Vegan Options from everyday Indian food which you can try at home!
Going vegan doesn’t mean you have to give up on your favourite Indian dishes. Indian cuisine has quite a few dishes that are vegan and most other vegetarian dishes can easily be adapted.
Here are a few that you can try at home.
From the South of India, this Indian delicacy is pretty versatile. You can spice it up with chilli paste, add in a potato masala or just eat it as it is in all its crispy goodness. If you don’t want it fried, try the steamed version – Idli. Always served best with hot sambar and coconut or tomato chutney.
You can make the batter at home quite easily, but if you don’t have the time, you can pick it up at your local grocery store. And if you want to make your batter a little healthier (and give yourself some variety), you can also add a little ragi or rava to it.
A staple in most Indian households, this lentil dish is simple and easy to make and goes really well with steamed rice. Just make sure to leave out the butter or ghee to keep it vegan.
In fact, substitute the ghee with coconut oil for the Tadka and enjoy this Indian favourite without losing out on any of the flavour.
This one pot meal of rice and lentils is so easy to prepare and is quite healthy. Kichdi is typically porridge-like in consistency and quite often eaten when a person isn’t feeling well or just looking for a nutritious meal.
Chef’s note – use coconut oil instead of ghee to tadka and skip the optional topping with ghee
Lemon Rice / Jeera Rice / Tamarind Rice
Elevate your rice meals and with flavoured rice rather than white. Lemon, jeera and tamarind rice are household must-haves across Indian homes and pair very well with just about any vegetable (and maybe a dollop of pickle).
Chole masala is made from a blend of spices and chickpeas. A favourite from the North of India, Chole masala is often eaten with flatbread (poori or chapati) or rice.
Other Indian dishes that are naturally vegan include:
- Veg Pulao
- Rajma
- Hara Bara Kebab
- Poha
- Aloo Gobi
- Pakora
- Kashmiri Dum Aloo
- Vegetable Kofta
You can also make your favourite Indian dishes vegan with a few simple substitutes. Swap ghee with vegan butter, meat with pulses or soya, cream with cashew or coconut milk, honey with maple syrup or agave, and yoghurt with plant-based yoghurt.
Today, even protein shakes have vegan options that replace whey with plant based options. Brands like Origin Nutrition are plant-based and come in a wide range of flavours, with no added sugar, no additives and is GMO-free. Origin Nutrition also has some yummy recipes for you to try to make your meals healthier.
