Eating out in India

While eating out in India (Bangalore specifically) I have been so pleasantly surprised at how many vegan options there are. Here are some of my favorites.

Cafe Coffee Day:
Vegan Shake-sometimes made of soy milk and sometimes rice milk. Make sure the uninformed staff does not mistakenly put dairy whipped cream on top. Ask if they have a soy or rice whipped cream.

McDonalds:
McAloo Tikki Burger with no mayo

Boca Grande: (in Koromangla)
Vegan Burger-veggie burger without sauce. I'm just happy the menu actually said vegan. I almost took a picture of it with my camera because I was so surprised.

Little Italy: (in Indiranagar)
Many many options. I can't exactly write down everything without feeling like jumping up in excitement. Although things are not marked vegan, the menu gods have clearly given it thought by offering substitutes for butter with various olive and sage oils and other seasonings. PS-it says "Jain on Request"...amazing!!!

Subway:
All the sandwich creations you can think of. Make sure not to opt for the "Honey Wheat" or "Parmesan Cheese" breads.

Costa Coffee: (I have not actually tried this yet)
Allows you to substitue any of the regular coffee and dairy milk with soya milk.

Barista:
Sugar Donuts and Blueberry Tarte (Yes vegan! according to petaDishoom at least)

Caffe Pascucci:
Bruschetta-ask them not to put butter on the garlic bread
Vegetarian Pasta-without cheese

Fava: (UB City Mall)
Orange Hummus (this is to die for-I really have dreams about this delicious dip)
Vegetable Cous Cous

Take 5:
Boiled Peanuts with onions and tomato appetizer

The Beach:
Vegetarian Manchurian appetizer

Mast Kalandar:
Samosa Chaat
Rajma Chawal-tell them to hold the side of yogurt

Milk-is it worth it?

Dairy cows are the hardest worked of all farmed animals, suffering from excruciating mastitis, lameness, infertility, and exhaustion from being continually impregnated to keep their milk yields flowing. Many of today's dairy cows are already too big for the indoor cubicles they inhabit, finding it difficult to lie down.


"How riveting does the sound of a tortured animal need to be in order for you to want to hear that badly"-Jonathan Safran Foer

Global Warming

Global Warming and reducing your carbon foot print have now become house hold conversations. You will hear tips on driving less, changing your bulbs to CFL, buying eco-friendly detergents, and blah blah blah. Here are two interesting (read: SCARY) facts that explain what you eat for dinner tonight can have a much bigger impact than driving from Bangalore to Goa and back.

• Several of the world’s mightiest rivers no longer reach the sea, and aquifer levels around the world are dropping by dozens, and even hundreds, of feet. Largely responsible is the fivefold increase in worldwide (water-guzzling) meat production that’s taken place over the last half-century. Producing a pound of animal protein requires about 100 times the water needed to produce a pound of vegetable protein. It takes about 1,300 gallons of water to produce a single hamburger. Seventy percent of the fresh water that is taken from the world’s rivers, lakes, and underground wells goes to agriculture, and 43 percent of the world’s grain goes to feed animals for meat.

• The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 70 percent of the world’s commercial fish stocks are fully exploited, overfished, or collapsed. To supply surging world demand, fishers use rapacious techniques, such as sonar, driftnets, longlines, dredgers, and leviathan fishpacking vessels. In the case of longlining, 4.5 million hooks are launched daily. Now, 90 percent of the coveted top predator fish are gone. Consequently, fishers have moved down the food web to species once considered“trash.” These species, of course, are the food source of the fish that were initially overfished. Amazingly, a third of the world’s harvested fish go to feed livestock or farmed fish. The ocean’s interconnected ecosystem simply cannot keep pace. In 2006, a report published in the journal Science estimated that by 2048 all wild commercial fish stocks would be wiped out.

2 reasons from 101 Reasons Why I'm A Vegetarian

Your Doctor Does Not Know

"Doctors advise milk because of what they have heard from their mothers and grandmothers. Most modern medical curriculums do not teach how to promote health but rather how to deal with disease.

• Ayurveda lists milk as one of the five white poisons, yet many Ayurveds today promote milk and milk products.

• The Jain Shastras consider milk, curds, ghee, and butter “vigais” (foods that do not promote spiritual well being).

• Naturopathy and Natural Hygiene also consider milk as harmful and Modern science has proved this. “Not one of the 1,500 papers listed in the journal “Medicine” that deal with milk points to its goodness — only to the pus, blood, antibiotics, and carcinogens in milk, and the chronic fatigue, anemia, asthma, and auto immune disorders milk consumption causes.”

