Any Indian food fans out there? There are lots of online Indian food shops in Japan selling things like lentils for favorable prices, but they often don’t include ingredient lists of packaged products, making it impossible to work out what’s vegan without contacting the company about each individual product.

We have a message from Ambika, a vegetarian shop which has recently begun labeling their vegan products online. They are listed in our online shopping section as well. Shops labeling their vegan products are still rare in Japan, so let’s support this great initiative.

 

“Hello IsitveganJapan community.

 

I am Nilay speaking to you on behalf of Ambika Veg & Vegan Shop.  We are originally an Indian Vegetarian grocery store.  As a vegetarian store there are already many preexisting vegan products and hence we have begun labelling them as such.  I am the first vegan working at Ambika Veg & Vegan Shop and knowing there are many products that are vegan on our platform we have made navigation on our website much easier.  Under each vegan product there will be a vegan sticker.  This ease of navigation was in high demand from our Vegan customers and something that I am happy to say has started now.  

 

We have a variety of lentils and beans, rice, spices, and dry fruits, among other items.  In total we have more than 800 vegan products to offer. On orders above 8000 yen normal or frozen separately there is free delivery all across Japan (except Okinawa).  We have also started our new store in Seinshincho and our other store is in Kuramae if anyone would like to visit our stores in person.  All of our information is here at ambikajapan.com.

Please feel free to email nishikasai@ambikamail.com with any questions we can help you with or with any products you would like to see in our inventory.” 

Please contact the shop for concerns such as which products contain palm oil.

Here are some examples of vegan products they sell:

 

“Instant Curries

Dal Palak

(Lentil & Spinach Curry)

This curry is a healthy instant ready to eat meal. With some rice, chapati or bread you can enjoy an Indian cuisine delight. Lentils are a great source of protein and with the mix of spinach you can savour this medium spiced curry at any time.

Aloo Raswala

(Tangy, Soupy Potato Curry)

This curry has a blend of many aromatic spices, enjoy this healthy ready to eat curry. Potatoes mixed with various spices to be enjoyed with bread, chapati, or rice.  

 

Instant South Indian 

Sambhar

(Lentil Spice Mix)

Sambhar is a dish famous in the Southern parts of India.  This instant pack requires a little additional preparation which leads to a whole lot of happiness at the end.  It is usually eaten together with Idli , Dosai.& Rice

 

Upma

(Mild and Soothing Semolina dish)

Upma is a dish found in the Southern part of India.  It is a mild dish that can be made into an excitingly spicy dish with the addition of green chilis.  Add your own vegetables to the Upma and enjoy with Sambhar or Chutney.”