Food is their medicine: how Ayurveda influences South Indian vegetarian cooking, and how to tell your thali from tandoori
- The owner of Woodlands, serving South Indian vegetarian food in Hong Kong since 1981, explains its precepts, its best known dishes, and its devotion to charity
- The co-founder of a restaurant serving Southeast Asian and Hong Kong-style food explains how it hopes to persuade diners to turn vegetarian
More people in Western countries are choosing to abstain from eating meat and seafood, either some or all of the time. In India, it has long been a way of life for millions.
Around three in 10 Indians follow a vegetarian diet, according to a 2016 National Family Health Survey. Indian vegetarians tend to be lacto-vegetarian, eating milk, cheese and other dairy products, while excluding eggs from their diet.
Being such a vast country, the ingredients and cooking styles of vegetarian food vary widely from North India to South India. In the north, curries are heavier than in the south, where they use more pulses; the blend of spices cooks use are different too; and in the north curries are served with breads rather than rice.
Many ingredients in South India are used for their medicinal properties instead of their inherent flavours, says Arun Alex Pudupadi Eaganathan, owner of Woodlands Indian Vegetarian Restaurant in Hong Kong. “In South India, we hold that food is more [than just] the taste. Food is our medicine. We consume for its health merits,” he says.
Plants supplement the diet, and different parts of the plant at different stages of growth have distinct nutritional benefits.
We encourage meat lovers to take a small step to try giving up animal meat once a week, then maybe twice or three times a week, and gradually to make eating plant-based a habit
There are different dietary rules in India for vegetarians belonging to different religions too. Strict Buddhists abstain from pungent plants, such as garlic and onions, which otherwise often appear in Indian dishes. Followers of Jainism refrain from eating all root vegetables, including potatoes, onions, carrots and radishes, because the process of harvesting and cooking could inadvertently kill the plant and other small life forms.
Woodlands in Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, which opened in 1981, specialises in South Indian vegetarian food, Pudupadi Eaganathan explains. Originally a customer, he bought the restaurant from its founders in 2018.
“Even people from North India covet our South Indian vegetarian fare,” says Pudupadi Eaganathan, a native of Chennai in southern India.
South Indian dishes make use of rice, lentils, spices, herbs and coconut. Dosa is to a South Indian meal what nan is to the North Indian diet. Dosa is made of fermented rice and lentil batter, while nan is wheat-based, he explains. “We have over 20 varieties of lentils. For dosa, urad dal, or black lentil, is commonly used.”
Ground fenugreek, an indigenous herb, is also added to the batter. “Fenugreek makes itself felt in pretty much every South Indian dish,” Pudupadi Eaganathan says. It has a mildly nutty flavour – a cross between celery and maple – and does not contribute much to the overall taste of the batter, but it offers a health bonus, he says.
A dosa is not eaten on its own; at Woodlands, it comes with three dips: sambar – a lentil soup spiked with tamarind juice and spices, coconut chutney, and a tangy tomato chutney.
Another popular dish at Woodlands is the thali. “Thali” refers to the platter the food is served on, but it also means a dish that contains multiple bowls arranged on said platter.
Woodlands accommodates the needs of Buddhists, with dishes such as gobi Manchurian, an Indo-Chinese appetiser. Cauliflower is coated with cornflour batter before being deep-fried and seasoned with soy sauce, vinegar and chilli sauce. It resembles tempura, but is more flavourful. “Many monks visit our restaurant,” says Pudupadi Eaganathan.
“Paneer is an important source of protein for Indian vegetarians,” says Pudupadi Eaganathan.
Indian vegetarian food, with its strong flavours, is not to everyone’s liking, but there are other kinds of vegetarian restaurants in Hong Kong catering both to confirmed non-meat eaters and to flexitarians who eat plant-based meals to detox and keep fit. Among these is My Meat Run Buddy, a buffet-style vegetarian diner in Tai Kok Tsui, West Kowloon.
“Our belief is ‘A Better Me. A Better World’,” says Esther Chan, who co-founded the restaurant. “We encourage meat lovers to take a small step to try giving up animal meat once a week, then maybe twice or three times a week, and gradually to make eating plant-based a habit for a ‘better me’. You would find how beautiful vegetarianism is for a better world.”
For almost three years, My Meat Run Buddy has been serving fusion vegetarian cuisine – mixing Hong Kong-style and Southeast Asian dishes.
“In 2017, my business partner and I were both beginners at plant-based eating. We found there were not ample choices of innovative vegetarian offerings,” says Chan. To entice diners into becoming vegetarians, they offered dishes that were delicate, delicious and interesting.
“We decided to establish a stylish veggie restaurant with more than 40 different dishes in an ‘all you can eat’ buffet style,” says Chan. “We’re dedicated to promoting plant-based culture without compromising on the taste.”
Both Woodlands and My Meat Run Buddy give back to the community, in their own ways.
In nearly 40 years, Woodlands has donated about HK$1 million.
My Meat Run Buddy distributes monthly meal coupons to a local non-governmental organisation, Chan Hing Social Service Centre. Elderly people in need can redeem the coupon for a meatless lunchbox for takeaway or dining in.
“On top of the 120 free lunchboxes donated by the restaurant, customers can support [the initiative] by buying meal coupons for HK$58 each, and write down their caring messages. Then we’ll pin them on the wall,” says Chan.
Woodlands Indian Vegetarian Restaurant
UG16-17, Wing On Plaza, 62 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, tel: 2369 3718
My Meat Run Buddy
28-30 Pok Man Street, Tai Kok Tsui, tel: 2388 6280
