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From:	Prakash (59.95.101.51)
Subject:	Re: Vegan in India
Date:	August 19, 2006 at 4:35 am PST

In Reply to: Vegan in India posted by Joanna Griffiths on December 3, 2005 at 5:59 am:

Hello,

Indian Definition of Vegetarianism: does not include meat, beef, pork, chiken, or for that matter any animal's flesh. Also, does not include animal fats products and eggs. Also, does not include any dairy product based on any of the abovementioned things.

Does Include: Milk and milk based products. Also, include milk based dairy products. Dairy made bread if it does not contain egg etc. And yes, ghee is also taken as vegetarian.

You may want to replace the word DOES NOT with SHOULD NOT. Because the abovementioned is a traditional definition and there may be some variations eg many people do not take egg as non veg or ice cream even if it may contain gelatin.

Milk and milk based products eg. ghee, yoghurt, sweets, cheese etc. are an essential part of indian vegetarians' meals.

Ghee: milk based and vegetable oil based.

In Rajasthan, however remote the place of your stay is, you will find indian vegetarian food easily. In Kerala also you will get veg food atleast around tourist zones. In Rajasthan ghee is used extensively.

Avoiding ghee and milk products are rather easy. In most cases ghee is added after cooking the dish eg. roti and rice.Milk products can be excluded easily out of your meals ( you have to tell beforehand or even better if you ask about the recipe ).

It all depends on your definitions (you are right when you write about the cultural difference). I have an experience. I was travelling in a remote islands of the Andaman & Nicobar archipelago. They will fry a fish in a pan and than will cook your veg dish with remaining oil in the pan. To avoid this I stayed at small guest houses where they allowed me in the kitchen. At a few places I bought my own grocery and cooked for myself.

In gist, you must know what you eat and what you don't - in local language (though english is well understood in tourist zones).

Should you have more inquisitions, please do not hesitate in asking. I myself am researching hard on my food during my trip to southeast asia this yearend.

Cheers!

Prakash

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