"Vegan food is bland" is one of the more persistent myths out there — and it doesn't hold up against a single Indian kitchen.

Indian cooking has always leaned on spice for flavour. Tadka — hot oil poured over cumin, mustard seeds, curry leaves, or dried chillies — is the flavour base for half the dals and sabzis in the country, and it's built entirely from spice and oil, no dairy involved. Garam masala carries warmth and depth. Tamarind and chilli bring sharpness and heat. None of this depends on ghee or dairy to work.

A dal or sabzi made without ghee or dairy isn't missing out on taste — the spice work carries it. That's not a plant-based workaround, that's just how a huge share of Indian cooking already operates, vegan or not.

The plate you grew up on was already doing most of the work.

Explore plant-based staples at ButNotMeat — butnotmeat.com/collections/all