Monday, September 10, 2012

Who is the Indian Vegan?

Okay, I'm not the Indian vegan. I'm a vegan Indian. Here's a "getting to know you"-type post about the blog creator, aka Catherine Reddy.


So who are you?
I’m a 20-something living in Chennai, India. I’ve been living here since January 2012 with my Indian husband, Sriram, and his delightful family. I obviously have a lot more learning to do about this great country. I’m originally from the US—Arizona, to be specific. Like Chennai, it’s very hot in Phoenix!

Me and Sriram, wedding day!

 How long have you been vegan?
I went vegan in 2005, so, 7 years now. I’ve written about my path to veganism here, and how I practice veganism here.

What do you do for a living?
My profession before coming to India was a writer of business-related content. I went to business school in the US and got my degree in economics with a minor in international business. At the moment I technically can’t work for visa-related issues, but I appreciate this time to assess the direction of my life. I think the most important endeavor I have right now is figuring out how I fit into my amazing Indian family and the larger community. My time’s currently being spent on a bit of accounting/bookkeeping, some side writing on fiction and non-fiction, and of course, this blog. Perhaps down the line I’ll start a business. Or a non profit. Or both. Life’s full of many possibilities.

Any pets?
I love animals and grew up with every kind under the sun, from dogs, cats, horses, guinea pigs, rabbits, tortoises and lizards. Since living in an apartment here in Chennai, pets aren’t feasible. We’ll be moving out to ECR within a year or two, though, and there are 4 stray dogs hanging around the property we’ll be adopting. They’ll be happy, well-fed and neutered guard dogs… they just don’t know it yet.

Favorite restaurants in Chennai?
For my favorite Indian food restaurant, I love Sangeetha. My favorite Western restaurant in the city is Kryptos. I gorge myself on their vegan-friendly buffet filled with veggies once a week for date night with my husband!

My favorite Indian restaurant


Favorite foods:
Few things beat fresh in-season fruit, so sometimes my favorite food is mangos, while other times it’s pomegranate seeds. My favorite veggies as of late are pumpkin and corn. Though I don’t eat traditional Indian food often (despite it being delicious), my favorite dish is a good appam with coconut korma.



Least favorite food:
I never met a fruit or vegetable I absolutely hated, but I think apples and pears are overrated. There’s only 1 Indian food item I can think of that repulsed me when I tried it: sweet betel nut! We were given it as a palate cleanser after our meal, and it was one of the few things I couldn’t finish chewing. I’ve loved every other vegan Indian dish I’ve tasted.

If you could change something about India, what would it be?
I made a wishlist here about what I hope to see in Chennai.

Home sweet home


Anything else you want to know about me?
Ask in the comment section below!

24 comments:

  1. I'd love to know how you ended up in India, that is, how you met your husband.

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  2. Your name is quite a western name and you are originally from Phoenix, Arizona. Are you racially an Indian? What could possibly be the difference between Vegan Indian and Indian Vegan?

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  3. Why avoid microwave as a cooking method?

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  4. Dear Sister Catherine,
    How are you doing? I hope you will be fine and good mood, well if I am not mistaken, are you the talking about Goji berries and other fruit, if yes, sister I want to ask you something, please reply my mail.
    Your early reply will be highly appreciated.
    Tanks .
    My mail is kbawan@hotmail.com

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  5. What do you want to know about Goji berries, Khalid? I am of Indian origin but grow them in our backyard in middle Georgia.
    Krishnan

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  6. Wow. I live in Chennai. I manage a blog in Tamil Vernacular on Fruitarianism, Natural way of living, Yoga etc. The blog is : frutarians.blogspot.in
    You may not know how to read Tamil, but your Hubby may read it for you. I need your feedback on this blog. Thanks a lot.

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  7. Fantastic and interesting blog and life story. I'm looking forward to following it! All those wonderful fruits and vegetables make me very jealous! Great you are making the most of it!

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  8. Hello, your blog has been of great help. Thanks a lot!

