A breakfast video that stopped the scroll
Most high-protein breakfast content follows a familiar script: eggs, oats, a protein shake, maybe some Greek yoghurt. So when a reel appeared showing tofu cooked in ghee with a tadka of jeera and hing — and then carried to a home altar before being eaten — people noticed.
The creator behind it is Tamal, who posts as @mantra_saadhana on Instagram. He describes himself as a vegetarian bodybuilder and follower of Sanatana Dharma, and his content sits at an unusual crossroads: fitness routines, Sanskrit chanting, puja rituals and plant-based food, all sharing the same feed. His latest breakfast video, which he labelled his 'Sanatani protein breakfast', has drawn a wave of curiosity from viewers who want to know both what he's eating and why he eats it the way he does.
What's actually on the plate
The meal itself is refreshingly unfussy. Tamal cuts tofu into small cubes and cooks them in ghee with jeera, hing and haldi, adding salt and black pepper before gently mashing the tofu as it finishes cooking. It's essentially a tofu bhurji — a preparation that will feel familiar to anyone who's made paneer bhurji at home, just with a swap of the main ingredient.
Served alongside the tofu: yoghurt, fresh tomatoes, cucumber, an apple and some bread. No protein powder, no complicated macros chart on screen. The ingredients are affordable and widely available across India, which is part of why the video has travelled so well.
The moment that sets it apart comes just before he eats. Tamal places tulsi leaves on the plate and takes the food to his home altar to offer it to the Gods first. Once offered, he considers the meal prasad — food that has been blessed — and only then does he eat. He describes the ritual as something that helps 'purify your consciousness'.
The man behind the meal
Tamal is originally from Israel and moved to India with his family in 2009. He spent the following 12 years at a traditional gurukul in Mayapur, West Bengal, studying Sanskrit, Vedic mantras, puja rituals and havan. He graduated in 2021 and now performs havans and yagnas, chants mantras and builds content around his daily spiritual life.
His identity as a vegetarian bodybuilder who is also a practicing devotee isn't a content persona — it's simply how he lives, and his breakfast plate reflects that honestly. The protein comes from tofu and yoghurt. The flavour comes from a classic Indian tadka. The meaning, for him, comes from the offering.
Why this matters for a food audience in India
India already has a long tradition of treating food as something more than fuel. The idea of offering a meal before eating — whether it's a simple charanamrit at a temple or a full bhog prepared for a deity — is woven into everyday life for millions of households. What Tamal is doing isn't new in spirit; it's a practice that many Indian families carry out quietly every morning.
What's interesting is seeing it framed within a fitness context. The conversation around high-protein vegetarian eating in India is growing fast, driven by both health awareness and the reality that a large portion of the population doesn't eat meat. Tofu, once considered a niche health-food-store ingredient, is now available in most mid-size supermarkets and even on quick-commerce apps. Pairing it with ghee and a traditional tadka — rather than, say, a bland stir-fry — makes it genuinely appealing to an Indian palate.
Tamal's video, perhaps without intending to, makes a quiet case that a protein-rich vegetarian breakfast and a spiritually grounded morning routine don't have to be separate projects. For a lot of people watching, that combination clearly felt like something worth stopping to think about.