Finding vegetarian food in Tokyo was more challenging than I had expected. Yano-sensei often reassured me, saying that adjusting to food is difficult whenever we travel to a new place and that it was completely okay. She reminded me that, for now, the most important thing was to eat properly.
During my stay, I visited several Indian restaurants. At the first one, I immediately chose palak paneer (An Indian dish made with spinach and cottage cheese – Paneer), a dish I love and one that is completely vegetarian in India. However, the restaurant owner told me that it wasn’t vegetarian there, which surprised me. I wasn’t entirely sure what ingredients were being added, so in the end I chose the only vegetarian option available for lunch.
Before this trip, I had never really thought much about why the word “curry” has such a strong image outside India. However, after visiting several Indian restaurants in Japan, I began to understand it better. While reading menus, I noticed that many dishes were labeled as 「カレー / karee」, with the ingredients written underneath, such as chicken curry or vegetable curry.
This made me realize how Indian food is often categorized differently outside India. In India, dishes are usually known by their specific names, and we often use words like sabzi for vegetable dishes, dal for lentil dishes. Seeing many dishes grouped under the word “karee” gave me a new perspective on how Indian cuisine is presented abroad.
The dish I ordered was called vegetable curry, and I was impressed by how authentic it tasted. It came with a naan that was very thick and filling, along with a small salad.
Another Indian restaurant surprised me with a wide range of Indian street-food options. I noticed samosas (a fried Indian snack with a spiced potato filling) on the menu, and I even saw momos (steamed dumplings), which are very popular in Delhi. After confirming the vegetarian options, I ordered yakisoba. In India we also have very similar noodle dishes, although they are known by different names. It was interesting to see how similar foods appear in different countries under different names.
At a third Indian restaurant, I was delighted to see South Indian dishes on the menu. I ordered uttapam (a soft South Indian pancake made from rice and lentils), which came with sambar (a lentil-based soup with vegetables) and chutney (a traditional Indian sauce served with meals) . I also had gulab jamun (a soft, syrup-soaked Indian sweet) for dessert. I was genuinely happy to see Indian cuisines beyond karee, which is often associated mainly with North Indian food.
If you ever visit an Indian restaurant, I would highly recommend trying dishes like dosa, idli, and sambar, as well as Indian street foods such as momos, gol-gappe (pani puri), and pav bhaji.
The next article is about my Japanese food experiences in Tokyo — read it here.