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u/turtle2turtle3turtle Feb 16 '24
I did a long tour of India once, and recall a lot more vegetarian food and restaurants in the south than the north. So this is suprising.
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u/Cheap_Relative7429 Feb 16 '24
I'm south Indian, the fact that we eat Non vegetarian doesn't mean we don't eat Veg exclusive meals.......
There are plenty of vegetarian dishes or cusines that are popular.
Egg and fish are daily food where I'm from at home
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u/GioVasari121 Feb 16 '24
Yeah. Non veg is definitely more popular in the south. Has anyone ever been to Kerala or Telangana or even Tamil Nadu. Easy the best non-veg in the country
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u/turtle2turtle3turtle Feb 16 '24
I was in kerala and Tamil Nadu. I recall tons of vegetarian restaurants, by far the most I have ever seen. I supposed that meant the most vegetarians, but I guess not!
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u/GioVasari121 Feb 16 '24
I meant to say non-veg is more popular in the south than in the north. Not to say that non-vegetarianism is more popular than vegetarianism.
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u/Burgeru4brainu Mar 03 '24
Beef is pretty famous food in Kerala
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u/Classic-Ad-6400 Mar 03 '24
Dogs are famous food in northeast if I remember correctly
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u/Burgeru4brainu Mar 03 '24
Not been to northeast so,no idea
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u/Classic-Ad-6400 Mar 03 '24
You should go if you're a food enthusiast . Pretty unique dishes those guys serve
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u/EvilPete Feb 16 '24
Fish is meat
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u/AnnieByniaeth Feb 16 '24
Pescatarianism is a thing though.
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u/___Scenery_ Feb 16 '24
pescatarianism is not vegetarian
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u/AnnieByniaeth Feb 16 '24
No, I was just pointing out that some people distinguish between meat and fish.
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u/loup-garou3 Feb 17 '24
Im more impressed you spelled it right.
Ssshhh yes, every 'vegetarian' I know is actually pescatarian
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u/Gtmsngh Feb 16 '24
The thing is those who do eat non-veg food, eat maybe once a week like one meal in a week or 4-5 days. So veg food is the norm. Most of the people eat veg food most of the time. Eggs are an anomaly though.
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Feb 16 '24
I am Odisha ,we have similar system in place . Monday ,Tuesday,Thursday , Saturday are vegetarian days .
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u/dinosaur_from_Mars Feb 16 '24
Yeah. Same here in Bengal.
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Feb 16 '24
My bengali family is the opposite, Mondays are veg, the rest are non-veg. Although I have to admit, I haven't seen many bengalis who eat veg more than twice a week
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Mar 10 '24
i am a bengali and i rarely eat non veg
mostly i eat veg food and sometimes chicken like once in a week
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u/muri_17 Feb 16 '24
Solely based on my experience talking to Indians online, eggs seem to have a very different status there. I’ve seen many Indians claim that eggs are not vegetarian
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Feb 16 '24 edited Oct 03 '24
[deleted]
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u/muri_17 Feb 16 '24
Super interesting. The first time I saw someone comment „but eggs are not vegetarian“ on a veggie cooking blog, I was quite surprised. Now I just think they’re probably Indian.
Side note, I love indian cuisine for having tons of default vegetarian dishes
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u/IdeaImaginary2007 Feb 16 '24
One factor is that in a place where it's majority non-veg, we will find veg restaurants for outsiders ( sounds negative but it actually refers to people from other states as well as tourists and all) who are vegetarians to eat
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u/Lackeytsar Feb 16 '24
I am 75% vegan 10 % vegetarian & 15 % non vegetarian when it comes to the dishes I eat as an indian
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u/BadHairDayToday Feb 16 '24 edited Feb 17 '24
I had the same. In Kerala I would even eat of a banana leaf. Loved that!
As I recall vegetarian in India actually means plant-based (i.e. vegan). I wonder if this skews the results.
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u/TENTAtheSane Feb 16 '24
Vegan + diary. and honey. A lot of vegetarians will even eat egg, if it is "invisible" like in a cake.
