If you eat vegetarian, you already know the question you have to ask before ordering anywhere: how carefully do they actually keep it apart? Most places will say “yes, it’s vegetarian” and mean the dish. What you are asking about is the pan.
This is how a vegetarian Indian tiffin works at Alif Rasoi — including the parts we cannot claim, which I would rather tell you here than have you find out later.
We Are Not a Pure-Veg Kitchen
Let me get that out of the way first, because it matters more than anything else on this page.
We cook non-vegetarian food as well. If what you need is a kitchen where meat has never entered the building, we are not it, and I would rather you knew that in the first thirty seconds than after you had paid.
What we do instead is keep the two completely apart, and we are specific about how:
- Cooked separately. Never on the same pan, and never at the same time.
- Separate utensils. Spoons, pans and boards do not cross over.
- Packed separately. Veg and non-veg are boxed apart, not side by side.
- Labelled. Every box says which it is, before it reaches you.
Notice what is not in that list. We do not have separate rooms, separate storage or separate staff, and we hold no vegetarian certification. Plenty of kitchens imply all of that with a green dot. Ours is a home kitchen, and those four things above are the ones we can stand behind every single day.
For most vegetarian households in Singapore, that is enough. For some it will not be, and that is a completely reasonable line to draw.
What Goes Into a Vegetarian Tiffin
A tiffin is an everyday meal, not a banquet. Ours is built the way it would be at home:
- Roti or rice — fresh tava rotis or steamed rice
- A dal or kadhi — something with body to it
- Two sabzis — one dry, one with gravy, changing through the week
- Salad — because a plate without something fresh on it is not a full plate
Across a week that might be Palak Paneer, Chole, Kadhi Pakora, Mattar Paneer or Veg Pulao. Nothing is pre-packed or reheated from a batch cooked days ago; it is made the morning it goes out. That is the whole reason to eat this way rather than order from an app — see our daily Indian tiffin service for how the everyday rhythm of it works.
Eggless, Jain and Vegan
In an Indian home “vegetarian” usually means eggless, and that is how we treat it. Where egg appears anywhere, it is flagged as an allergen rather than quietly folded in.
Jain — we cook Jain versions of many dishes on request, without onion or garlic, prepared the way a Jain household would expect. There is a fuller explanation in our post on Jain food in Singapore.
Vegan — a good number of our dishes are already vegan or can be made so by leaving out ghee and dairy. Ask and we will tell you honestly which ones work and which ones lose too much to be worth it.
We would rather say “that one does not work well vegan” than send you something disappointing with your name on it.
Vegetarian Bento for Students on Campus
If you are a student, there is a version of this built for you. We cook vegetarian Indian dinner for students and bring them to a pickup point at your own residence in the evening — you pre-order the days you want off a calendar, pay online, and collect the box downstairs.
The veg and non-veg boxes on that run are cooked, packed and labelled by exactly the rules above. No delivery fee, no app to install, and no rider to wait in for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is your vegetarian food cooked in a pure-veg kitchen? No. We cook both, and keep them apart with separate pans, utensils, boards and boxes. We say so plainly rather than implying otherwise.
Is the vegetarian food eggless? Yes, unless a dish says otherwise — and where egg is present it is listed as an allergen.
Can I get a vegetarian tiffin every day? Yes. Daily, weekdays only, or a few days a week — whatever actually fits your week.
Do you cook Jain food? Yes, on request, without onion or garlic. See our Jain food post.
How spicy is it? Cooked to home level by default, and adjustable. Tell us when you order.
Eat Without Having to Ask
The point of a good vegetarian tiffin is that you stop interrogating your own dinner. You should be able to open the box and eat.
If you would like to try a vegetarian Indian tiffin in Singapore, have a look at our vegetarian mains, or — if you are a student on campus — at the bento we drop at your block. And if there is something you need us to leave out, just say so. That is the advantage of food cooked by a person rather than a production line.
