Our Favorite Vegetarian and Vegan Dishes at 7 Monks

One of the most common questions we get is some version of: “What do you have for vegetarians?”

The honest answer is: a lot.

We have been voted Best Vegan/Vegetarian in New Braunfels seven years running in the Herald-Zeitung Readers’ Choice Awards, and this menu is a big reason why.

Indian food has always been built around vegetables, lentils, chickpeas and paneer. These dishes were never meat dishes with the meat removed. The plants were the point from the beginning.

So if you are vegetarian or vegan, this menu is not a compromise. Here are some of our favorites.

If you want to understand why chickpeas show up in so much Indian cooking, start here.

Creamy chickpeas simmered in tomato gravy. It is hearty, warming and filling in a way that surprises people who expect vegetarian food to be light.

This one does not feel like a substitute for anything.

Chickpeas and baby spinach. Need we say more?

Our menu calls this one a vegan favorite, and it earns the title. It is simple, earthy and the kind of dish that makes you feel good about your choices without sacrificing flavor.

This one has the family stamp on it.

Roasted potatoes and braised cauliflower tossed in a zesty sauce. It is comfort food, full stop.

The potatoes and cauliflower soak up all that flavor, and suddenly two very humble vegetables taste like they have been planning this their whole lives.

Lentils do not get enough credit.

A good daal is warm, spiced and deeply comforting, and ours is simmered and spiced to perfection. The menu calls it the best lentil curry in town, and we stand by that.

It is also one of those dishes regulars come back for again and again.

Potatoes and peas tossed in a spiced tomato sauce.

It sounds simple because it is. That is the charm. Familiar ingredients, real flavor, nothing intimidating.

If you are new to vegetarian Indian food, this is a friendly place to start.

If you eat dairy, paneer opens up a whole section of the menu.

Good Ol’ Saag Paneer simmers the cheese in creamed spinach. Bindi’s Malai Kofta puts soft koftas in a rich, creamy gravy.

And paneer works as the protein in almost any of our curries, so you can take it in whatever direction sounds good.

Vegan at 7 Monks is easier than people expect.

Raja’s Pasanda Curry is a creamy vegan curry the menu calls everyone’s favorite, and it wins over people who did not come in looking for vegan food at all.

The Creamed Spinach can be made vegan if you ask for no cream. Falafel can go vegan with tahini instead of tzatziki at no extra cost. There is a vegan biryani and a veggies protein option for the curries, and many of our curries and sides are naturally plant-based, built on the same base sauces we make fresh every morning.

Just tell us you are eating vegan and we will point you to the good stuff.

Samosas. Onion pakora. Hara bhara kabab. Vegetable cutlet.

The starter section of an Indian menu is basically a love letter to vegetables, and ours is no exception.

A table full of starters plus a couple of curries is a completely respectable dinner. Arguably an ideal one.

You do not have to decode the menu alone.

Tell us you are vegetarian or vegan, tell us what you usually like, and we will help you find something you will actually be excited about.

That part is our job, and honestly, it is one of our favorite parts.