I’ve talked about eating healthier in some articles and I’ve talked about India as well. So, it just makes sense that we combine both of them now in an article about cooking retreats. And there is nothing better than a vegetarian cooking week in India itself! 30% of the population of India is vegetarian, so they know a thing or two (or even more!) about vegetarian cooking. For this article, I’ve found two trips for you to enjoy. One of them is based on Ayurveda and the other will be completely vegetarian.
Why Eat Vegetarian?
I’ve explained a lot about food already, healthy breakfast, making your own healthy candy. But I haven’t explained yet why it’s good sometimes to eat vegetarian. You don’t have to become a vegetarian, of course, it would just be a healthy and greener option to eat completely vegetarian every once in a while. I’ll explain to you why:
#1 Reduces Your Ecological Footprint
So, there is a lot of documentation already to be found around reducing your ecological footprint. Eating vegetarian is one of them. And again, you don’t have to become completely vegetarian, but eating vegetarian more often than you are doing now, will lower your footprint.
This is because the meat industry is producing a lot of CO2 by raising their animals. On top of that, we are consuming so much meat, that they have to keep up with our demand. This means that if we all lower our meat consumption we could send a message to meat suppliers that they have to reduce their facilities and think differently.
But why do they produce so much CO2? Well, first of all, animals need to eat in order to grow. This means that a lot of the crops that farmers are producing are going to animals. Can you imagine that those foods would go directly to us instead of all the animals that we like to eat?
Secondly, there is a larger production process, first, we bring the food to the animals, that’s already transported on trucks. After that, we have to feed and give water to the cows. And lastly, those animals have to go to food processing facilities to get prepared for consumption. That’s already about four steps to take to make sure we’ve got a nice piece of meat on our plate.
All of this means that we can cut a lot down on our ecological footprint. And it’s also a nice thing to do for the animals itself. They will be happier on farms that aren’t putting 1000’s of animals together in a small stable.
#2 Healthier For Your Cholesterol
It’s proven that a vegetarian diet can lower dangerous levels of cholesterol. This is of course if you are having a balanced diet. A vegetarian diet is high in fibers, nuts to protect the heart and vegetable oils. This all makes a 
good recipe for lowering cholesterol. Of course, I’m not a doctor, so if you’d like to give this a try, it’s best to contact your physician.
Not only is a vegetarian diet good for your cholesterol, but also your heart. Research has shown that people with a balanced vegetarian diet have 25% less chance to have a cardiac event.
#3 Can Prevent some Types of Cancer
And coming to our last point why it might be good to become a little vegetarian is that the prevalence of cancer among vegetarians is lower than with meat-eaters. One more thing about these results though, they are also showing that the incidence of colon cancer is higher among vegetarians.
Therefore, it might be good to go somewhere in the middle and become e pescetarian if you really can’t stop eating animals. Fish are containing some better fats than meat, and they might also make sure that you won’t be lacking any proteins within your vegetarian diet.
The Pimenta, Kerala, India (Prices start from US$ 383)
What better way to learn how to cook vegetarian than in the country where many people are not eating meat nor fish? Not only have the Indians mastered the vegetarian kitchen, but they’ve also mastered the usage of spices. Therefore, it might be great to go on this amazing trip to get some Indian cooking classes.
Of course, if you’d like to learn how to cook the style of a certain country, it’s best to go to the country of origin. And within this trip, they are offering you so much that you almost can’t say no! First of all, you can 
decide how many days you’d like to stay with The Pimenta. It can range from 3 days until 22 days. So you can choose between refreshing your knowledge of the vegetarian cuisine, or immerse yourself into the depths of the Indian kitchen.
Prices are getting more expensive when you are staying for a long time, but it’s completely worth it. There’s quite a full program. You won’t only learn how to cook with some amazing ingredients and herbs, you’ll also see where they are grown and how they can be used in your cooking. Which makes it a complete experience of seeing places and experiencing new things!
The groups are small to make sure that you’ll get all the attention you need, and the best thing is, there is no minimum number of participants, so if you are lucky you’ll get some full attention from your hosts!
Click here if you’d like to know more about this amazing cooking holiday! And PS: please invite us afterward to a delicious Indian meal ;).
Saveur Nomade, Kerala, India (Prices start from US$ 2.219)
This package is quite similar to the previous one, with the difference that you’ll have different cooks that will learn you some skills. Even just some families that will show you their tips and tricks on how to make a proper Indian meal.
As well, India is also known for its health system, known as Ayurveda. And I’ve chosen this package as well as it might be quite amazing to get to know a thing or two about ayurvedic cooking as well. There’s a whole view behind it, so you probably won’t get to learn the whole deal, but it might be nice to get a good foundation on Ayurvedic cooking.
And besides, that, included in the package is an ayurvedic massage as well!
On this trip, you’ll go to a couple of places as well to get to know the local products better. And you can even go on a fishing trip to catch some fish for your meals! If you don’t want to do this, it’s just optional and you can stick with your vegetarian diet if you want.
Within these 15 days, you’ll have 7 cooking classes, including from a great Indian chef Nimi. This means that you’ll have enough time during your trip to explore everything that India has to offer as well.
For more information about this trip, click here!
Conclusion
That’s about it for some great Indian cooking classes. Learn to make curries, chutneys and many more from authentic Indian families and chefs. There is no better place to learn how to cook Indian than in India itself.
And before you leave on your trip, be sure to read this article as well on what to expect when you are traveling to India.
Nama-stay wonderful!
Hi and thanks for this informative article.
I’ve been interested in Indian cooking for a number of years and although not of Indian descent have developed my skills quite well. From what I know, Indian food is generally quite high in calories so although I’m not vegetarian per say, I do try and reduce the caloric value of the meals by avoiding meat where possible. Do you have any other ideas about lowering the calorie value of the cooking? I absolutely love Indian food but would like to make it as healthy as possible
Hi there, you can also look into the keto-diet. Although, I do have to say that it’s best to make sure you vary a bit as going keto all the way isn’t that healthy either!
Very informative article. I was taken by surprise when my brother went completely vegan. So, I sat down with him and had a talk with him about his choice. He made the exact same points you did in your article except for the ecological footprint. After our chat, I did some research on the topic further. I was impressed, so I jumped into action. I Googled recipes, and different stores to shop at to achieve the results I wanted; I needed to lose weight as well as become a healthier me.
To be honest, I am not a complete vegan. But I do try to put more vegetables on my plate than meat, that way I don’t have to cook as much meat as I used to. I liked to think that I was helping lower something somewhere. I did’t know what it was, but I felt like I was helping. Thanks for shedding some light on how I am helping. I did not know that eating more veggies helps reduce the ecological footprint good to know.
What affects our health the most is what we eat, I mean the kind of food we eat. I agree with your assertion that eating vegetarian and benefitting from its lots of package does not mean you have to go all vegan. About lowering the cholesterol to be part of the benefits of vegetables, it’s very true as I’ve been able to confirm it by my own personal experience
That’s great to hear! Thank you for sharing that a vegetarian lifestyle lowered your cholesterol! Keep it up!
Indian vegetables are truly good and enjoyable, and the best teacher that can teach you how to make and know of the recipes needed to make an homemade Indian vegetarian is actually an Indian. I like the idea of the classes of food that are made for vegetarian and it’s very nice that you specified that It doesn’t require you to be a vegetarian before you can engage them.
Thank you for your comment. It is a sad thing that people look at food black and white. It’s indeed so that you don’t have to call yourself a vegetarian, but you can just bring some balance into your diet every now and then.