India has the world's largest number of vegetarians. Many communities in India have always been vegetarian. Many Indians who are not strict vegetarian, take vegetarian diet during religious festivals.
Also, many Indian vegetarians eschew eggs as well as meat. However, all consume dairy products. Veganism is generally not well known in India.
There are many vegetarian cuisines in India. Some of them are:
- Punjabi vegetarian cuisine: common in popular 'Vaishnav' dhabas, e.g. Dal makhani, pindi chana.
- Marwari vegetarian cuisine: e.g. dal-bati
- Marwari sweets: e.g. Choorma and Lapsi
- Gujarati cuisine: e.g. dhokla
- Jain (Satvika) cuisine: e.g. gatte
- UP vegetarian cuisine: e.g. Motichoor ka Ladoo
- Karnataka vegetarian cuisine: e.g. dosa
- Tamil Nadu vegetarian cuisine: e.g. rasam, sambar
- Bengali sweets: e.g. Rasgulla
Famous quotes containing the words indian, vegetarian and/or cuisine:
“As the Americans slaughter millions of turkeys every year for the celebration of their deliverance, the Indians, who should be celebrated as saviors, have long been slaughtered. There was even a time when a white man was paid a very decent price for every Indian scalp he could produce.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)
“A vegetarian is not a person who lives on vegetables, any more than a Catholic is a person who lives on cats.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“Thank God for the passing of the discomforts and vile cuisine of the age of chivalry!”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)