Taken directly from www.sharan-india.org (An amazing website with a plethora of information)

O really, that has NO animal products?

www.petaDishoom.com (thank GOD for PETA) has listed out the common Indian food in a supermarket near you that has NO meat, NO milk, NO cheese, NO honey, no animal by products. So....no excuses...it's way too easy to be vegan here.

Breads

St Michael’s Whole Wheat Bread
Ovenspick Brown Bread

Jams
All jams, such as those made by Kissan, Mala’s and Sil, should be vegan, but check the label to make sure that a particular jam does not contain either honey or gelatine.

Sweets

Candy
Poppins
Parle mango bites
Kisme Elaichi
Mentos
Foxes sweets
Melody sweets
Dark chocolates (check ingredients: no milk solids, whey or milk)

Biscuits and Cookies
Parle-G: Monaco Plain, Monaco Zabardast Zeera, Jeffs, Sixer
Nimkin Cheeselings and Hide & Seek
McVities digestive
Betty Crocker Bisquik (to bake your own biscuits)
Picwick: chocolate, pineapple and orange

More for That Sweet Tooth
Weikfeild’s custard powder and jelly, chocolate drink and Cremelle Pudding
Haldiram’s Soan Papdi (regular)
Chandu’s Soan Roll & Soan Cake
Hershey’s Syrup: chocolate and strawberry
Chickkers: Peanut Punch, Sesame Surprise and Coconut Crunch

Chips
Kurkure: Masala Munch and Chatpata Chaska
Lays: Bindas Bhel, Golguppa, Classic Salted, Australian Cilantro Surprise,
Magic Masala, Caribbean Style, Spanish Tango and Onion Cream Style
Haldiram’s: Taka-Tak, Paprika Chips, Pudina Treat Chips and Classic Salted Chips

Namkeen
Haldiram: Shahi Mixture, Khatta Meetha, Panchrattan, Moong Dal, Nut Cracker, Kashmiri Mixture, Cornflakes Mixture, Aloo Bhujia, Kaju Mixture, Dal Biji, Bhujia, Navrattan, Chana Jor Garam, Bombay Chana, Hara Chiwda, All in One, Chilli Chatak Lachha, Mint Lachha, Bhelpuri, Plain Bhujia, Long Sev, Kranchy Mixture and Methi Sev

Garden: Tikha Ganthia, Cornflakes mix, Chatpat Bhel & Sev Puri, Garlic Sev and Mint Sev

Popcorn
Act II: Classic Salted and Butter Lovers

Cereal
Kellogg’s: Corn Flakes (mango pulp, strawberry and plain), Wheat Flakes, Fruitloops, Chocos, Frosties and Rice Krispies
Sofit Cereals: Chocolate, Strawberry and Plain
Bagrry’s: Oat Bran, Oat Meal, Oat Wheat Cereal, Crunchy Muesli, Wheat Bran and Fruit & Fibre Muesli

Noodles and Pasta
Maggi Veg Noodles
Maggi Atta Veg Noodles
Top Ramen: Smoodles Veg Curry, Smoodles Veg Masala and Oriental
ITC Pasta Treat Masala

Dressing
Kraft: Creamy Italian, Fat-Free Italian and French

Soups
Knorrs soups: Vegetable Sweet Corn, Chinese Vegetable, Tomato and Hot & Sour Vegetable
Lipton Recipe Soup and Dip Mix: Onion Mushroom, Onion and Vegetable

Frozen and Ready-to-Eat
Al-Kabeer frozen foods: Veg Spring Roll, Veg Burger, French Fries and Veg Samosas
Aashirvaad packed foods: Yellow Dal Tadka, Pav Bhaji, Pindi Channa and Rajma Masala

Drinks
Godrej Sofit Soya Milk: Malt, Apple, Mango and Natural
Silk Soya: Plain, Vanilla and Chocolate
Drinho Soya Milk
Steata Soya Milk: Chocolate, Kesar Pista, Malt, Original and Natural
Haldiram’s: Rose, Thandai, Khus, Badam, Pineapple and Orange
Nestlé Nesquik Syrup: Chocolate, Strawberry and Very Vanilla
Mapro: Pineapple, Strawberry, Litchi and Mango Crush
Squashes: Linbu Timbu, Khus, Lemon ginger, Pinacolada, Khus and Santra Mantra
Kissan Squashes: Grape, Pineapple, Mango, Lime and Orange

