Awareness about lactose intolerance and milk adulteration is pushing people to veganism. Vegan milkshake at Carrots, Bangalore

When shaadi buffets go vegan

Punjabis love their butter chicken but a few years ago, Anchit Kawaatra decided to say goodbye to the kukkad but he stuck to the butter, and the paneer. Then one day, a vegan friend convinced him to shift to a dairy-free diet. “I had already given up eating meat. Now, I started wondering why we steal another animal’s milk? Does the calf get the deserved share of his/her mom’s milk? I came across shocking facts about how dairy consumption impacts our health and environment,” says Kawaatra, a Delhi entrepreneur who is planning to launch a vegan food business.Veganism is a difficult diet that requires you to go off meat and dairy. This means you cannot have milk, dahi, paneer, cheese and ghee. Ethical vegans, who don’t use products that harm animals or were taken away from them, say no to even honey. Yet the vegan community in India seems to be growing, with celebrities like cricketer Virat Kohli joining the club.Susmitha Subbaraju started Carrots, Bengaluru’s first vegan restaurant, to cater to this growing community in 2013. “When I turned vegan 15 years ago there were so few of us that we knew each other’s names,” she recalls. “Our business has been growing year on year and we now offer consultancy to other vegan restaurants as well,” says Subbaraju.Vegan deliveries are on the upswing as well. In a good week, Shasvathi Siva sells 50 blocks of vegan cheese in Mumbai. Priced at Rs 150 for 100gm and Rs 300 for 200gm, Siva’s cheese is made from cashew milk and is sought by both vegans and non-vegans. “I am now expanding to restaurants. Veganism is no longer niche,” says Siva, who home-delivers, and also stocks at Rare Earth in Khar.For those who worry about how they’re going to get enough protein without dairy and meat, there are substitutes. Entrepreneur Kinjal Darukhanawala’s Wegan Foods imports and sells plant-based nutritional yeast in India. Called Nooch, it contains 4.5g protein in each serving and it mimics powdered Parmesan cheese. Darukhanawala is now developing a non-dairy, soy and nut-free milk. Vegan curd and mock meat are also available in the market.Even big business is taking note of the trend. Café Coffee Day and Starbucks now offer soy milk options for vegan customers. “Most mid-level and high-end restaurants are aware of veganism. If you tell them to not put ghee tadka or cheese on your food, they understand why,” says Preeti Kapasi, a vegan from Ahmedabad.Interestingly, even non-vegans are a big part of their clientele, say vegan food entrepreneurs. Nutritionist Dr Shikha Sharma says awareness about lactose intolerance and milk adulteration has forced people to give up milk. “Removing milk and wheat from the diet also helps in controlling diabetes,” she adds.“Being vegan is the future,” says Sheena Jain, who co-founded Sain almond milk in 2016. “From 30 bottles a day we now sell 150-200,” adds Jain, who counts many non-vegetarians in her clientele.While veganism is kind towards animals and the earth, it has its drawbacks. “Animal products are good sources of B vitamins. If you don’t eat meat and dairy then you could be deficient in these nutrients and will have to take supplements,” says Dr Sharma. B12 deficiency causes symptoms such as fatigue, anemia and mood changes. But staunch veganists beg to differ. “I know non-vegetarian people who are more deficient in B12 than vegans. Plant-based diet has all the nutrients you need for good health. You just need to look,” Kapasi adds.Since it’s hard to imagine a north Indian wedding without paneer, raita, dahi bhalle, etc, vegan couples push wedding caterers to use milk alternatives to create legit substitutes. Venkat Narayan of Weddings Inc in Mumbai has organised four vegan weddings in the past three years. “It’s difficult to cook without milk and dahi,” he says. “A lot of testing is involved. We have to experiment with different plant milks, mix them in different proportions to figure out what formula gives us the right taste and feel.” Narayan says that vegan dahi is made with rice and cashew; chaach with coconut milk and dahi vada using a combination of almond and coconut/soy milk. “For tea and coffee, we use a blend, half coconut and half soy,” he adds. A vegan plate is 60-70% costlier. If a vegetarian menu costs Rs 500 per plate, a vegan one can go up to Rs 800 per plate. “And the choice is less,” Narayan points out.