Unpacking the Carbon & Water Footprint of India's favorite vegetarain dishes

An array of vibrant Indian vegetarian dishes like Palak Paneer, Rajma Chawal, and Idli Sambhar, beautifully arranged on a rustic wooden table in a minimalist setting.

India's diet is a vibrant tapestry, bursting with diverse flavors, aromas, and textures. From the rich gravies of the North to the tangy delights of the South, vegetarian dishes form the very soul of Indian cuisine

This blog is the second part in a series exploring the carbon and water footprint of favourite indian dishes. If you're intereseted in the footprint of meat in Indian dishes, you can read the first part on the carbon and water footprint of India's favourite non-vegetarian dishes

Environmental impact of Your Favorite Indian Vegetarian Dishes

In a world increasingly conscious of its environmental impact, the food we eat stands at the forefront of the conversation. According to Our world in data1, food production accounts for one quarter of the world's emission. Therefore, understanding the impact of your food choices helps you make informed decisions to reduce your carbon and water footprint.

This blog post focuses on the carbon and water footprint of vegetarian dishes in India utilizing iconic vegetarian dishes which are not only full of falvour but also use a variety of ingredients. This variety, helps shed light on the carbon and water footprint of several ingredients by using just a few dishes

Understanding the Metrics: Carbon and Water Footprint Explained

When we discuss the Carbon and Water footprint of food, we use specific, standardized units to quantify their footprint:

  • Carbon Footprint: This metric is measured in kilograms of Carbon Dioxide Equivalents (Kg CO2e). It represents the total greenhouse gas emissions (including carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) released throughout the entire journey of a food item: from growing the raw ingredients for humans or livestock, to packaging and transporting these items to the stores for our consumption. These gases are weighted by their Global Warming Potential to give a single comparable unit.
  • Water Footprint: This is measured in kilo litres (KL), with 1 kilo litre equating to 1,000 litres. This figure quantifies the amount of freshwater used, both direct and indirect, throughout the life of a food item: from irrigating crops or use in aquaculture, to packaging and transporting these items to the stores for our consumption. Our focus here is primarily on "blue water" – surface and groundwater resources.

How these metrics are calculated

  • A Carbon emission factor indicates the carbon footprint per kg of a food item
  • A Water footprint factor indicates the water footprint per kg of a food item

These factors act as multipliers. When applied to the quantity of food consumed, they help estimate the total footprint.

Enviromental impact of popular vegetarain options

Let's dive into the estimated carbon and water footprints of some of the most favourite vegetarian Indian dishes, based on a typical serving size for one person.

