Carbs and butter.

If you look at a lot of the indian vegetarian dishes you'll find things like potatoes fried in butter being a staple.

Chickpeas and yogurt do make a showing, but a lot of indian dishes are devoid of vegetarian protein sources. You need a lot more beans/nuts if you want to eat healthy as a vegetarian.

    > a lot of indian dishes are devoid of vegetarian protein sources

What about legumes -- daal (pulses) and chickpeas? They have plenty of protein for vegetable sources. Also: Paneer. What I find in practice: You get a tiny amount of legumes/paneer, and a huge amount of carbs.

Daal is great, but just not nutritionally dense. You will have to drink it by the bowlfuls to get enough protein from daal alone.

Chickpeas have the problem of digestion + prep. You have to soak them overnight, boil them, and only then cook them. There's a reason they're usually reserved as a high-effort Sunday dish in most household and not a daily meal

If you want to actually get full and satiated with a largely vegetarian diet, you will eventually resort to carbs

And this is for a culture that really knows how to make smashingly good vegetarian dishes

I love my vegetables, but a vegetable-heavy diet is clearly not something that everyone can or should do. The people I know who retain their health with vegetarian/vegan diets are usually really well-versed in nutrition