McDonald's purists (yes, they are a people), you may want to sit down. The fast food giant is set to open not one, but two of their first entirely vegetarian concepts in India next year. The first location will be in the holy city of Amritsar, near the Golden Temple. The vegetarian menu is a somewhat of a prerequisite for the location's existence, thanks to the strict rules forbidding meat in the vicinity. Also forbidden in the temple? Alcohol and smoking. Which might make for either the best or worst episode of No Reservations ever.
According to an article in the LA Times, the menu will feature the McAloo Tikki burger, the country's most popular item. A carb-loader's dream, the Tikki burger is a fried potato patty topped with onions, tomatoes and some fancy ketchup; apparently it's tasty enough to bring in a quarter of the sales in the country.
This news shouldn't come as too surprising, as many of the other locations in the country already feature significantly less meat than the American McFatty menu. A vegetarian concept actually seems quite natural as Hindu people consider cows sacred (Tyler Durden taught you that on an airplane), the country's Muslims don't eat pork and selling beef publicly in India is actually prohibited. Which translates into a lot of bad news for the chickens of India.
McDonald's is known for catering to the regional and cultural demands of their locations, even offering a McLobster sandwich in the coastal state of Maine. The vegetarian McDonald's will also likely feature their McVeggie burger, an already established staple in India as well as Greece and certain regions of China.