Real Juices
Most juices are vegan: orange juice, mango nectar, mixed fruit juices, pineapple juice, grape juice, tomato juice, guava nectar, litchi nectar and cranberry nectar
Coolers: Aampanna, Watermelon, Pomegranate and Jamoon
All Tropicana Juices
All Godrej Xs Juices

Celebrity Chef Bryan Au

I always find it funny when meat and dairy eaters feel bad for my dietary choices. As if I don't eat anything that tastes good. No I do not just munch on carrots and grass. Us vegans have the tastiest options available to us. Indian vegans have some difficulty since we don't have as many restaurants with vegan-specific food. We just have to cook the majority of our food. That is why I think ordering Chef Bryan Au's DVDs and Books with recipes to make delicious non-meat, non-dairy, raw food within 10 minutes is a great idea. If the images of the dishes he creates doesn't tempt you, I'm not sure what will.

www.rawinten.com

Spanish Lasagna











Nachos with fake meat and avocados











Mango Cheesecake with fake cheese

The land of the Cow

This is some input from a livejournal community (vegan people) where one of the users shared some info from an Indian Animal Rights Activist. I find it sad that not many people know the truth. I hope we can create more awareness.

"In India, since there’s a cultural taboo against killing baby cows, after a calf is born at a dairy, they just tie him outside the dairy and wait for him to starve to death before collecting him for leather. It’s considered ahimisa (non-violence) to do this, since no one actively killed him (and it’s where “ahimsic” leather comes from). Sometimes a calf will still be a alive when he’s skinned, & they don’t care because live cows = “better” leather. Supposedly for other cows, leather = 75% of their worth (I don’t know if the same is true in the US)

Their cows eat garbage- it was a tradition to let cows graze as they please, and since there isn’t much grass, the cows eat a lot of garbage, and it’s common for them to die after eating a ton of plastic bags. The toxin level in milk there is really bad, but the govt doesn’t care. Also, there aren’t refrigerated trucks to transport milk, so urea (fertilizer grade) or earthworms are added to milk to keep it from curdling. Also, oxytocin is given to a lot of cows (it’s pretty much over the counter), so that ends up in their meat and milk."

Powerful

The eyes of the world were transfixed on the fiery ruins of the World Trade Center collapsing into rubble, as thousands of people were dead or dying. Meanwhile, in an average slaughterhouse, far more pigs, chickens, turkeys, or cattle were killed that same moment in other terrorist acts. One act of terrorism was extraordinary, illegal, and immoral while the other was routine, legal, and perfectly acceptable to the minds of most people. 9-11 was a tragedy of the first order, and received nonstop media coverage, but every second is a 9-11 attack on the animals, an assault that transpires under the cover of indifference and unfolds in a far more prolonged, torturous, and barbaric manner. Dare one make a comparison between human and animal suffering?--- Steven Best

First Post

I started this blog because of the lack of information I have found on the web about vegan resources in India. Having recently moved to Bangalore for a few months from the very vegan friendly city (New York) I am slowly learning what it's like to stay true to my values and the options available here.

Let's start with some statistics and information.

There is no concrete number available for the vegetarian population in India. According to veganforum.com the number can be anywhere from 20-42%. These vegetarians eat dairy products and many eat eggs. Making them lacto-ovo-vegetarians.

According to the International Diabetes Federation, a press release from October 19th 2009 suggests that 285 million people worldwide have diabetes. The majority of all diabetes is type 2 which in many cases can be prevented through diet and exercise.

"India is the country with the most people with diabetes, with a current figure of 50.8 million, followed by China with 43.2 million. Behind them the United States (26.8 million); the Russian Federation (9.6 million); Brazil (7.6 million); Germany (7.5 million); Pakistan (7.1 million); Japan (7.1 million); Indonesia (7 million) and Mexico (6.8 million)."

Shame on us. Not only is this affecting our health....but our pockets as well.

"India, which has the largest diabetes population, spends US$2.8 billion or 1% of the global total. In most LMCs, people with diabetes must pay for their care out of their own pocket because public medical services and insurance are lacking. The diagnosis of diabetes in a low or middle-income country can often drag entire families into poverty."

I'd like to explore throughout this blog what kind of solutions we have available to us to combat this epidemic.

And fun things like vegan food, pictures, quotes, and everything else I can come up with.