Why do Indian restaurants serve beef dishes?

Question

Hindus cannot eat beef as it is a forbidden food for them. The reason being, there is this bull named Nandi and he is Shiva's (a god) vechicle. So, if they eat beef, they are eating Nandi. When I go to Indian restaurants I see Beef Vindaloo, Bhoona Gosht and other beef dishes. Why are these restaurants serving forbidden food? Do Indian restaurants hire non -- Hindu staff to prepare these beef dishes? Thank you for your time in sharing with me why this is so.

Answer 1

Not all Indians are Hindu. A good third, I'd guess are Muslim/Christian/Budhist so they have no problem eating Beef. In the US, I know alot of Hindu's who consider it okay to eat beef, but that is not the mainstream, its just kids who were brought up here and decided against their parents restrictive choices.
Dishes like Beef Vindaloo, I think, originated in Goa, and other places which had Non Indian occupied territories, and others from South India, where there are alot of Christians.

Answer 2

Indian Beef Dishes

Answer 3

Hi ...

Most of the Indian restaurants in India do not serve no-veg food. In the ones that serve, it is mainly eggs, chicken, fish and lamb. The Muslim restaurants serve beef dishes and the Christian owned ones serve beef and pork.

Outside India, most of the Indian restaurant serve non-veg, mainly eggs, chicken, fish and lamb. The ones that serve beef are Muslim or Christian owned.

Almost all Hindus do not eat beef but there could be a few who are now 'hamburgerized' and do eat beef and pork.

Answer 4

I am an Indian from the southern state of Kerala, and am Christian. At home, we eat everything and anything - no restrictions at all. You would find the same fundamental applied in many such restaurants - frog's legs, beef fry, rabbit masala, pork curry, etc, aside from the usual chicken and fish dishes.

So the non-beef-eating image of India that many people is only part of the varied cultures that makes up my country.

And just FYI, Bhuna Gosht is a mutton dish, not a beef one.

Answer 5

Non-vegetarian Indian restaurants are mostly run by people originating from the North of India or Pakistan where the population is largely Muslim. Strict Hindus are vegetarian and do not eat beef or any other meat products.

Answer 6

I thought most Indian restaurants did not serve beef because like you said it goes against the Hindu faith and that is the predominant religion of the nationality. I guess if you have been to one that serves beef it is because the owners are Indian but are not Hindu. Thanks for this question by the way. I wasn't sure what I was gonna get for dinner tonight, but I think I might get take out chicken tandoori or chicken tika masala now.

Answer 7

Not all Indians are Hindu. There are Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and many other religions across India.
Some Indians are vegetarian, but restaurants generally cater to all sorts of clientele which is why you see such a varied menu.
(Interestingly, I've never been in an Indian restaurant that has pork on the menu.)

Answer 8

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There are many traditional dishes in SG. It's usually a mixture of different ethnic groups. I'll list down a few places that you can try below . Of course, all these foods can be found in most hawker centres in SG. 1. chicken rice - It's all in the rice; fragrant and chewy. Shao Kee Chicken Rice (02-25 Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, Blk 531A Upper Cross St) 2. Pork Rib Soup - Like Chicken Rice, it's all in the soup. Got to have herbal undertones. Pork should fall off the ribs. Ng Ah Sio Pork Ribs Eating House (No. 7 Keppel Road #01-05/07 PSA Tanjong Pagar Complex) 3. Roti Prata - A fried dough pancake. Goes well with curry. Also try the Murtabak (a fried dough pancake with meat, eggs and oinions stuffed inside it. A beefed-up version of the Taiwanese Oinion pancake). We affectionately call these places "Prata shops" Al-Jilani Restaurant (127 Bencoolen St) 4. Carrot Cake - I like the black version. It's a little sweeter. Food Street Carrot Cake (Stall 4, Chinatown food st, smith st) 5. Fish Head curry - It's a big fish head floating in pot of a curry. Usually served in Indian restaurants. Try the Masala chicken, Dhaal. Go with friends. The Banana Leaf Apolo (Serangoon Road) (48 Serangoon Road #01-32 Little India Arcade) 6. Laksa - White noodles smoothered with spicy coconut gravy. Has cockles and other ingredients with it. The measure its taste is in the gravy: rich and almost cloying. Sungai Road Laksa (#01-00 Blk 27 Jalan Berseh). Katong Laksa in Katong. 7. Drinks - Teh Tarik can be found most Indian restaurants / prata shops. Also try Milo Dinosaur (Milo with milo powder on top of it. Garuanteed sugar rush), Kopi/Teh-Cino (the milk and teh/kopi floats on top of each other. Like watching a lava lamp) 8. Nasi Padang - Like economic rice (i.e. Chai Fan) but with an Indonesian bent. Try the beef rendang. Warung M. Nasir (Killiney Road) (Not cheap though. about $5 - $6 / meal) There are other places to try Nasi Padang. 9. Nonya food - Ehhh... Sorry. I'm sorely lacking in this area. But Katong Village (east of Singapore) is said to have some superb Nonya food. Ivin's (Binjal Park, Bukit Timah) Try the hawker centres that were mentioned by the other posters. If you're in Tanjong Pagar area for lunch, Maxwell Market / Amoy Street food center is always a good bet. Tips: 1. Bring friends. Easier to sample many things at once. 2. Buy a copy of Makansutra (guide to local hawker food) from a bookshop (SGD 10 / guide). There are probably other food guides as well but Makansutra is one of the more famous. Enjoy.

Answer 9

are you talking about indian restaurants in the USA? because all foreign cuisine is "americanized", if you go to the actual country you find slightly different items on the menu. chinese food is a good example, Panda express is not what you'd find in China! americans are big on beef, so I'm sure the Indian restaurants know this and act accordingly....

Answer 10

Much of India's population is not Hindi...so they can eat beef.