Jain Food Explained: No Onion, No Garlic, and What Else to Know

In short: Jain food is vegetarian food that also avoids onion, garlic and other root vegetables such as potatoes, carrots and beetroot, because pulling a root up destroys the whole plant and the many tiny lives in the soil around it. "No onion, no garlic" food leaves out only those two, so not every no-onion-no-garlic dish is Jain.

What do Jains not eat?

Jain food follows ahimsa, non-violence towards all living beings, as far as a meal can. So on top of being vegetarian, it traditionally avoids:

• Root and underground vegetables: onion, garlic, potato, carrot, beetroot, radish, and often ginger (fresh)
• Honey
• For many families, food after sunset, and certain foods on particular days of the month

Practice varies between families and communities. Some accept dried ginger (sonth), for example, and some do not.

What is the difference between Jain and "no onion, no garlic"?

"No onion, no garlic" (sometimes called satvik) food leaves out just those two. It may still contain potato, ginger or other roots. Jain food leaves out roots altogether. That is why we label dishes carefully: a no-onion-no-garlic Suki Bhaji is made with potatoes, so it is not Jain.

How do Jain dishes get their flavour?

With tomato, green chillies, whole spices, hing (asafoetida, which gives the savoury depth onion and garlic usually bring), cumin, mustard seeds, curry leaves, coconut and dairy. A good Jain gravy is every bit as rich as any other.

Which ready-to-eat dishes are Jain?

• Paneer Butter Masala Jain: paneer in a tomato and capsicum gravy with butter, cream and cashews
• Tikka Masala Gravy Jain: a rich tomato-capsicum masala; add your own paneer or vegetables
• Jain Dhokali: gram-flour dhokli in a tangy tomato and buttermilk gravy
• Jain Vaal: field beans in a tangy, spiced tomato gravy
• Sev Tameta: sweet, sour and spicy tomato curry with sev
• Moong Dal Halwa: moong dal, desi ghee, sugar and kesar

Every product page lists the full ingredients, so you can check them against your family's practice.

Questions people ask

Is Jain food the same as vegetarian food?

It is vegetarian, and it also avoids onion, garlic and other root vegetables, and honey.

Why don't Jains eat onion and garlic?

They are root vegetables: harvesting them kills the whole plant and the small organisms in the soil, which goes against ahimsa (non-violence).

Is no onion no garlic food Jain?

Not always. No-onion-no-garlic dishes may still contain potato or ginger. Jain dishes leave out all roots.

Do Jains eat potatoes?

Traditionally no, because potatoes grow underground.