In my activism sessions, I get to interact with people and 90% of them have doubts that they will have to eat salad only if they adopt veganism. There are lots of misunderstandings with respect to the vegan diet. In this blog, I am sharing very easily available dishes in any Indian veg restaurant which a vegan can eat.
People think that now I am vegan I will be eating only salads. Like there is literally nothing to eat at all. Well vegan, vegetarian, and Eating only Raw has some differences.
Vegetarian, Vegan, and Raw food
Vegetarian food means food from plants except they do eat dairy and honey. In India, eggs are not considered veg like in many countries.
In India Vegetarianism is quite famous and around 25-30% of the population is vegetarian so it makes quite easy to find dishes which a vegan can eat too like you only have to cut dairy and honey and obviously, every dish doesn’t have dairy or honey in it, So vegans are good to go for those dishes too.
Eating raw means eating vegetables, fruits, or grains without cooking.
Myths About Vegan Food In India
So vegans do have hundreds of Indian dishes to eat other than salads only. Also, many people think that we can not be a vegan while living in India as this is a foreign concept and they eat things which we can not easily find in India, is also Incorrect. Like vegan dressings or creams, different types of desserts, etc.
But the truth is many Indian vegetarian Indian cuisines are vegan too. For example in Chapati and Sabzi(curry). Now if you do not add ghee/butter on chapati than this our daily meal is vegan. The same is with rice, dal and sabzi. Many south Indian dishes that do not require curd or can be made without curd are vegan like Sambhar and Dosa, Idli- sambhar, Appe etc.
So there is a variety of food which you can choose to eat. If you are vegetarian then find alternatives for dairy and honey only.
So you don’t have to worry that now you won’t be able to enjoy the restaurant’s food or street food now as there will be no vegan food option for you.
Following are some popular veg options which are good to go for vegans –
1) Poha– Made with rice, poha is popular in breakfast in M.P. and Maharashtra.
2) Kachori/Samosa- Indian deep-fried snack made an ith stuffing of lentils and potato or raw banana
3) Usal Poha- Moong beans eaten with poha.
4) Vada pav- Vada pav is basically Paav bun with Vada(Fritter) in the middle, eaten with some spicy dips. It is quite popular in Mumbai(MH).
5) Maggie- well who doesn’t know maggie???
6) Idli sambhar- Except some places most of the restaurants make Idli without curd so it is good to go.
7) Dosa– Similar to Idli many places serve Dosa made without curd.
8) Uttapam- This are like vegetable pancakes.
9) Upma– It is a south Indian dish prepared with semolina and vegetables.
10) Ragda Pattice- You can ask for not to use butter in pattice and make this with oil.
11) Pakora/Bhajiya– Prepared with gram flour and different vegetables, this deep-fried Indian snack is always vegan.
12) Manchurian-
13) Veg Noodles-
14) Dhokla/Khamand–
15) Veg Thali– Just skip butter and panner and cream curries(sabzi)
16) Corn– Crispy corn , corn chaat and many more
17) Vada– Stuffed with potatoes or raw banana.
18) Daal Bati – Rajsthani cuisine. Just avoid Bati with ghee.
19) Appe– South Indian dish (Check for curd)
20) Fafda/Gathiya– Gujrati snack
