2 days ago
8
I’m like a giant panda in that 98% of what I eat comes from plants. It’s a long story, but the short version is that I love animals alive and vegetables on my plate.
If I think about who I am and how I eat, I am built from Gujarati ingenuity and Lincolnshire produce when it comes to putting vegetables at the centre of the table. While I eat mainly plants, I do leave a little room in my diet for other things that I enjoy – a fish curry shared with my husband, Hugh, an omelette for a quick dinner, or tidying the edges of a hunk of manchego – and three of my cookbooks, Fresh India, East and Dinner, overall reflect that way of eating.
I have variously followed a vegan or vegetarian diet, but the moment I fell off the wagon by eating some meat, I feared I lacked conviction. I’d question my values and feel as if I’d failed, and I’d want to throw in the towel. But, left to my own devices, I very rarely ate meat or fish, say once or twice a month, and dairy and eggs more regularly, but there was no wagon to fall off – and overall I was moving in the right direction.
Even though I’ve written the vegan column at the Guardian for eight years, I’ve never labelled myself a vegan or, for that matter, a vegetarian, pescatarian or meat-eater. So when the Guardian recently asked me to broaden my horizons to include vegetarian recipes every other week, I said yes.
Back in 2017, many of the vegan recipes being written weren’t especially tempting and, having grown up eating the most beautiful home-cooked, largely vegan Indian food, I had a lot to add to the conversation. But things have changed since then. Now many of the UK’s brightest brains are creating fantastic plant-based dishes: it’s where the greatest innovation in food is. There are vegan ranges in every supermarket and every fast-food chain, and most restaurants and pubs have at least one vegan option.
And so perhaps now is the right time for me to go full panda. Before I do, I’d love to share a couple of things I’ve learned along the way.
Veganism is far from the restrictive diet I once thought it was. Initially, I felt it was so limited that I’d have to give up my column within two months (thanks to Itamar Srulovich and Diana Henry for talking me out of it). But the limitation forced me to think more creatively. I had to learn different ways of cooking vegetables to get to a delicious and satisfying meal quickly. It has opened up my palate and given me new skills; I’ve learned how to extract the most flavour from a celeriac. Overall, it has made me a better cook, and it has been fun along the way.
It has also made me more conscious of what I eat. It’s forced me to read every label and, in doing so, I’ve become more aware of what I’m putting into my body (and what I’m recommending you put into yours). It’s led me to be much more aware of ultra-processed ingredients and foods, for example, of which there are lots when it comes to pre-packaged vegan food.
Finally, the community around my column has been amazing in all sorts of ways. I’ve learned that most of my readers are Meat-Free Monday-ers or part-time vegans, and have shown enormous enthusiasm for weekly vegan options. Many are not, as I initially thought, part of a small, east London bubble, but from as far as the Outer Hebrides and of all ages. Both my father in-law and stepfather-in-law, for example, who are in their late 70s and grew up eating meat daily, now eat vegan food regularly.
I am conscious that I’m making this change at a time when Donald Trump has pulled out of the Paris agreement, and just after the Los Angeles fires. But I believe that one of the most empowering things we can all do in the face of the climate crisis is to choose what we put on our plates three times a day. And if we all, in our millions, choose to eat less meat more regularly, that’s where the greatest change will happen.
I’ll still be writing vegan recipes every other week here and my food will still be about flavour, vegetables and pleasure. For the time being, because so much of what I do is tinkering in the kitchen, I am thrilled to have new ingredients for my weekly column – the equivalent of new paints to paint with. Sometimes I might not get it right, but I’m enthusiastic to learn and to see what I can create for you.
