Indian Dinner, Convenience-style
Again, this is not a recipe as such, more a guide to ‘accidentally vegan’ products.
India being the home of vegetarianism for thousands of years, its cuisine is a great place to start and it used to be the default position for most hungry vegans! Supermarkets all carry a range of vegan-friendly curries – often side portions – and they can work out cheaper than a takeaway. The main thing to watch out is for added butter, cream, butter ghee, yoghurt and the like! So a bit of packet reading is useful – or else check out the supermarket’s online vegan list or the company groceries website. My Vegan Supermarket also has a few listed!
It’s not just curries either – many Indian snacks, chapatis etc are suitable. Use vegan yoghurt and a nice chutney on the side and you’re away!
Cuisine
Indian and Indian Subcontinent
Ingredients
Here is a selection of what was on offer when we trawled supermarket websites. Remember, recipes and dishes are changed all the time – sometimes not in a good way – so always double check by reading the packets!
1-2 packs of ready-made chilled curry
- Asda: Vegetable Jalfrezi; Saag Aloo; Bombay Potatoes
- Sainsbury’s Channa Masala (Chickpeas in a tomato and coconut sauce – contains cashew nuts); Sainsbury’s Vegetable Jalfrezi
- Morrison’s: M Kitchen Aloo Gobi Saag; M Kitchen Takeaway Bombay Potato
- Tesco: Tesco Takeaway Vegetable Curry; The City Kitchen Veg, With Coconut Lentil; Tesco Bombay Potatoes
- Waitrose: Bombay Potatoes; Tarka Dhal
Ready-cooked rice
Most pilau rice is suitable for vegans – check the packets. These are sold in most supermarket branches, particularly the large ones
Indian snacks and accompaniments
- Most samosas, bhajis and similar snacks are vegan but always read the packs
- Poppadoms are usually vegan
- Chappatis are vegan, but most naan isn’t. However, Asda sell the Clay Oven Bakery range which seems to be fine
- Use plain dairy-free yoghurt to serve, eg Alpro, Provamel, Sojade, Tesco
- Dahl – if you love this with your Indian meal but can’t find a vegan version in your local supermarket, try the tinned variety – eg Asda, Biona, Tesco, Hodmedod’s are some of the best known brands
Instructions
- Heat up according to pack instructions. Serve hot, with chosen accompaniments, eg chapatis, chutney, vegan yoghurt.
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