Innovative Vegan Options on the Indian Platter

Food companies in India are increasingly marketing innovative and tasty meat and dairy-product alternatives that taste like the real thing to align to the vegan philosophy.

- Lebana Penkar

INDIA IS CULTURALLY a vegetarian country by choice. Indians enjoy dairy products, and most enjoy non-vegetarian food. Whatever the reason (could be the New Year Resolution to shed the extra pounds, a commitment to be gentler to animals or to be sensitive to the ecology of the universe and make this world a better place to live in), veganism is the next big thing.

The big question is: Is veganism even possible in India?

The right answer is: Yes !

For all those who were worried that they would have to give up burgers and icecreams if they went vegan, there’s good news! Companies in India are now producing delicious meat and dairy-product alternatives for vegans.

Gone are the days when vegans had to be content with boiled vegetables or a bowl of salad. Taking a cue from international trends and the skyrocketing demand for vegan food, Indian companies are providing innovative, creative and importantly, tasty food options to vegans. In the absence of such attractive food choices, veganism would simply be dismissed as another fad rather than a lifestyle change that it is in reality.

There is a definitive trend to go back to your roots and eat whole grain like amaranth, millet, makai, barley, ragi and buckwheat. At the same time, interesting vegan recipes combine fruits with cereals, nuts, and vegetables with whole grains to create delicious processed food.

Popularity of soy milk

While a few years ago, only international brands of organic soya milk were freely available in India, today Indian companies produce soya milk for the domestic market. Thanks to India’s focus on continual product improvement and customer delight, the (sometimes despicable) flavour of the soya bean is also removed from it, which makes it very palatable to the taste.