Of all the countries in the world, the vegan lifestyle in India is comparatively a cheaper and effortless affair. The already mostly vegetarian nation has made it so easy for people to move one step ahead and be vegan.
It’s effortless to adapt vegetarian recipes into vegan recipes. Because of this, it’s relatively easy to adopt a vegan diet in India.
At first, you may find that you need to plan your meals carefully to not accidentally include non-vegan ingredients and still get all the nutrition you need to be healthy. But over time, you’ll become an expert and you won’t have to think twice about how to make a delicious, healthy, vegan meal!
What Is Vegan Food?
Unsurprisingly, many people still don’t have a clear idea of how to describe vegan food. Being a comparatively new food habit, people don’t realize what ingredients and foods are or are not vegan, and they don’t understand the benefits of adopting such a diet.
Vegan food is made without adding anything that is sourced from an animal. This may include dairy products, honey, milk and eggs. In simple terms, it can be described as a more strict vegetarian food.
Popular vegan foods are generally something we consume on day to day basis every day, from fruits to lentils to whole grain products, vegan food is available extremely easily in supermarkets. However, it is the meat substitutes that can be tricky, as veganism as a concept isn't established in certain countries across the world.
What Do Vegans Eat Vs What Do Vegans Avoid
| What do Vegans Eat | What Do Vegans Avoid |
| Fruits: A wide variety of fruits, including apples, bananas, berries, citrus fruits, and more, are staples in a vegan diet. | Eggs from any animal |
| Vegetables: Vegetables like leafy greens, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and more are key sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. | Dairy from any animal (including ghee and curd/yogurt) |
| Legumes: Legumes, such as lentils, chickpeas, black beans, and tofu, are rich in plant-based protein. | Meat from any animal |
| Whole Grains: Foods like rice, quinoa, oats, and whole-grain bread are important sources of carbohydrates, fiber, and nutrients. | Bone broth |
| Nuts and Seeds: Almonds, walnuts, chia seeds, and flaxseeds provide healthy fats, protein, and various essential nutrients. | Lard and tallow |
| Plant-Based Milk: Vegans use alternatives to dairy milk, such as soy milk, almond milk, or oat milk, as a substitute for cow's milk. | Honey |
| Plant-Based Protein Sources: Apart from legumes, vegans can get protein from sources like tempeh, seitan, and vegan protein powders. | Propolis |
| Tofu and Tempeh: These soy-based products are versatile and can be used in various savory and sweet dishes. | Gelatin |
| Plant-Based Oils: Olive oil, coconut oil, and other plant-based oils are used for cooking and flavoring dishes. | Carmine (aka cochineal), shellac (aka confectioner’s glaze) |
| Herbs and Spices: Vegans use a wide range of herbs and spices to add flavor to their meals. | Isinglass |
| Plant-Based Snacks: There are many vegan snack options, such as popcorn, vegetable chips, and nut-based energy bars. | Rennet |
| Desserts: Vegans can enjoy desserts like fruit sorbets, vegan cakes, and cookies made with plant-based ingredients. | Castoreum |
| Lentils: Lentils are an excellent source of protein as well, if had with other veggies, they provide a properly balanced diet. | Collagen |
| Potato fries and other junk food: Food items such as samosas are generally vegan unless they are made in Ghee. | Non-vegetable vitamin D3 |
Anything that’s not from an animal is considered vegan, so every other ingredient on earth besides the ones that come from animals is available to use in your vegan cooking!
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How To Prepare Food For A Vegan Friend At Home?
Preparing food for a vegan at home can be a delightful and creative experience. Here are some tips and steps to help you prepare vegan-friendly meals:
Learn About Vegan Ingredients
Familiarize yourself with vegan ingredients and products. Understand what vegans avoid, such as meat, dairy, eggs, and honey. Veganism is not a diet, it a social idealogy that revolves around not harming animals.
Read Food & Ingredient Labels
When shopping, carefully read product labels to check for hidden animal-derived ingredients. Look for the "Vegan" label on the products and check whether the ingredients contain any animal products such as milk, butter, or milk solids.
