Najmieh Batmanglij is an American chef and food writer.
Introducing people to the pleasures of Persian cuisine has been a lifelong mission for Najmieh Batmanglij. Her New Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies was called “The definitive book of Persian cooking” by the Los Angeles Times, and her Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey was selected as one of the Vegetarian Cookbooks of 2004 by the New York Times. Her book, From Persia to Napa: Wine at the Persian Table was published in September 2006. Her latest book is Happy Nowruz: Cooking with Children to Celebrate the Persian New Year. She has spent the past 30 years traveling, teaching cooking, and adapting authentic Persian recipes to tastes and techniques in the West. She is a member of Les Dames d'Escoffier and has taught and lectured throughout the United States. She currently lives in Washington, DC, where she teaches master classes in Persian cooking and is working on a new book for children to cook with the family.
Her son is Rostam Batmanglij of the band Vampire Weekend.