Vegan In India?

Recently I have become more aware of veganism in the country and before this I could never think of turning vegetarian, let alone go vegan. Before actually going out and doing some research, I thought there were never enough options for vegans in India, however I couldn’t have been more wrong. Turns out there are many dishes out there that we already eat as a part of our daily food which are actually vegan which was amazing. To name a few, (also I would like to know if this list surprised you as much as it did me)

Chana Masala

Chana masala is primarily a northern Indian dish, although it is also eaten as a breakfast food in the south of India. Chana means “chickpea” and masala means “spice”, so this dish is a chickpea curry made with tomatoes, garlic, ginger, onion, plenty of spices … and chickpeas, of course!

It’s usually vegan by default. The only non-vegan ingredient that you might find in this dish is ghee — a type of clarified butter that is sometimes used as a cooking fat in India. If that’s the case, you can ask the restaurant staff to replace the ghee with a plant-based oil. Chana masala can be eaten with rice or with a bread such as chapati or naan. Or both!

Daal Chawal

This is a common dish prepared in every household in India. Depending on the region, some families even prepare it three or four times a week.

Dal means “lentil” and chawal means “rice”, so this is a dish of lentils and rice. Indians use different kinds of lentils for making different lentil soups. Thus, each of them differs in taste significantly. Indians love to eat lentil soup with rice and sometimes with roti (Indian flatbread). Interestingly, this dish is more popular in homes than in restaurants.

Dal Makhani

This is another popular lentil soup in India. However, the word “makhani” means butter, which is always an ingredient in this dish. For that reason, this type of lentil soup is not easily veganized.

You should either confirm with your server that the restaurant serves a vegan version of it or just order something else.

Rajma

Rajma is a popular vegan Indian dish made of red kidney beans cooked with many Indian whole spices in a thick gravy. It’s usually served with roti (an Indian flatbread) and steaming hot rice. Even though the kidney bean is not of Indian origin, it’s still an integral part of the typical diet in Northern India.