The Jain Vegans list serv had a chain of email in the last few days about a purported vegan menu at the Royal British wedding. Though some members were disappointed that it turned out to be an April Fool(d)’s joke, we have an example of a truly royal wedding menu, with yummy south Indian, Gujarati, and international savories, and an impressive variety of sweets. Darshana anti, who is vegan along with her recently wed son and daughter-in-law, (pictured here) 
provided this description of the items in their recent wedding menu , served in Chicago last year.
The Savory:
Idli sambhar, with chutney made with silken tofu and coconut
Kathi roll with tofu and vegetables
Mexican bean dip
Khaman made with lemon juice
Khandavi made with lemon juice
The sweet:
Nut sweets catered by BAPS (the spiritually inspired volunteer caterers that have provided much previous JAINA convention food)
Moong dal sheero- A sweet treet with protein rich moong dal
Puranpoori – A stuffed sweet rotli (my Dad’s favorite)
Motichoor ladu
Mango pulp with tofutti sour cream, fruits, cardamom, vanilla, saffron, sugar
Middle eastern pastries catered from Detroit
VegNews featured the couple in their 2011 Weddings series with a description of their menu. It seems like weddings in many traditions simulate royal relationships– for example, in Western traditions, we have brides”maids” and attendants for the bride. Perhaps in Indian weddings, there is an emphasis on treating the guests as royalty. Pravin uncle and Aarti anti, who were invited as guests, sent me another view of the Veg News article, which you can click for here: VegNews_2011June_Alap_Wedding_Photo[1].
I can understand why vegans want to see the royal and the famous- Oprah, Martha Stewart and others in the US, for exanple, pay attention to or make steps toward becoming vegan. Perhaps it influences those in mainstream society, makes it that much easier for us to move around in the world and helps prevent that much more animal suffering. But let’s not forget the core value that makes us vegan- compassion- for every living being- and let’s be proud of our choices and our commitment no matter what the British royalty choose today. And how great that our vegan Jain friends had some media attention of their own!!
Vegan Jains 
Sorry so many people were disappointed.
I hope many Jains from around the world will celebrate with us on One World Day as we focus on health and sustainability.
Please ask your friend’s friends to follow a healthy plant derived diet for at least 24 hours – help us set a new world record for Plantarian style lifestyles on 1:11:11 to 11:11:11
and then next time the story will be for real!
How can this be vegan whne it involved use of ghee which is made from milk in preparation of various mouth watering sweet dishes mentioned above.Please clarify ..I would love to make these dishes without the use of milk obtained Ghee..
Hi Mitesh,
You can use other types of vegetable fat or oil in place of ghee. For some of the nut based sweets, the fat in the nuts is enough. FOr others, oil can be used. I’ve reached out to the people that organized this wedding dinner and perhaps they can chime in about what was used.
Thanks for commenting!
drjina