Adapt Recipes & Use Vegan Meat Substitutes
Modify your favorite recipes to make them vegan-friendly. Substitute animal products with plant-based alternatives, such as tofu or tempeh instead of meat. The market is exploding with new meat substitutes and alternatives. Brands such as Beyond Meat and Herbivore are introducing your favorite meat-based food items
Here are some global vegan food brands you can try at home:
Beyond Meat
Amy's Kitchen Inc
Plamil Foods Ltd
Tofutti Brands, Inc
Keep It Fresh
Use fresh ingredients whenever possible, as they often enhance the taste and nutritional value of your dishes.
Practice Inclusivity
When hosting guests, strive for inclusivity by offering a variety of vegan and non-vegan options to accommodate diverse dietary preferences. Understand that being vegan is not just a preference, but also an ideology that means you must focus on listening to them.
Popular Vegan Myths
When certain things get popular among the younger generations, a lot of myths about the idea fly around. It is extremely important to ensure that we research about every decision we make in life, and veganism is among them.
Vegans Lack Protein
One of the most enduring myths is that vegans don't get enough protein. In reality, there are plenty of plant-based sources of protein, including beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, and quinoa.
Vegans Lack Nutrients
It's possible for anyone, including non-vegans, to have nutrient deficiencies. A well-balanced vegan diet can provide all essential nutrients, including B12, iron, calcium, and omega-3 fatty acids.
All Vegans Are Extremely Thin
People adopt veganism for various reasons, not just for weight loss. Vegans come in all body shapes and sizes.
Vegan Diets Are Expensive
While some vegan specialty products can be pricey, staples like rice, beans, and seasonal fruits and vegetables are affordable. Vegan diets can be economical. If you go to a supermarket, rice, lentils, and certain vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes, etc are cheap to purchase.
Vegans Only Eat Salad
While salads are part of a vegan diet, and are extremely nutritious. Veganism has evolved over the years, especially with alternatives to meat being more readily available in the markets.
Plant-Based Diets Are Inherently Healthy
While many vegan foods are healthy, it's possible to have an unhealthy vegan diet filled with processed foods and lacking in essential nutrients. You can eat Oreo biscuits every day and be a junk food vegan if you wish to be one. Being healthy is a choice, it comes along with your lifestyle choices.
Vegans Can't Build Muscle
Many successful vegan athletes and bodybuilders demonstrate that a plant-based diet can provide ample protein for muscle growth. Athletes such as Venus Williams, Lewis Hamilton and Novak Djokovic have proved that you can use a plant-based diet to recover from muscle fatigue and use plant-based protein to build muscles.
Easy Vegan Food Substitutes
The good news is that it’s so easy to swap a vegan ingredient instead of a non-vegan one!
Many new vegans start out by making the recipes they have always loved, and simply changing the parts that call for animal products.
Another way to make delicious vegan food is to think of something entirely new to eat! Non-vegetarian meals tend to focus on meat as the center point of the meal, and everything else is meant to complement the meat. Vegetarian and vegan food shift the focus to the vegetables and other elements of a dish. Where vegetarian meals might feature paneer, curd, or ghee, vegan dishes either replace those items or change the focus of the dish entirely.
Instead of revolving all the ingredients around one central source of protein, try enmeshing all the different parts of your dish together for a flavor fiesta!
Here are some easy substitutes for changing non-vegan ingredients into vegan ones:
- Instead of chicken: use soya chunks, seitan, tofu, channa, palm hearts, or faux chicken
- Instead of fish: try palm hearts or tofu with seaweed for flavour, or use faux fish
- Instead of pork: use jackfruit, seitan, palm hearts, or faux pork
- Instead of red meat: use seitan, tofu, tempeh, rajma, or faux meat
- Instead of egg: use egg replacer, aquafaba (the liquid in a can of channa), or soft tofu.For baking, use applesauce, chia or flax seeds, or a banana.
- Instead of ghee or butter: use vegan butter or oil
- Instead of curd: use plant-based curd (there are many kinds, like coconut, soy, and almond)
- Instead of milk: use soya, almond, coconut, oats, or other vegetal milk. Learning how to use different varieties of milk for different dishes to achieve certain flavors and textures is a fun ongoing experiment!
- Instead of gelatin: for binding ingredients, use tapioca starch, corn starch, or agar powder
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Vegan Food List: Breakfast Ideas
1. Potato Pancakes
Potatoes are the most versatile, amazing, and delicious plant. A vegetable that goes with almost anything, can be cooked in varieties and grown anywhere. Traditional potato pancakes in the Jewish tradition are called Latke, but there are many other variations to try!