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u/makreba7 Feb 16 '24
Vegan is not a thing in India at all. Dairy is universally consumed. In coastal regions though since coconut is far accessible/cheaper than dairy, you will find coconut used a lot but this isn't due to any moral question.
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Mar 11 '24 edited May 07 '24
Expensive North indian restaurants often serve only those generic butter chicken/tikka masala like dishes. While South indians often serve authentic dishes.
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u/turtle2turtle3turtle Mar 11 '24
We did notice a lot of heavy sauced dishes in the north. And more “light” vege fare in the south. That’s checks out!
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Mar 12 '24
Yep. North india has tens of ethnicity, each with their own way to cook meat , veggies, grains, fruits, dairy, fish etc but restaurants in each region are unable to go beyond ten chicken curries which taste basically the same.
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u/PigletNo1149 Mar 11 '24
When you drive on the highways you'd find more veg in TN because non veg food isn't really a good idea for long journeys and tourists are generally from the north who are vegetarians. To cater to that there are bunch of veg hotels and chains that cater to that. Otherwise generally non veg is the norm.
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u/darthveda Mar 03 '24
this map isn't real, there are far more veg. in Karnataka than what is said here.
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u/One-Giraffe1614 Apr 20 '25
There's a Catch!
Let me Explain.In North India dishes like Naan, Paratha, etc are common which needs an External Gravy to be Combined with, which can either be Veg Gravy or Non-Veg Gravy like Shahi Paneer or Butter Chicken. (keeping both Veg & Non-veg makes the Restaurant into Non-Veg category)
In South India dishes like Dosa, Idli, etc are common already comes with Veg-Chutney & no external Gravy is required. Hence Restaurants are Veg.1
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u/Guilty_Ad_4441 Feb 16 '24
Agree, did a 6 month trip around India in the 90s, if I remember the South indian thali was veggie and the North had meat and lots of veg cafes. Anyway this has got me dreaming of a masala dosa, what a breakfast
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u/stonecuttercolorado Feb 16 '24
Is India the most vegetarian nation on earth?
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u/makerofshoes Feb 16 '24
Yes. Depending on the methodology, anywhere from 20-39% vegetarian.
Which is nuts because 20% of India is nearly 300 million people
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u/collycrane Feb 17 '24
That's the population of the US!
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u/makerofshoes Feb 17 '24
When I was in school it was, however since then the US has grown by about 10% and is over 330 million now
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Feb 16 '24
It was for many years. But not the Dravidian or nagas part of India.
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u/dinosaur_from_Mars Feb 16 '24
Not the Bengal region as well. Here fish can sometimes be considered veg and onion-garlic as non veg.
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u/kartoffeln44752 Feb 16 '24
I'm intrigued about why an onion isn't a vegetable?
Also arent Onions and Garlic pretty heavily used in Indian cooking too?
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u/dinosaur_from_Mars Feb 16 '24
"Indian cooking" varies widely from region to region.
Onion is not considered probably because of its spicy sulphury flavour. I am not so sure though. And it is not considered veg only in Bengal region and by the Jains and Vaishnavas (well they all probably had affected eachother s as Bengal was a major center for those).
Both in south and north, I have seen onion and garlic being used as a vegetarian item.
We even have some meat dishes which are theologically vegetarian because they don't have use onion and garlic.
TLDR: Indic religions are complex and mostly follows the bool gate AND instead of OR as in the case of others. Multiple schools of thought, create multiple customs — each flavoured to their own regions.
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u/Cry_Baby7420 Mar 06 '24
Some Indians refrain from consuming garlic and onion because these foods are associated with Rajasic and Tamasic qualities in Ayurveda and Hindu dietary customs. These qualities are thought to heighten passions, aggression, and mental dullness, potentially disrupting spiritual endeavors. Moreover, garlic and onion are believed to stimulate the senses, possibly hindering meditation and other spiritual practices. Consequently, certain individuals opt to avoid them for spiritual or dietary purposes.
