Perhaps you heard Joaquin Phoenix’s acceptance speech at the Oscars and found yourself compelled to look up how milk, cheese and butter appear on your breakfast table. Perhaps you’re contemplating turning vegan but have no idea how to deal with your cravings for these comfort foods.

As more people turn vegan across India, more homegrown entrepreneurs have begun to offer a delicious array of healthy and sustainability-minded vegan delights. Think gourmet vegan cheese, peanut curd, traditional mithai and mouth-watering desserts, available for delivery right at your doorstep.

Indian vegan food brands to try

Millie’s Kitchen

For: Artisanal vegan cheese



Bengaluru-based Millie Mitra embraced veganism back in 1992, way before it became mainstream. Made with organic fermented Indian cashews, Himalayan pink salt and natural seasonings, her cheese spreads and cheese wheels are handmade in small batches, free from dairy and preservatives, and delivered in eco-friendly glass jars and parchment paper. Health-wise, cashew cheese is rich in heart-healthy fats and boosts immunity, and unlike dairy, is free from cholesterol. Mitra’s bestsellers include the burnt red chili garlic spread, rosemary thyme and oregano spread, and sundried tomato and jalapeno wheel. Fun fact: In 2019, Millie’s black pepper cheese wheel found a fan in celebrity chef Marco Pierre White, who called it the best cheese he’d tasted in India.

Stocked at select supermarkets in Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. Whatsapp / call +91 9880288634 or DM on Instagram @milliesvegancheese for deliveries elsewhere in India

Hari Prasad Mithai Wale

For: Plant-based mithai

Despite growing up in a family of halwais in Allahabad, Hari Prasad was shocked to learn how milk is obtained from cows. After turning vegan overnight six years ago, he tried to convince his family to stop using cow milk, the key ingredient of most mithais in India. Unfortunately, it was a lost battle. Undeterred, Hari Prasad decided to branch out and start his own vegan mithai business, that was eventually acquired by vegan delivery service, Back to the Basics. From the khoya paan to bestsellers rose peda and boondi ladoo, all mithai is made with plant-based milks and dry fruits, and sweetened with raw sugar or jaggery. Orders: Delivery across India. Online store at indianmithai.in or DM on Instagram @veganindiansweets

Goodmylk

For: Peanut curd and cashew-oat milk







22-year-old Abhay Rangan, along with co-founders Veena Sudarshanachar and Radhika Datt set out with one mission: to make the most affordable plant-based milk alternatives in India, without compromising on taste. And their hugely popular cashew-oat milk, peanut curd and vegan mayonnaise are proof that they succeeded. Whether you’re looking for the perfect chai or coffee, a good old bowl of curd to cool off after spicy food or some mayo to slather on a sandwich, Bengaluru-based Goodmylk is your answer.

Orders: Available in retail stores in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai. All products except the peanut curd ship nationwide. Order on goodmylk.in or on the mobile app ‘Goodmylk’. For queries, DM on Instagram @good.mylk

An Ode to Gaia

For: vegan macarons and desserts

Naimita Jagasia and her Mumbai-based 100% vegan bakery An Ode to Gaia are no strangers to India’s dessert lovers , vegan or not. Naimita goes to great lengths to ensure that everything from the sprinkles to the chocolate used in her products is vegan, and even makes her own divine white chocolate and lemon curd from scratch. When Naimita turned vegan nearly four years ago, she enrolled in an advanced pastry course in Paris and gifted her macarons to several pastry chefs. None could guess that her decadent macarons contained no eggs or milk products. Macarons, baked cheesecakes, cupcakes and chunky cookies are her current bestsellers. Orders: The chunky cookies deliver India-wide on Urban Platter. Other desserts are available in Mumbai only; call 9833833000 or DM on Instagram @anodetogaia for orders.

Good Dot

For: plant-based meats



This is India’s answer to America’s most-loved meat alternative brands Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. Co-founders Abhishek Sinha and Deepak Parihar set out on a mission to “make the world a more humane place for animals” and recognised a gap for plant-based meats in India. Thus was born Udaipur-based company Good Dot, which serves up vegan meats—textured from soy, wheat and pea protein—that look and taste much like chicken tikka, mutton biryani and fried chicken! Orders: Deliveries available India-wide. Order on gooddot.in or Amazon. Also available at the new GoodDO outlets across Mumbai and at RCM stores across India.