Gatte ki SabziPersonalize
Ingredients
Carbon
(Kg CO2e)
Water
(KL)
0.05Kgofpulses
0.09
@1.79/Kg
0.022
@0.436/Kg
0.05Kgofcurd
0.186
@3.71/Kg
0.036
@0.72/Kg
0.005Kgofghee
0.076
@15.1/Kg
0.019
@3.77/Kg
0.05Kgofonion
0.024
@0.48/Kg
0.003
@0.051/Kg
0.01Kgofginger
0.005
@0.48/Kg
0.001
@0.051/Kg
0.01Kgofgarlic
0.005
@0.48/Kg
0.001
@0.051/Kg
Total
0.386
0.082
UndhiyuPersonalize
Ingredients
Carbon
(Kg CO2e)
Water
(KL)
0.05Kgofpulses
0.09
@1.79/Kg
0.022
@0.436/Kg
0.03Kgofpotato
0.014
@0.48/Kg
0.002
@0.051/Kg
0.03Kgofsweetpotato
0.014
@0.48/Kg
0.002
@0.051/Kg
0.05Kgofbeans
0.024
@0.48/Kg
0.003
@0.051/Kg
0.03Kgofbrinjal
0.014
@0.48/Kg
0.002
@0.051/Kg
0.05Kgoffenugreek
0.024
@0.48/Kg
0.003
@0.051/Kg
0.01Kgofginger
0.005
@0.48/Kg
0.001
@0.051/Kg
0.01Kgofgarlic
0.005
@0.48/Kg
0.001
@0.051/Kg
Total
0.19
0.036
Idli SambharPersonalize
Ingredients
Carbon
(Kg CO2e)
Water
(KL)
0.1Kgofrice
0.445
@4.45/Kg
0.225
@2.25/Kg
0.06Kgofpulses
0.107
@1.79/Kg
0.026
@0.436/Kg
0.02Kgoftomato
0.042
@2.09/Kg
0.007
@0.37/Kg
0.03Kgofpumpkin
0.014
@0.48/Kg
0.002
@0.051/Kg
0.02Kgofbeans
0.01
@0.48/Kg
0.001
@0.051/Kg
0.02Kgofokra
0.01
@0.48/Kg
0.001
@0.051/Kg
0.02Kgofcarrot
0.01
@0.48/Kg
0.001
@0.051/Kg
0.02Kgofbrinjal
0.01
@0.48/Kg
0.001
@0.051/Kg
Total
0.648
0.264
Chole BhaturePersonalize
Ingredients
Carbon
(Kg CO2e)
Water
(KL)
0.1Kgofpulses
0.179
@1.79/Kg
0.044
@0.436/Kg
0.1Kgofwheat
0.157
@1.57/Kg
0.065
@0.65/Kg
0.01Kgofcurd
0.037
@3.71/Kg
0.007
@0.72/Kg
0.01Kgofghee
0.151
@15.1/Kg
0.038
@3.77/Kg
0.02Kgoftomato
0.042
@2.09/Kg
0.007
@0.37/Kg
0.05Kgofonion
0.024
@0.48/Kg
0.003
@0.051/Kg
Total
0.59
0.164
Rajma ChawalPersonalize
Ingredients
Carbon
(Kg CO2e)
Water
(KL)
0.1Kgofpulses
0.179
@1.79/Kg
0.044
@0.436/Kg
0.1Kgofrice
0.445
@4.45/Kg
0.225
@2.25/Kg
0.05Kgoftomato
0.105
@2.09/Kg
0.019
@0.37/Kg
0.005Kgofghee
0.076
@15.1/Kg
0.019
@3.77/Kg
0.05Kgofonion
0.024
@0.48/Kg
0.003
@0.051/Kg
Total
0.829
0.31
Baingan bhartaPersonalize
Ingredients
Carbon
(Kg CO2e)
Water
(KL)
0.05Kgoftomato
0.105
@2.09/Kg
0.019
@0.37/Kg
0.2Kgofbrinjal
0.096
@0.48/Kg
0.01
@0.051/Kg
0.05Kgofonion
0.024
@0.48/Kg
0.003
@0.051/Kg
0.01Kgofginger
0.005
@0.48/Kg
0.001
@0.051/Kg
0.01Kgofgarlic
0.005
@0.48/Kg
0.001
@0.051/Kg
Total
0.235
0.034
Palak PaneerPersonalize
Ingredients
Carbon
(Kg CO2e)
Water
(KL)
0.1Kgofsoftcheesesuchaspaneer,feta,mozarella,andmore
1.194
@11.94/Kg
0.28
@2.8/Kg
0.05Kgoftomato
0.105
@2.09/Kg
0.019
@0.37/Kg
0.01Kgofghee
0.151
@15.1/Kg
0.038
@3.77/Kg
0.15Kgofspinach
0.072
@0.48/Kg
0.008
@0.051/Kg
0.05Kgofonion
0.024
@0.48/Kg
0.003
@0.051/Kg
0.01Kgofginger
0.005
@0.48/Kg
0.001
@0.051/Kg
0.01Kgofgarlic
0.005
@0.48/Kg
0.001
@0.051/Kg
Total
1.556
0.35
Explore other articles in this series

This was the second blog in a series that aims to explore the carbon and water footprint of India's favourite dishes. Continue your journey by comparing the carbon and water footprint of vegetarian vs non-vegetarian dishes and understanding why the footprint of animal derived products is always higher than plant based ones. If you missed the first part, you can explore the carbon and water footprint of India's favourite non-vegetarian dishes before continuing to the final part of this series!

You can even check out all the other activities related to food and travel that have been added by the community or you can sign-up now to personalize and track the environmental footprint of your activities

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Endnotes

You might notice that while spices are absolutely integral to the unique flavors of Indian cuisine, their individual environmental footprints have been excluded from these calculations. The primary reason for this is practical: while indispensable for taste, the volume of spices used per serving is generally very small compared to the main protein or staple ingredients. Our primary focus here is on the major drivers of the environmental impact

You might also notice that cooking oils have been skipped. Like spices in most of the dishes they are quite less and hence wouldn't really increase the impact of the dish by much. There are, however, some dishes that require a lot of oil, while it would be good to include the cooking oil for such dishes, we currently do not have reliable data for them and hence they have been excluded. We are in the process of enhancing our database and once we have a reliable source, we will add the ingredients to the relevant dishes

  1. Hannah Ritchie (2019) - “Food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions” Published online at OurWorldinData.org. Retrieved from: https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions [Online Resource]
  2. Source for the ingredients: Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science. – processed by Our World in Data