Vegetarian Favourites: Indian Dals to Turkish Mezes

Vegetarian international favorites — at a glance, here are the most important points to walk away with before you read the deep dive below.

• Dal is India's everyday plant-based staple — masoor, toor, moong, chana, and urad each have distinct textures, and the tadka (spice-tempering) technique is one of the most flavour-efficient in any cuisine. • Middle Eastern and Turkish mezze — hummus, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, muhammara — build complete protein and iron absorption into the dishes themselves, like chickpeas with tahini or parsley with lemon. • Ethiopian injera is made from teff, a gluten-free ancient grain, and the Ethiopian Orthodox fasting calendar (200+ days a year) has shaped one of the world's richest plant-based stew traditions (shiro, misir wat, gomen). • Japanese shojin ryori, developed in Buddhist temples from the 13th century, builds flavour from kombu-shiitake dashi, tofu and its derivatives, and deliberately excludes meat, fish, and pungent alliums. • Mexican cuisine's pre-Columbian "Three Sisters" of maize, beans, and squash form complementary complete protein and underpin dishes from mole to tlayudas. • A well-stocked international pantry — dried lentils and whole spices, tahini and sumac, miso and kombu, dried chillies, teff — unlocks months of varied, culturally rooted plant-based cooking.

Dal — the Hindi word for both dried split pulses and the dishes made from them — is arguably the most nutritionally significant single dish type in global cuisine. Served daily in virtually every Indian household regardless of region or socioeconomic status, dal provides the primary protein and iron source for hundreds of millions of people. The diversity within dal is extraordinary: masoor dal (red lentils), toor dal (yellow split pigeon peas), moong dal (yellow split mung beans), chana dal (split chickpeas), and urad dal (black gram) each have distinctive textures, flavours, and regional traditions. The tadka (tempering) technique — frying whole spices, aromatics, and sometimes dried chillies in hot oil or ghee and pouring the fragrant mixture over cooked dal — is one of the most flavour-efficient techniques in any cuisine, releasing fat-soluble flavour compounds from cumin, mustard seeds, curry leaves, and fenugreek that bloom spectacularly in hot oil. Nutritionally, a well-constructed dal with rice or roti provides complete protein through amino acid complementarity, iron, folate, potassium, and a range of anti-inflammatory spice compounds including curcumin (turmeric), gingerol (ginger), and piperine (black pepper). The addition of tomatoes or tamarind provides vitamin C that enhances non-haem iron absorption from the lentils — a nutritional synergy embedded in the cuisine by culinary tradition rather than scientific design.

The mezze tradition — a spread of small dishes served communally as an appetiser or meal — is found across Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Greece, and the broader Eastern Mediterranean and represents one of the most nutritious and varied plant-based food cultures in the world. Hummus — the blend of cooked chickpeas, tahini (sesame paste), lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil — provides complete protein (chickpeas plus sesame create amino acid complementarity), calcium (from tahini, one of the richest plant calcium sources), iron, and healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Baba ghanoush — roasted aubergine blended with tahini and lemon — is rich in polyphenols and antioxidants particularly concentrated in the charred skin. Tabbouleh — the Lebanese parsley salad with bulgur wheat, tomatoes, onion, olive oil, and lemon — is an exceptional source of vitamin C, vitamin K, and iron, with the vitamin C and lemon juice dramatically enhancing iron absorption from the parsley. Fattoush (toasted bread salad with herbs and sumac), kibbeh (traditionally meat-based but with excellent vegetarian versions using bulgur, lentils, and mushrooms), muhammara (roasted red pepper and walnut dip), and börek (Turkish pastry filled with spinach and cheese or potato) represent just a fraction of the mezze repertoire. Turkish cuisine's vegetable dishes (zeytinyağlı, meaning "cooked in olive oil") — including stuffed aubergines (imam bayıldı), braised green beans, and courgette fritters — are particularly complex and satisfying.

Ethiopian cuisine offers one of the world's most distinctive and inherently plant-friendly food cultures, built around injera — a sourdough flatbread made from teff flour that serves simultaneously as plate, utensil, and carbohydrate base. Teff is a remarkable ancient grain native to the Horn of Africa: gluten-free, high in iron and calcium, and fermented during injera production in a way that partially reduces its phytate content and increases mineral bioavailability. The injera is covered with a selection of wats (stews) and salads, and the entire meal is eaten communally by tearing off pieces of injera and scooping up the accompanying dishes. Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity mandates fasting from animal products on Wednesdays, Fridays, and during multiple extended fasting periods that collectively span more than 200 days per year — creating a centuries-old tradition of extraordinary plant-based cooking. Shiro (a spiced chickpea or broad bean flour stew), misir wat (red lentil stew spiced with berbere), gomen (sautéed collard greens with garlic and ginger), and fosolia (green beans and carrots in turmeric and garlic) represent a nutritionally complete and gastronomically rich plant-based meal. Berbere — the complex spice blend of chilli, fenugreek, coriander, black pepper, cardamom, korarima, and other spices that is central to Ethiopian cooking — has significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties from its diverse phytochemical content.