2. Ragi Oats Dhokla
This sweet and hearty breakfast dish offers the calcium, iron, and fiber that are sure to jump-start your day. It utilizes oat flour, semolina, daal, vegetable curd, and a bit of sugar. Steam and enjoy with green chutney!
Vegan Lunch Ideas
3. Buffalo Cauliflower
Cauliflower has been a star for some time, and while its fad popularity may be fading, the vegetable remains as nutritious and versatile as ever. Lightly bread cauli-bites with vegetal milk, breadcrumbs, and spices. Fry in oil or with an air fryer, or bake in the oven, then coat with your favourite spicy sauce!
4. Chinese Noodles
When it is Chinese, it has to be noodles. Use rice noodles like vermicelli and sautee with your choice of veggies, tofu, and spices. Traditional Chinese flavour comes from sesame oil, rice vinegar, and soya sauce.
5. Roasted Cauliflower Tacos
Set up a barbeque, drizzle some cauliflower with oil and spices, and get roasting!! Add the roasted cauliflower to a hard or soft taco with a sauce of your choice. You can opt for ketchup to keep the dish simple. Serve with some hummus or coriander chutney for an Indian touch.
6. Vegan Enchiladas
If you have been looking for a simple dish that would serve as a crowd-pleaser, you must have vegan enchiladas on the menu. You will need guacamole and black beans to make the filling doused neatly in the enchiladas sauce. Serve with some crunchy and roasted vegetables and cilantro!
7. Chickpea Salad Sandwich
If you love chickpeas, you can try serving this sandwich as a perfect meal for brunch. Take some celery, veg-mayo, onions, tomatoes and mashed chickpeas. Add your favourite spices to make a filling and make the sandwiches. Toast the wraps well to give a crunchy outer cover. Serve with ketchup or chutney!
Vegan Dinner Ideas
8. Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo
This delicious, creamy dish is always a safe bet for a filling dinner! All you need is to prepare a creamy sauce with coriander and mint to top on some noodle pasta. Use a vegan milk or cream with melted vegan cheese and butter. Create extra thickness by adding up blended cashews. Yum! You can also add some semi-cooked vegetables like spinach, cabbage and beans to add some volume to the plate. Serve with fresh parsley or coriander on top.
9. Vegan Chili
Your guests will forget about the last chicken chilli they had after trying the ultimate vegan chilli! Make or buy some vegan sour cream and get some pickled jalapeno to garnish your perfectly cooked vegetables. You can choose all the vegetables of your choice in the dish. Simply use beans and veggies, and omit the meat. That’s all it takes!
10. Veg Biryani
Make your style biryani as usual, and simply change the ghee to vegan butter or oil, and the curd to vegan curd. You can experiment with which vegetables and spices you use in order to create your own signature dish! Craving paneer? Add tofu cubes to the mixture and allow them to soak up the flavour alongside the veggies for a delicious protein source.
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Give Vegan Food and Recipes a Shot!
If you think vegan foods aren’t tasty enough, you just haven’t had the right dishes. Vegan food can actually trigger your taste buds in a subtle way. Ask a professional cook or chef, they are the most satisfied individuals when they cook vegan.
Although veganism is a recent concept, the population of vegans is growing tremendously. This is why in the coming years, one can find a huge demand for cooks for a better and environment-friendly lifestyle. Vegans are extremely conscious of what their food is infused with. Thus, there are chances that people will go for professional cooks who can serve them better. Moreover, learning to cook is another way you can enjoy a healthy vegan lifestyle. So, start learning cooking today and explore some of the finest cruelty-free recipes you never knew earlier!
Let’s try some of these delicious vegan recipe ideas!
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Well, vegan is the way to go, but I still think that the biggest problem for vegans is to get enough vitamin B12 as no plant-based sources have it. If that is sorted, then a vegan diet is simply the best for all human beings. Going further, I would say that raw vegan food is even better as it has enormous benefits on your body from stabilizing hormones, regulating blood sugar, aiding weight loss, increasing stamina, mental and physical strength, etc.
Completely agree with you! Veganism is sustainable and futuristic.