Indian Vegetarian Cuisine

India is well-known for its tradition of vegetarianism which has a history spanning more than two millenia. The anti-meat eating sentiment was already felt at the end of the Vedic period. This period also saw the rise of Buddhisln and Jainism, the founders of which abhorred the practice of sacrificing and consuming the flesh of animals, preaching the principle of ahimsa or ''non-harming''. To win back these converts into their fold, the Hindu priests advocated against killing, their public appeal beginning around the Ist century BC. They embraced ahimsa and followed a vegetarian diet, regarding it as superior to the Brahminical ideas of sacrifice.