World Vegan Day 2025: November 1 marks World Vegan Day. This observance day aims to bring awareness to the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle, spanning various reasons, from health, the environment, to animal welfare.
For the uninformed, a vegan diet is primarily plant-based while eliminating all forms of animal-based foods, such as dairy, eggs, and even honey. Often vegan diet may be confused with a vegetarian diet because of the overlapping focus on plant-based foods. But vegetarians do consume animal by-products like cow milk, cheese, yoghurt, and honey. But vegans look for alternatives to these by-products, such as oat milk, tofu or vegan cheese.
While both diets, vegetarian and vegan diets, focus on fruit, vegetables, grains and legumes, the vegan diet takes a step further towards being cruelty-free as it rejects all forms of animal products, not just meat.
If on this day, you are looking to add new recipes to your vegan diet, or turn over a new leaf and test the waters of this environmentally conscious lifestyle, you can consider adding these recipes. Chef Simran Singh Thapar, executive chef at The Leela Palace in Bengaluru, shared with HT Lifestyle three nutritionally rich desi recipes that are vegan.
Here are the recipes:
1. Multigrain methi missi
Ingredients
- Whole wheat flour – 0.150 kg
- Gram flour (besan) – 0.050 kg
- Bajra flour – 0.025 kg
- Jowar flour – 0.025 kg
- Fresh methi leaves – 0.050 kg
- Onion (chopped) – 0.030 kg
- Green chili (chopped) – 0.005 kg
- Ginger (chopped) – 0.005 kg
- Ajwain – 0.002 kg
- Salt – to taste
- Oil – 0.010 L (for cooking)
Method
- Combine all flours, chopped methi leaves, onion, green chili, ginger, ajwain, and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Add a little water to knead into a soft dough.
- Rest the dough for 10–15 minutes.
- Divide into small portions and roll into flat discs.
- Cook each on a hot griddle with a drizzle of oil until golden brown on both sides.
- Serve warm with curd or pickle.
2. Ragi Idli
Ingredients
- Ragi flour – 0.250 kg
- Nellore rice – 0.250 kg
- Urad dal – 0.125 kg
- Methi seeds – 0.010 kg
- Salt – to taste
Method
- Soak rice, urad dal, and methi seeds separately for 4–5 hours.
- Grind urad dal and methi seeds into a smooth batter.
- Grind rice coarsely and mix with ragi flour.
- Combine both batters, add salt, and allow to ferment overnight.
- Pour the batter into greased idli moulds and steam for 10–12 minutes.
- Serve hot with chutney or sambar.
3. Green smoothie
Ingredients
- Spinach leaves – 50 g
- Cucumber – 50 g
- Apple – 1 no.
- Lemon juice – 10 ml
- Ginger – 5 g
- Mint leaves – 10 g
- Coconut water – 150 ml
- Ice cubes – as required
Method
- Combine all ingredients in a blender.
- Blend until smooth and creamy.
- Serve immediately for the best flavour and nutrition.