Protein gets a green makeover

Nestled in the narrow lanes of Shahpur Jat, Greenr Cafe is hard to locate, but what brings people here is its food. Self-described as 'Modern California vegetarian' cafe, Greenr draws a balance between cravings and healthy choices offering burgers, pizza, pasta, wraps, sandwiches and rolls, vegan and gluten-free options but loading them with plant proteins.

Inspiration for the eatery came from California where founders Nitin Dixit and Mohit Yadav have spent several years and observed the vegetarian revolution. "Yet, when we looked at India, which has the highest numbers of vegetarians, we realised that very limited options were available if you move beyond Indian cuisine. Go to any burger chain and the vegetarian options don't go beyond potato and paneer," says Dixit. They also found that Protein is limited to only paneer and soybeans at most eateries. The partners then decided to offer plant-based food items that are relatively high in protein, and brought on board Chef Rishi Bharadwaj of HolyBelly food boutique, now associated with them as a consultant.

The partners also felt that while the movement had started among meat eaters to move towards vegetarianism for health or ethical reasons, there weren't many options for them. With this thought in mind, they decided to emulate the same texture and appeal of meat through their meatless options like shroomball (a replica of meatball), pizza and vegan-sausage.

But isn't it the same as mock meat? Dixit denies. "Processed mock meat options largely include soya and wheat gluten. Soya has been pushed out of America since a lot of it is genetically modified and some findings say that excess consumption of soya can raise estrogen levels in men, and wheat gluten cannot be consumed by those who are allergic to gluten. Also, it is prepared in the laboratory," says Dixit. The founder adds that at the same time West has mastered the art of synthesizing plant proteins to the extent that their 'fake' meat burger patty oozes blood.

"What happens in this artificial process is that you are going away from the original quality of the plant because it tends to be over-processed. We aren't doing that here – we take original proteins such as chickpeas, kidney beans, brown rice, black-eyed peas and put them together to make a dish," adds Dixit, who is opening branches to Gurgaon and South Delhi in the coming months.

Both sides of the coin

The non-vegetarian's perspective: While the food tastes good, there is no way meat-eaters are ever going to mistake it for meat. Some items like the shroomball – made of mushrooms, kidney beans and brown rice, have a fibrous texture and colour, and come close though.

The vegetarian's perspective: The Bangkok Bowl offers something new to the palette given vegetarians have very few options beyond north- and south-Indian cuisine. The food is filling and worth the price.