. Customers can pre-order a set meal for two, which includes a vibrant sabzi, a comforting dal, and perfectly cooked rice. Sustainability is a core value, so takeaways are available in compostable or recyclable packaging, or customers can bring their own containers. Ammi’s Kitchen even delivers to local homes, schools and businesses, making it easy for everyone to enjoy these delicious meals while supporting a vital community enterprise.
Ammi’s Kitchen isn’t just about feeding people—it’s about creating a sustainable future. Almost everything on the menu is vegan, made with seasonal ingredients, and packaged in compostable or recyclable materials. By encouraging customers to bring their own containers and walk or cycle to Common Ground Community Centre, the initiative also promotes eco-friendly habits within the community. What’s more, no food ever goes to waste. Leftover meals are frozen and redistributed to families in need through Family Voice, ensuring every dish finds a home.
This emphasis on sustainability extends to their Spice Packs, carefully crafted by the chefs and packaged in eco-friendly materials. These packs contain 14 authentic spices, easy-to-follow recipes, and access to a video cook-along tutorial. Perfect as gifts or to spice up your own cooking, these packs also support the broader mission of Ammi’s Kitchen by providing additional income to the chefs and promoting the flavours of their native countries.
Ammi’s Kitchen thrives thanks to the unwavering support of the local community. Whether it’s collaborating with events like the Nether Edge Market or selling spice packs at local shops like Zeds and The Bare Alternative, this initiative is deeply embedded in Sheffield’s social fabric. The chefs are not just workers but active participants in the local economy, using their skills to bring value to the area and build meaningful connections.
At its core, Ammi’s Kitchen is an example of “rung 3” on the food ladder—self-organised community change. It showcases what can be achieved when communities come together to harness their strengths, in this case, cooking knowledge, to create employment and cooperation. Through food, Ammi’s Kitchen is building community resilience, fostering integration, and showing that real, lasting change can come from within.
If you’re looking to support this inspiring initiative, Ammi’s Kitchen offers plenty of opportunities to get involved. You can join them for a Community Lunch at Common Ground Community Centre, S7 1HA on Fridays or treat yourself to a takeaway bursting with international flavours (dates below).
Ammi’s Kitchen shows what’s possible when we focus on solidarity, not charity.
Takeaway Dates: Fridays – October 18th, November 8th and 22nd, December 6th and 20th.
Community Lunches: October 11th and 25th, November 15th and 29th, December 13th.
Learn more at: ammiskitchensheffield.org
