[on Monica’s The Devil in Us] Monica’s wonderful, internationally-flavored collection is full of spice and life. The beguiling voice of a true storyteller will lure you out of your self into her intriguing, fictional world. Enjoy!
Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Crescent and Bird of Paradise
[on Monica’s A Life of Spice] Monica writes stories about food, but often they are really stories about searching. She looks for what the world will reveal if you ask questions of the things we usually keep silent. She’s a generous writer, seeking the finer, richer sides of us.
Francis Lam, Editor-at-Large, Clarkson Potter, and New York Times Magazine columnist
Monica Saigal lives—and writes—by the conviction that flavor is a universal language. From the steam of a masala chai to the hush of a midnight story, she turns everyday moments into portals of wonder, inviting readers to taste the world and, in tasting, to belong.
Born in New Delhi, seasoned by childhood years in the Middle East, and now rooted near Washington, D.C., Monica carries a passport of the senses. Geography shapes her sentences: jasmine thick Gulf air, D.C.’s cherry blush dawns, the monsoon thunder she still hears when cumin hits hot oil. Each place she has called home infuses her pages with a cosmopolitan warmth that feels at once intimate and boundless.
Her bibliography spans continents of genre: cookbooks that demystify spice (Modern Spice), novels where food is both comfort and catalyst (Karma and the Art of Butter Chicken, A Kiss in Kashmir), short stories that linger like perfume on silk (The Devil in Us), and a mosaic novel that braids the mystical with the everyday (The Soul Catcher). Her recipes and essays appear in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bon Appétit, NPR, and four editions of Best Food Writing.
Readers young and old fell in love with her picture book Papa’s Butter Chicken, selected for People magazine’s 2024 Gift Guide and BooksForTopics’ national reading list. Mashable named her one of its “Top Ten Food Writers on Twitter,” celebrating her early mastery of digital storytelling.
Story as a Gathering Place
Monica’s words leap off the page and into community: her keynote “Flavors Without Borders” launched William & Mary’s 2024 “Bread & Butter” culinary diplomacy program, while the DMV Papa’s Butter Chicken Festival she founded raised vital funds for World Central Kitchen. She leads “Write With All Five Senses” workshops at venues from NPR to the Smithsonian, teaching writers to stir emotion the way chefs layer spice.
A graduate of The George Washington University, with a master’s from Lynchburg College and a bachelor’s from Bangalore University, she reveres education as both gift and responsibility. She serves on committees for Les Dames d’Escoffier and the International Association of Culinary Professionals, and mentors students across the United States.
A New Chapter, Same Heart
In reclaiming her maiden name, Saigal, in 2023, Monica embraced origin and evolution in one gesture—proof that a good story, like a good meal, is ever unfolding. Today she coaches emerging voices, partners with nonprofits, and proves daily that narrative can nourish on every level.