In Jainism, onions (and other root vegetables like garlic, potatoes, and carrots) are generally avoided.

Why:

• Non-violence (ahimsa): Uprooting and eating roots harms the whole plant and organisms living in the soil.
• Purity of mind: Root vegetables are believed to stimulate passions and disrupt meditation and spiritual practice (they are often described as rajasic/tamasic in traditional texts).
• Habit of the soil: Roots are difficult to cleanse completely of small organisms and parasites, which conflicts with meticulous Jain standards of cleanliness and ahimsa.

Both major traditions—Digambar and Śvetāmbara—traditionally discourage root vegetables, though individual households may vary in practice today. In everyday Jain cooking, you’ll typically find onion-free, garlic-free, and root-free meals prepared with vegetables that are grown above ground.

If you’d like, I can share a simple onion-free Jain recipe or explain how a typical Jain thali is composed.