About Monica

 

Monica has been teaching Indian cookery for over 10 years after founding THE SPICE CLUB – her own Indian cookery school and pop-up restaurant in Manchester and Birmingham. The Spice Club is truly a labour of love and reflects her passion for showcasing authentic Indian cookery. It grew through word-of-mouth, from an invitation of eight complete strangers to dine in her front room, to national acclaim, an Amazon Prime TV series and a 6-month wait-list for attendance to her cookery classes. 

Monica is also the founder of the very recently launched SHIKSHAK an online Indian cookery school, which was born out of the best we saw in each other during a very tough 2020. COVID-19 and the associated restrictions forced us apart to keep us safe. It brought our need for human connection into sharp focus, and we saw incredible examples of communities finding commonality more than we have seen in most of our lifetimes. Monica and The Spice Club hosted weekly online cookery classes on Facebook; they were not only incredibly popular, but brought strangers together over their love of Indian Cookery. In an effort to maintain and grow these connections Monica assembled her team to deliver an online platform that carried all the values and personality of her in-person Cookery Classes. She wanted to ensure the quality of the content of SHIKSHAK was worthy of her students. The success of her Crowdfunder campaign in September 2020, was a product of the belief that her supporters have in her and she couldn’t be more pleased to give you a resource that she hopes will provide a lifetime of learning!

 

29 thoughts on “About Monica

  1. Your food science background shows up in every meal with the complexity and presentation. Good choice of education between Mum and Talent. I am inspired to prepare a beautiful meal tonight which I do not always do.

    1. Poppa John, thank you so much for your tribute and for your very kind words on your blog! Your salad looks great and I’m so happy that you felt inspired by my blog.

      Much luv!

      Monica

  2. Hey Monica! long time no see. Just started browsing your blog, awesome awesome job!! I’m already hungry. Too bad I didn’t take advantage of your cooking skills while you were still local in orlando, had no idea your skills were this good. Anyways hope all is well over in england, say hi to your parents and bro for me.

  3. Hello Monica,
    I’m glad I found your blog. As I am living in India now… I really go crazy for Indian food. It’s nice to have a beautiful collection of Indian recipes to try now πŸ™‚

  4. Hello Monica,
    Just a note to say what a lovely site you have.
    I love the format you use when writing a recipe ~ it’s exactly how I usually have to edit other sites’ recipes, so I truly appreciate your style ~ and your photos are fabulous!
    Thank you for all you do and for sharing your hard work and expertise with us.
    Regards,
    Barbara in Toronto

  5. You have beautiful recipes on your blog Monica.And you look pretty as well in that picture.Indian food rocks..I m so glad that you are taking it to people through your club.Very nice site & good job.
    I already follow you on twitter so m well versed with the events you organize!

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words Tanvi! Yeah The Spice Club has been a really fun venture so far-so rewarding when people learn that Indian food is so much more than just “curry”. I think I’ve made it clear how much I love your site πŸ™‚

  6. You are gorgeous and can cook? Now if you dance and sing you are truly the whole package πŸ™‚ Good luck with all your endeavors. Ben

  7. Hi Monica, I love your website and feel very inspired! Are you ever in London? If so would love to catch up over a coffee. Kind regards, Priya

    1. Hi Priya,

      Thanks for your comment. I sometimes pop down to the big smoke! If you are ever in Manchester, it would similarly be nice to chat. I’m on twitter @thespiceclub. Monica.

  8. Is it possible to get a link of recepies on your web site? I don’t cook as much as I use to now that I have two young kids, but when I do — I generally look for the recepies and/or ideas on your site as I have been visiting it for over three years now, but now a days have to traverse through the archive looking for something specific I may have encountered a year or more back.

    Thanks. And oh yeah – keep up the good work. I see you have not been blogging dishes as much as you use to in the past — but yeah, people (you never met) are reading πŸ™‚

  9. Hey Monica! Glad to find your blog. It’s really quiet happy to see the Indians still believing in Indian cooking though not in the mainland. I feel honored to follow you.

  10. After several attempts to cook a dal I have finally made one that’s amazing, thanks so much for an great recipe. I can’t wait to try your other recipes.

    1. Thanks Dawn, I’m so pleased to hear that! Do keep me posted on how you get on with more recipes πŸ™‚

  11. I follow you on Instagram for a while now and this is the first time going to your website! This site is awesome! All your recipes looks so good! I used to love cooking but then I got bored for some reason. Seeing the pictures and the story behind each dish gets me motivated to get back in the kitchen so for that I say thanks ?

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