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  9. Sunil SankaranarayananSeptember 19, 2015 at 7:49 PM

    Hi,
    I just found your site.Wonderful.Keep up the good work.

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  10. Came across your website searching for a fruit! Its a great site! I hope to read more..

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    Replies
    1. its really possible, thanks for sharing nice information, love from India.

      Alexa echo dot

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    2. Organic Harvest is working for poor farmers and planing to provide free A to Z to make their chemical land into organic to self sufficiant in all aspects. Our new project is to adopt a village to make their land into organic and will be extended all over Kerala in 25 years. Kerala is rich in money, but very bad in food safety. Kerala imports 70% of her food from other states and our children even pregnent women consumes poison and high dose chemical contaminated food since last 70 years. Most of our income, we spend for hospital and pharmacy bills. The new project includes animals, chicken, fish, organic fertilisers & pesticides, mushrooms, honey, black pepper, mangoes, amala, + thousand of diffferent medicinal plants & herbs with man-made forests,vermi-compost plants semi food processing, plant nursery etc.etc.We are looking seed finance up to 30% (loan or equity) of project cost and the balance will get from bank loan and subsidy. By adopting various villages, we are getting thousands of hectors of organic land to use commercial plantations for long terms and investors will get 30% to 50% profit from 3rd year to 7th year up to end of the world. They can follow ESG policies to get international agencies support. A 10 year master plan and 5 attachments can't include in this page, shall send to the correct and interested candidate- cyemqatar@gmail.com

      Delete
  11. Hi !!!

    This is Rajesh from "city of light" Varanasi.

    While searching for the information regarding Passion Fruit, I came across with our this blogging website. And I have found it very very informative for many fruits and other vegan things which we can adapt in our daily life. Though, while writing this comment to you, I have hardly read the information related to Passion Fruit and about yourself! There are so many things are still left to be read and I am very exited to do that as soon as I could.

    Apart from reading the Passion Fruit, I found that you are very passionate towards your life, as I quote you "Life’s full of many possibilities". And I liked that you have soft corners in your heart for stray animals, too!! As you are planning to adopt two stray dogs in your home.... I already have three street dogs at my home. So, is it the one of the beautiful quality of vegan people that they respect every living form or it is just a random belief?? :-)

    Now, here is a situation:
    I have two open terrace over my house,(approx. 36X54 & 36X72 feets) where I want to build a roof top garden. So can you enlighten me which small plants or trees will be ideal for that, considering the hot climates of northern india, where we experience extreme cold in winter and extreme dry heat in summer and reasonable amount of showers in monsoon??
    Is it possible to grow Passion Fruit also, on a roof top?? In our climate?? And to fulfill my this big time dream... I have a half yearly budget of Rs.50,000 only.

    Guess... My non-stop bla-bla-bla, has gone bit longer. So now, I am dropping the anchor of the ship of my one-sided conversation to your Chennai port and wait there till you also board your thoughts upon it. :-)

    So many innocent lives of Chennai succumbed to untimely death to recently hit storm and many lost their valuable belongings and properties. So, by that I can imagine that the daily life of locals may not be as normal as it is used to be. But pray that they get recover from it soon..

    Wishing you a very happy Christmas to either side of your respective families. And will be eager to hear from you soon. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

    rajesh..!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder that how I will get informed that somebody has replied to my comment?? So Please, notify me at : rajeshchaurasia777@gmail.com as soon as you answer to it. :-)

      Delete
  12. Hey, I need to know here I can source the mulberry fruit, any help?

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  13. Dear Friends and all nature lovers,
    I'm Rajiv and have founded United Humans Organization to make our world a better and happier place by promoting volunteering.
    I'm doing natural organic farming and love to protect nature and wildlife.
    I have developed a farm near Varanasi and I invite you all for camping/eco-tourism.
    Live, meditate and spend good time with family here.You can cook and hey no charges for stay.
    I have integrated education and economy with nature and am trying to take it to global levels.
    you can contact me for any question--
    whatsapp: 0091-7780071987
    email: unitedhumansorganization@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
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