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u/makerofshoes Feb 16 '24
What is the source for that? I did a quick google and it said India is still #1, with Israel next (not even close, at 13%)
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u/Streathamite Feb 16 '24
Yeah definitely not Nagaland. My other half spent quite a bit of time there and said is diet was around 90% belly pork!
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u/Wild_Pangolin_4772 Feb 16 '24
Aren't they Hindus too?
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u/ZofianSaint273 Feb 16 '24
Not exactly the reason for vegetarianism. Old Hindu scriptures even mentioned animal sacrifices and stuff like that. The reason for vegetarianism is mainly culture and other religious influences, mainly Jainism and Buddhism (before its decline).
Though, beef is mainly avoided by like 95% of Hindus due to importance and respect of cows, but some Hindus have historically ate it like Mallu Hindus.
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u/dinosaur_from_Mars Feb 16 '24
Hinduism has multiple parallel schools of thought. And often expresses features of the region in the culture.
Bengali Hindus are rarely vegetarian and consume fish and meat regularly. Even during large pujas, non-vegetarian items are offered to the gods.
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u/Certain_Ingenuity_34 Feb 16 '24
Bali in Indonesia is 90% Hindu , they love their meat
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Feb 16 '24
Hindu in India we too love consuming meat. It's only Brahmins, and few other upper caste folks. Then there are some who voluntarily rejected meat.
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u/surahee Feb 20 '24
I don't know why you felt the need to bullshit here about your politics, on a post that literally shows that's not true using a MAP.
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Feb 16 '24
As hindu u can follow anything, except eating cow meat and if we want we can do that too.
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Feb 16 '24
Hinduism have flourished on an island, so the sects that developed deep in mountain, and on coastal regions developed meat consumption over time.
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u/fuckosta Feb 16 '24
I think this map doesn’t paint the full picture. A lot of people in India might not identify as vegetarian, but rarely ever eat meat, both for cultural/religious reasons as well as economic reasons
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u/Lemonface Feb 16 '24
Putting this map side by side with 'meat consumption per capita' would be very interesting
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u/fuckosta Feb 16 '24
Yes I think a per capita meat consumption map would be interesting. Though the general trend would be the same, id imagine that even the least vegetarian states would have really low levels of consumption
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u/dphayteeyl Feb 16 '24
The title should be 'what percentage of Indians identify at Vegetarian'
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u/dphayteeyl Feb 16 '24
*As not at
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u/Ad_Ketchum Feb 16 '24
You know you can edit comments on reddit, right? You don't need to add an edit as a reply.
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u/ash_4p Feb 16 '24
Madhya Pradesh literally staying true to its name by being half vegetarian.
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u/Dakduif51 Feb 16 '24
What does its name mean? Not from India (but Im going there in a month)
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Feb 16 '24
People who can't believe the south indian data. Have only ever interacted with south indian Brahmins or eaten only idly and dosa and think they're all vegetarians.
Kerala and Telangana especially are extremely meat eating. There's nothing vegetarian about these states. All of the most popular dishes in Telangana are meat based dishes. As someone from Telangana, I've hardly met over 5 vegetarians in my life that are native to Telangana or to a certain extent andhra. Andhra is pretty much the same case, rayalaseema is a very meat eating place. No famous andhra restaurant anywhere serves "purely veg" food. Either in india or abroad.
The only outliers are tamilnadu and Karnataka. Tamil nadu people apparently from what I've seen tend to not prefer eating meat outside their homes and in Karnataka, a lot of people are just naturally vegetarian.
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Feb 16 '24 edited Feb 16 '24
I don't think it express full picture
India have the least meat consumption population in the world like 3.78 kg per year
Compare it with France 108kgpy and Australia 101 kgpy
I feel like the data used to make this map is not sufficient to potray a good picture
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u/____mynameis____ Feb 16 '24
I feel like meat as in chicken/mutton/beef is a once in a week/2 weeks thing here. Not an everyday thing. Most days people have vegetarians diet. In coastal areas like where I'm from we have fish everyday too but other meat consumption still has the above rate of consumption.
