Today we’re spotlighting Indian food, which is largely vegetarian because dairy and cows are sacrosanct in Indian culture! The best part is that many Indian recipes can easily be ‘veganized’ with just a few simple swaps! With its vast array of spices and aromas, vegan Indian dishes are truly mouth-watering!
Here are the ingredients to watch out for, and how to substitute them:
Ghee
Clarified butter, also known as Ghee, is commonly used for enhancing the flavour of rice, stews, and breads. If you come across ghee in any recipe, swap it with coconut oil or vegan butter or simply leave it out altogether.
Curd (Yogurt)
Plant-based yogurt is widely available these days in most supermarkets. Wherever yogurt is used as a condiment (think raita) or as a cooling accompaniment to a spicy dish, substituting with a plain, unsweetened plant-based yogurt is easy! Peanut curd is also very popular among Indian vegans and can be made at home with very simple ingredients.
Butter
For savoury dishes, you can swap butter with coconut oil, cashew cream, or coconut cream! It gets a little trickier with cakes, cookies, and other desserts that call for butter as coconut oil wouldn’t cut it. For this, use vegan butter, found in many supermarkets these days. If you can’t find it, why not try making it? We love this recipe!
Milk
There are so many types of plant milks that are great substitutes for dairy milk. From oat milk to almond, coconut, peanut, cashew, hemp, rice and even banana milks, the options are endless. Here are 5 fun nut milk variations you can make at home!
Paneer
Paneer is a traditional Indian cottage cheese that comes in blocks. It’s extremely similar to Tofu in appearance and texture, so dishes with Paneer can easily be veganized using Tofu! To enhance the experience, marinate the tofu in something creamy (such as a plant-based yogurt) overnight or at least for a few hours prior to using it in a dish!
Fresh Cream
Full-fat coconut milk is often a good substitute for fresh dairy cream because most Indian dishes are boldly flavored enough to mask any taste of coconut. Cashew cream also works very well as a substitute. Here’s a great recipe for an all-purpose cashew cream!
Condensed Milk
Some Indian desserts call for condensed milk. Luckily, we can easily swap this for a quick, homemade, 2-ingredient coconut condensed milk!
What about eggs and meat?
In place of scrambled egg aka ‘Egg Bhurji’, you can scramble tofu, we really recommend you try this. As for meat – chunks of soy protein, jackfruit, seitan, beans and other legumes, and a variety of mushrooms (especially oyster mushrooms) can make for impressive meat-like substitutes when marinated well and cooked with spices! If a recipe calls for meat, get creative and veganize it with one of the above options!
This covers the most common non-vegan ingredients found in Indian recipes! As you might have noticed, cheese is not mentioned because it is rarely found in Indian recipes. However, if you do come across a recipe that calls for cheese, simply swap it for a vegan cheese. There are so many vegan cheeses available these days – from creamy ones to melty, stretchy ones!
We hope this is useful.
Have a wonderful Veganuary and new year!
