Mughal Dynasty Writes on Gujarat "The Vegetarian Region of India"

December 7, 2023

Gujarat is a large state on the west coast of India which shares a border with southern Pakistan. The state has an extremely large vegetarian population (around 60% at the time of writing) and long of history of edicts and government policies banning the slaughter and consumption of animals.

This month we’d like to write a little about some of the foods distinctive to the region including some of the more unique types of breads and rotis. The Khakda, for instance is a crispy flatbread eaten at breakfast and is made by kneading a dough consisting of wheat and mat bean flour with milk. The rotlee is an extremely thin roti while vedhami is made from gram flour dough and with added sugar and spices.

and farsan are types of fried snack; the former is typically eaten as snacks while the latter is typically eaten as part of a large meal. Some examples of nasto: chevda, which is rice beaten into a paste and fried with spices nuts and raisins, and sev which is gram flour fried as strings or wafers. Farsan foods are a little more substantial and include dhokla, fermented gram flour steamed into a sponge and kachori, which is a deep fried pastry stuffed with lentils, vegetables and ginger. A final example is khandvi which is a light and thin gram flour pancake that is eaten with coriander and mustard seeds.