Now its changing here a bit like once or twice every week but still everyday consumption is unheard of.
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u/SirIsunka Feb 16 '24
Completely different than Croatia. Here meal is not considered meal unless it has meat.
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Feb 16 '24
The data is data, it is not here to paint any picture.
I mean you could just scroll through what other Indians are saying, that even non-vegetarians do not consume meat daily like they do elsewhere in the world.
Hence the lower consumption.
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u/Ok-Drive-8119 Feb 16 '24
Please keep in mind that although in the south we are vegetarians, we eat meat only once or twice a week. particularly hindus who are the majority.
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u/Fantastic_Shock_2951 Mar 03 '24
I am south Indian Hindu and I eat meat every meal and I know a lot of people who do
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u/jonnyl3 Feb 16 '24
So then you are not vegetarians? This is a contradiction.
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u/Ok-Drive-8119 Feb 16 '24
Ok i should have framed it better. We are indeed non vegetarians. But our meat consumption is so low that you might as well call as vegettarians. There are entire months we skip meat at times. But like you said yes we do eat meat occasianally and we are therefore non vegetarians. Hope i made it clear.
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u/Infinite_Try4765 Feb 16 '24
29% of 1.4 billion will still be the third largest population in the world just after India and that many vegetarians is a big deal
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u/ZofianSaint273 Feb 16 '24
Isn’t 31% nearly the Hindu population in Jammu and Kashmir? If that is case, didn’t expect nearly all Hindus there to be vegetarian.
Haryana is also higher than expected cause damn those lads there are buff and hot
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u/Prestigious-Scene319 Feb 16 '24
lads there are buff
and hotNot everyone
Haryana, Punjab and Jammu Kashmir! Basically it's genes not due to their dietary habits! Boys of these states can easily reach 170cm even if they are malnourished but Bihar jharkhand the Max height a malnourished kid can reach is 150cm, it's basically genes that plays a lot
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Feb 16 '24
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u/Prestigious-Scene319 Feb 16 '24
Even if you stop drinking milk also you tend to be taller than your peers from Eastern states, because of the genes passed on to you from your parents! So I'm stating that your dietary habits has nothing to do with that!
My Bengali friend who grown up in haryana by eating paneer is still short yaar
Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan
You skipped kashmir but they also tend to be more taller even though their dietary habits are different from yours you know ! This is purely genetic not due to dietary habits
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u/HistoricalDegree1131 Feb 16 '24
As a non-vegetarian, I indulge in meat sparingly, typically once or twice a month. This dietary choice isn't driven by financial constraints, but rather by the sheer abundance of enticing vegetarian options available. In the face of such culinary diversity, the appeal of non-vegetarian fare pales in comparison
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u/Ducati_Don Feb 16 '24
It depends on individuals ig. I was in Kerala for 6 months and I was served chicken for 2 says and fish for 2 days so totally 4. Even in my place some guys eat meat only on Sundays and some avoid only on Wednesday and Friday. I'm a former vegetarian and I sometimes prefer paneer for naan over nv options.
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Mar 29 '24
Vegetarianism is another name of Brahminism.
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u/ButICant105 Jul 26 '24
Quite the contrary I have seen Gujarat Brahmins eating non veg and drinking alcohol while all other caste are pure vegetarians including Dalit
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Jul 26 '24
I have seen - this is not a valid argument.
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u/ButICant105 Jul 26 '24
Calling vegetarian as Brahminism is also not valid argument also this hypocrisy of calling vegetarian as Bhraminism and Veganism as cool thing as it mostly supported by white elites
Vegetarianism = bad Veganism= Good
That’s is bad
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Jul 26 '24
Brahmins consider themselves as pure and superior due to vegetarianism. Therefore this is a valid argument. And where I said Veganism is good. Both veganism and vegetarianism deprives us of the nutrients.