Shojin ryori — the traditional plant-based cuisine developed in Buddhist temples from the 13th century onwards — represents perhaps the most philosophically refined and aesthetically developed vegetarian cooking tradition in the world. Rooted in the Buddhist principle of non-harm and the aesthetic principle of expressing the essence of each ingredient, shojin ryori uses no meat, fish, poultry, or pungent vegetables (garlic, leeks, onions, and chives are traditionally excluded for their perceived stimulating properties). The cuisine relies on dashi made from kombu and dried shiitake for its flavour depth, on tofu and its derivatives (yuba — tofu skin, koyadofu — freeze-dried tofu) for protein, and on seasonal vegetables, pickles, grains, and miso for variety and nutrition. Sesame tofu (goma dofu) — made by cooking sesame paste with kudzu starch to create a firm, creamy block — is a signature preparation that demonstrates the culinary sophistication achievable with simple plant ingredients. Yudofu (simmered tofu in kombu dashi), kinpira gobo (braised burdock root and carrot in soy and mirin), and various preparations of mountain vegetables (sansai) showcase how restraint and technique can extract extraordinary flavour and satisfaction from a narrow ingredient palette. The principles of shojin ryori — attention to seasonality, technique over quantity, and expressing the natural character of ingredients — offer a philosophical framework for plant-based cooking that extends far beyond Japanese cuisine.

Long before European contact, the cuisines of Mesoamerica — particularly Mexico and Central America — were built on a plant-based holy trinity of maize, beans, and squash (the "Three Sisters") supplemented by chillies, tomatoes, avocados, cacao, vanilla, and a vast array of wild plants. Together, maize and beans provided complementary complete protein and together fed the Aztec and Maya civilisations at extraordinary population densities. Black beans and pinto beans remain central to Mexican cuisine — served whole, refried, or blended into soups — and provide excellent protein, iron, folate, and resistant starch that feeds beneficial gut bacteria. Guacamole — mashed avocado with lime, coriander, and chilli — provides oleic acid, vitamin E, potassium, and significant quantities of lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids that support eye health. Mole — the complex sauce made from dried chillies, tomatoes, chocolate, and dozens of other ingredients — is one of the world's most sophisticated sauces and has several entirely plant-based varieties. Tamales with bean fillings, elotes (corn on the cob with chilli and lime), and tlayudas (Oaxacan flatbreads with black bean paste, vegetables, and avocado) demonstrate the extraordinary depth and satisfaction achievable within traditional Mexican plant-based cooking.

The practical gift of exploring global vegetarian traditions is an ever-expanding repertoire of flavour combinations, techniques, and dishes that transform plant-based eating from repetitive to genuinely exciting. A well-stocked international plant-based pantry might include: from Indian cuisine — dried lentils and split peas, an array of whole spices (cumin, coriander, turmeric, mustard seeds, curry leaves), ghee or coconut oil, tamarind paste; from the Middle East — tahini, dried chickpeas, pomegranate molasses, sumac, za'atar, preserved lemons; from Japan — white and red miso, dried kombu, dried shiitake, tamari, mirin, rice vinegar; from Mexico — dried ancho, chipotle, and guajillo chillies, corn tortillas, dried black beans; from Ethiopia — teff (for injera) or teff flour for other preparations, berbere spice blend. This pantry, combined with seasonal vegetables and whole grains like quinoa, provides the foundation for hundreds of nutritionally complete, culturally authentic plant-based meals without ingredient repetition for months. Approaching plant-based eating through the lens of global culinary traditions — rather than through the lens of restriction and substitution — connects it to its richest sources of inspiration and its most accomplished expressions.

The guidance in this article draws on peer-reviewed nutrition and food-science literature as well as guidance from major public-health bodies. Key reference sources we have consulted while writing and updating this piece include:

• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, *The Nutrition Source*, 2024. • U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Dietary Supplements, fact sheets, 2024. • World Health Organization (WHO), Healthy Diet fact sheet, 2024. • Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews — relevant systematic reviews, 2020–2024. • British Dietetic Association (BDA) Food Fact Sheets, 2024.

These references are provided so that motivated readers can verify claims and explore the underlying evidence directly. Where a specific trial, meta-analysis, or named author is referenced in the body of the article, that citation takes precedence over the general sources listed here. The article is reviewed periodically against newly published evidence and updated when meaningful new findings emerge.