WhiteCub

For: vegan ice cream



What if I told you that you could turn vegan and still devour butterscotch ice cream? WhiteCub’s vegan ice creams are made with milks derived from nuts or grains, sweetened with sugar or dates, and free from cholesterol and hydrogenated fats. The best selling flavours ChocoHeaven, Butter Scotch and Mango Moments (made with real Alphonso pulp) are so indulgent that they couldn’t be told apart from their dairy counterparts in a blind taste test. Delhi-based founder Sonal has bootstrapped her way to many popular supermarket shelves across Indian cities, making it easier than ever to quit dairy. Orders: Country-wide delivery. Call / WhatsApp +91 9810 349 795 for orders. For queries, DM on Instagram @whitecub_india

MAVI’s CommBucha

For: kombucha in unique flavours



Kombucha (fermented tea)—one of the healthiest sources of probiotics and a delicious alternative to sugary beverage—is becoming all the rage around the world now, despite being around for centuries. One of India’s homegrown versions, CommBucha, founded by Mumbai-based Meenakshi Bhanj Deo and Vikram Mittal, is made with tea sourced from one of the world’s highest organic tea estates in Tamil Nadu and fermented with minimal sugar. While this lightly-fizzy drink can take a while to grow on you, CommBucha manufactures flavours for every tastebud: kokum, blueberry and rosewater, ginger and date, pomegranate, watermelon and mint, all free from chemicals and preservatives, and delivered in glass bottles. Orders: Delivered country-wide through Vvegano. For queries, DM on Instagram @commbucha

Jus’ Amazin

For: condensed almond milk and on-the-go almond milk

Bengaluru-based duo Jitin Munjal and Shilpa Mogilishetty began their journey towards creating vegan alternatives when they discovered their child was allergic to dairy and soy products. Home experiments led to the creation of perhaps the world’s first condensed almond milk, which works just like dairy condensed milk and can be used in a range of Indian desserts, including kheer, kulfi, and rabri. Their next creation is a 30-second almond on-the-go almond milk in paste form that can be used to make tea, coffee, smoothies, curries and desserts. The paste is made with organic or naturally-grown nuts, can be optionally sweetened with jaggery, is high in nutrition, easy to carry and finger-licking good. Orders: Deliveries across India. Order on jusamazin.com, Amazon or Vvegano, or DM on Instagram @jus_amazin. Also on offer are nut and seed butters and peanut-flax chutneys.

Aurosoya

For: delicious smoked tofu



I remember being turned off tofu the first time I tasted it many years ago, and have heard people tell me they can’t imagine ever liking it. Luckily, the tofu offerings in India have changed dramatically since then. Aurosoya, founded by Auroville-based Dhaval Chandarana and Frederic Cordonnier, offers unbelievably delicious smoked tofu, made with organic, non-GMO soybeans, both ready to eat and easy to cook, and packed in biodegradable plastic. Orders: Delivered India-wide through Aurosoya.in or DM on Instagram @Aurosoya. Also on offer are organic tempeh, soy milk and soy curd.



Break of Dawn

For: vegan feta cheese

I suppose feta cheese is a luxury most people can imagine living without, but Pardita Mascarenhas’ decadent almond feta is a treat not to be missed. In flavours such as chilli-garlic and basil, this soft, melt-in-your-mouth cheese is made fresh daily in micro batches, eliminating the need for preservatives or stabilisers. Mascarenhas’ transition into veganism nearly five years ago gave birth to the idea of delivering breakfast delights like cinnamon-flavoured almond milk (in glass bottles), vegan parmesan cheese and banana bread granola to doorsteps across time-starved Mumbai, at the break of dawn.

Aware of the pressure Californian almonds put on the drought-stricken state for water, Mascarenhas has been experimenting with organic Indian almonds. A 2018 study by researchers at Oxford University, however, revealed that all plant-based milk alternatives are at least more sustainable than dairy. Producing a single glass of cow milk consumes nine times more land and emits three times more greenhouse gases than any plant-based milks. Orders: Delivered across Mumbai only. For orders, call +91 84335 19280 or DM on Instagram @breakofdawnindia

Shougaiwa

For: vegan kimchi



Bruhadeesh Siva started Shougaiwa with the goal of making food from Korea and Japan more accessible to Indian households. Typically made with fish sauce, Siva’s vegan kimchi is made with fermented cabbage, seasonal veggies and soy sauce – and delivers a flavorful punch packed with probiotics. For the uninitiated, the flavored, spicy Achaari Kimchi caters to traditional Indian palettes. Orders: Delivered India-wide via shougaiwa.com (see their blog for recipes) or DM on Instagram @Shougaiwa

Shivya Nath is the author of the award-winning travel blog The Shooting Star, and has published a bestselling travel memoir. She advocates for slow, sustainable and vegan travel. Connect with her on Instagram @shivya