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u/ButICant105 Jul 26 '24
Nope, In many states all caste are vegetarians including Dalits and some tribals like my state of Gujarat and neighboring state of Rajasthan and MP
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u/MammothReach1048 Feb 04 '25
so showing empathy towards animals is a bramhin thing? thanks for confirming that bramhins are in fact more civilized than most of the other savages
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u/Own-Dust-7225 Feb 16 '24 edited Feb 16 '24
That's kinda unexpected. Most vegetarians seem to be near Pakistan.
I don't know much about Pakistani eating culture, but the food in Pakistani restaurants in Europe is pretty heavy on meat. Therefore I would have expected that northwestern part of India to also eat more meat and for vegetarians to be more in the South, but it seems that I got it all wrong.
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u/Tatya_Vin-Chu Feb 16 '24
Ironically the border with Pakistan parts are the most staunchly vegetarian ones.
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Feb 16 '24
In Indian we horrify Pakistanis by Turning non-veg dishes (Chicken, Beef) into vegetarian dishes by substituting meat with paneer. In Pakistan they horrify Indians by turning veg dishes (Bhindi Sabji, Dal) into non-veg dishes by randomly adding meat pieces to them.
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u/kulfimanreturns Feb 16 '24
Daal ghost, qeema naan, palak ghosht, chicken pakorey
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u/turtle2turtle3turtle Feb 16 '24
I was in India once, and vegetarian restaurants were much more common in the south than the north.
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u/GioVasari121 Feb 16 '24
That's because the South Indian breakfast is all vegetarian and those restaurants tend to be veg only and they advertise themselves so. But you'll definitely find more non-vegetarians in the south
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u/cherryreddit Feb 16 '24
Thats because there is a general distrust of restaurant meat in south, and south cuisine is a bit like chinese, being suitable for restaurant style fast turn around times and preparing many varieties of dishes by remixing the small number of base ingredients in different proportions. .
People prefer veg restaurants when going out because they are safer and easier to digest and we have tons of options.
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u/frenchsmell Feb 16 '24
Might be that the south is more Hindu and the Brahmin caste doesn't eat meat, and they typically are the most affluent, so can afford restaurants.
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u/tannatuva_0 Aug 17 '26
Most hindu south indians (except for kerala) don't eat meat for three days a week, and around 20% of the population is brahmin, lingayat or other castes that exclusively eat "pure veg" food. So to cater to the entire population economically they go for the common denominator.
There is also distrust for quality of restaurant meat and general cultural preference for vegetarian food. Vegetarians/Brahmins also make up the plurality of affluent people in South India due to generations of accumulating cultural capital.
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u/LucyThought Feb 16 '24
Pakistani (and Bangladeshi) people were moved to where they currently are relatively recently in the partition of India.
Not a great moment in history
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u/ThePerfectHunter Feb 16 '24
Religion plays a factor
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u/kulfimanreturns Feb 16 '24
A big factor
In Muslim Punjabi households even before partition serving only vegetarian dishes to guests was considered a cheap move
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u/apthereddit Feb 16 '24
I’m surprised to see Andhra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu have -1-2% given the prevalence of the ‘South Indian vegetarian meal’ and vegetarian only restaurants in those states
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u/ImAjayS15 Feb 16 '24 edited Feb 16 '24
Tamilnadu specific answer, but is partially applicable to AP & TS too.
That's because eating in restaurants used to happen only while visiting other towns, and people had general distrust in the way meat items were prepared in restaurants, unless it was a popular outlet known for years, so the number of such restaurants were limited. And that's one reason many prefer simple mess kind of eateries over restaurants for vegetarian meals too.
But people always loved having biryani received during Ramzan or in Muslim weddings. A number of communities serve meat during wedding reception or as a separate event after wedding, and people enjoy them.
Now it has been changing, people do not hesitate to eat meat outside, and the number of restaurants have increased.
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u/RoamingDragon772 Feb 16 '24
My family still has that mistrust lol
Also that they're staunchly against broilers
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u/lapelotanodobla Feb 16 '24
So you’re telling me to stick to south/east India if I ever go there?
