With easily available ingredients and restaurants offering to turn your meal completely organic and vegan, one can enjoy a flavoursome meal minus the guilt. By Rupinder Kaur
When the word ‘vegan’ comes in during conversations, it will usually end up in a battle of words over what are the myths and the realities. Someone would immediately jump to googling the facts and then settle the argument. A friend tells you that he/she is turning vegan and you would picture them re-stocking their kitchen and refrigerator shelves with complete organic food and more veggies, blending in some super-healthy kale and spinach for a power shot, et al. That they are all gung-ho about getting fit and you, too, might feel the need to follow suit.
After being a vegetarian for long without any meat, fish or poultry, we asked ourselves if ditching dairy and other animal by-products would be a difficult task. Would we have the time and patience to cook meals while keeping the vegan principles in mindIJ Imagine ordering at a restaurant and explaining what ingredient goes and what needs to be removed from the food you order. The confused looks, the “I’ll go ask the chef” or “Sorry, we don’t do that” comments, will be a real bummer.
But there are eateries, weekly farmers’ markets, wellness consultants creating cookbooks making sure that vegan cooking doesn’t have to be bland. In fact, animal-free dishes can be packed with flavour and all sorts of interesting easy-to-find ingredients available in your kitchen. Recently, wellness consultant Mala Barua and health coach Nandini Gulati released their debut Guilt-free Vegan Cookbook to break all myths associated with the diet encourages one to embark on a vegan journey without compromising on taste, style or simplicity. The book carries as many as 185 recipes spread over a range of five different cuisines – Indian, Italian, Thai, Mediterranean and American.
Barua tells us, “It is more than a cookbook. Apart from focussing on those who wish to adopt a healthier lifestyle and losing weight, it is also for the animal lovers, for the environment and helps in disease reversal. Around 80 per cent of the ingredients can be found in your cupboards and the dishes are simple to make and also visually-appealing. People also need to know that their are substitutes available. like instead of milk for your calcium, their is almond milk or soy milk. There is soy for protein. And much more for your nutrient requirement”
With wholesome recipes like green pea pesto with millet nachos, zucchini noodles with primavera sauce and even brown rice California sushi rolls, we feel even the non-vegans might want to dazzle their taste buds.
But the health factor wasn’t the only reason why Barua turned vegan. “My dog passed away after 16 years. I felt so bad and also realised that there are hundreds of animals who face much worse. When you watch videos where the farm animals are tortured and killed gruesomely, you might turn into a vegan within a day. If you connect with the animal world, turning vegan will be a much easier process for you and if not, then you face issues,” she says.
People adopting this alternate lifestyle, where one also abstains from using leather, honey, et al. were termed as “hippies”, Barua informs. “It is trendy for sure and even my son who lives in the US would introduce me as a vegan to his friends. The idea is to make it more attractive and especially with actors like Aamir Khan turning vegan, it sure gives a boost to spreading a word about it.”
With the introduction of vegan frozen desserts, the idea seems more attractive since one need not worry about their waistline. Plus even the non-vegans may gorge on these coconut and soy-based creamy delights. India’s first WhiteCub DairyFree IceCreams have been doing healthy, vegan, gluten-free frozen desserts in Delhi NCR for the past three years. It’s won the PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) Vegan Food Awards, 2013 and 2014.
The lady behind this roaring creation is Sonal, who has been a vegan for nine years. “I was really bothered after reading and watching videos related to animal cruelty and felt I was one of the few who were perturbed about what was going on. But then with the help of online media, I saw there were many groups and pages talking about the same cause and the vegan lifestyle,” she shares.
“WhiteCub has been consciously developed into a healthy ‘icecream’ so that it can cater to the segment of genuinely health conscious people, whether they are vegan or not. It has also catered to people having gluten allergy and majority of consumers are non-vegans. The recipes have been developed in a way that the final product does appeal to those otherwise used to consuming dairy,” she explains. The ice cream available in seven flavours — StrawBerryCrush, Mango Moments, date-sweetened ChocoHeaven, et al.
Organic Express, too, is on a mission with its nutritious menu. Rahul Narula, manager, shares that they are doing 100 per cent organic menu for both vegans and non-vegans. They also organic and vegan cakes and other baked goods at Delhi Organic Farmers' Market in Chanakyapuri. They have experienced chefs and nutritionists as well as dieticians in their team to help create dishes. “In India, where several pesticides used to grow crops, are banned globally, Organic Express is an initiative that aims to instil healthy, wholesome and organic eating. We offer almost anything that one could order from a regular restaurant. A multi-cuisine, ready-to-eat menu café, we provide Indian as well as continental meals, wraps, sandwiches, rice items, salads, pastas , et al.” he shared.