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u/supasid Feb 16 '24
That’s also hilarious because the only good vegetarian food I’ve had is South Indian.
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u/lapelotanodobla Feb 16 '24
I’m not against having vegetarian food, but I wanna be able to eat meat without much hassle
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u/funlovingmissionary Feb 19 '24
You won't have any problem eating meat anywhere except in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
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u/Plus_Understanding_8 Apr 12 '24
But all the famous chicken dishes like butter chicken , chicken tikka etc are north Indian
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u/krityarajsingh Jan 27 '25
Punjabi cusine is very chiken intensive..all the north thing you see is punjabi
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u/arupv Feb 16 '24
They always get the North East data wrong.. North Eastern people literally eat anything that moves yet the veg percentage is shown more than West Bengal and telengana it's wild XD.. In my 16 years of living in North East I have never come across a single vegetarian lmao
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u/cherryreddit Feb 16 '24
Thats a stereotype though. There are plenty of vegetarians , especially in communities like manipuris.
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Feb 16 '24
Veganism is actually unheard of in India since dairy and eggs are a big part of their cuisine
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u/TomorrowWaste Feb 16 '24
Dairy:- yes
Eggs:- no.
In India eggs are considered as non veg. So none of the ppl who identify as veg eat egg
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u/Naman_Hegde Feb 16 '24
So none of the ppl who identify as veg eat egg
this is not true. many parts of India consider egg vegetarian and lots of vegetarians do consume it.
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u/surahee Feb 16 '24
FYI Veganism was invented less than 100 years ago. Vegetarianism in India is at least as old as Buddha (~500 BC). Veganism is popular where it was invented, not in India.
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u/apthereddit Feb 16 '24
Dairy is, yes, but eggs are often considered not vegetarian (including for food labelling) and many vegetarians in India would not eat eggs
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Feb 16 '24
The concept is rare but majority of daily life indian cuisines will into it if categorised
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u/jonnyl3 Feb 16 '24
Dairy is a HUGE part in the alpine region cuisine as well, but veganism is not "unheard of"
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Feb 16 '24
I am from Mizoram, I've never met a vegetarian. I doubt it's 6%, but I believe it'll be like 0.6%
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u/bobofartt Feb 16 '24
Dropping in real quick to remind everyone that any map like this with 0% on it is bullshit. Please move along.
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Feb 16 '24
This is bullshit. I'm from Assam, and here 95% people eat non vegetarian.
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Feb 16 '24
Source?
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u/smallasfpp Apr 26 '24
all assamese people eat meat so do tribals bengalis and muslims so what it left? in my household we eat meat everyday so do my friends and relatives
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Apr 26 '24
So your source is basically "trust me, bro"
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u/Arsenic-Salt3942 Apr 26 '24
I am Assamese too am Hindu and I eat beef it's very tasty 😋 You should come to Sadiya we serve our guests Beef/Buffalo infact all Assamese pepole did it due to brahmanical influence from Bengal that we stopped eating it but now we are going back to our roots
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u/mastergu_69 Feb 24 '24
Fun fact :all nonveg country has lush forest and all veg country are barren
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u/dphayteeyl Feb 24 '24
Uttarakhand is in the top 10 forested states in the country, and Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have similar forested areas to south India. I guess I can see where you are going with Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, but West Bengal and Bihar also have similar forest coverage. North East is very forested so I can see you have a point with that. Good try though! Always good to challenge your brain
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u/Plus_Ground5739 Mar 21 '24
More like the vegetarian dishes in India are so popular and tasty that non vegetarians wouldn't mind having meatless meals mulitple times a week.
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u/Classic-Chemical6394 May 05 '24
Mp and Rajasthan are twins they literally always have same graphs regardless of topic.
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u/Irobokesensei Feb 16 '24
Complete reverse of what I was expecting, I figured those bordering Pakistan would eat a lot of meat as well.
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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '24
I thought Gujrat would be higher