Gluten free in Himachal Pradesh, India

I’m going on a trip and take with me… my diet card in ten translations. This is my life. General information about gluten free food in India, specifically Himachal Pradesh.

Food, incense and trash. It’s an ungodly noise, because everybody seems to find it necessary to honk continuously. Love it, hate it, India does not fail to make an impression. When you have to deal with a gluten free diet, things go a little different. Cause what to eat in India. Our plan is to go north, and I am a bit worried, bread seems to be a staple food. These are my experiences with eating gluten free in more touristic places, while I try to ignore culture shock.

Paradise, just outside Old Manali

Diet card

To be able to communicate it printed a diet card from Celiactravel.com. I added a few words about milk products I’d like to avoid. The diet card is only about the gluten, which is half of the problem.

Use a local to read the diet card and help you understand which food is off limits. Think ingredients, herbs and local names for grains.

The basics

We spent a lot of time in Manali, a city focussed on tourism. Restaurants here had menus different from other places in India. During our second visit to India, I went looking for more ‘normal’ Indian food, in places with questionable hygiene. Our visit was rather short the first time, so the info is basic. Please make sure to avoid:

Paratha, naan, roti, chapati and puri. All bread items and off limits when you want to eat gluten free. Be careful when you encounter papadum, since this could be made with wheat flour (but doesn’t have to be). Just ask before you eat, depending on your location in India. Also, do not eat samosa’s. These nice smelling doughy triangles are filled to the brim with gluten sadly.

I’ve had good experiences with the following meals:

Curry/gravy

There are many different kinds of curry. Some will consist of veggie, or potato or meat. Often you can choose if you want to order with rice or paratha. As far as I know, curry is not thickened with wheat flour, but inquiring won’t hurt. When you have to eat lactose-free your choice will be limited; yoghurt (curd) or cheese (paneer) is often mixed as to make a creamy taste. There might be a papadum, which could be gluten free (or not).

Dosa

Some sort of pancake made with lentils and rice flour. I ordered this only in restaurants where people spoke English so I could check what ingredients were used. I was told this food is widely available in the south of India, but I ordered it myself without any hassle in Kolkata.

Dal

A dish made from lentils. When eaten with white rice it makes a nice and filling snack or small meal. There are many types of Dal on the menu, made with different spices. Dal Tadka for example is tastier and spicier than normal dal.

Chai & Lassi

Drinks I never tried due to my lactose free diet. Chai is tea made with milk and a lot of sugar. Lassi is a yoghurt drink. Both can be bought per cup on the street or sometimes ordered in restaurants.

Thali

All hail the thali! Healthy food and gigantic helpings, often for a low price. This was one of my favourite dishes in India. A thali will consist of rice with lentils, potato and/or vegetable curry. A salad, which is often nothing more than a few slices of cucumber and a ‘pickle’. This is a fermented veggie. Sometimes served with yoghurt. You can often choose between rice or roti and there might be a papadum served on top. It depends upon the region what a thali looks like. Be sure to tell what you can’t have, and you’ll probably be fine with this food.

Biryani

In all shapes and sizes. You will always get a plate with seasoned rice + something. An egg biryani will be rice with in the middle a boiled egg and a piece of potato. When you order this dish with meat, the egg will be replaced with a piece of chicken, mutton or buffalo.

Other options

In Kolkata I’ve seen little stalls selling omelette on the side of the road. A big hit with the locals and could be a safe option.

Idly. Small, thick fermented rice pancakes. Saw them on the menu a couple of times.

Fruit. On the side of the road are small stalls or shops selling fruit, nuts and other such things. I often bought this for breakfast.

Nuts are excellent food for traveling by bus or train, as are dates and other dried fruits. You can find puffed rice, peanuts and other ingredients at street vendors close to stations and make yourself a snack.

Caution!

Hing/Asafoetida: this very tasteful powder will be mixed through certain Indian dishes. It is a bit sticky and is often mixed with flour to make it more manageable. This is mixed through Malasa herb mixes in stores, papadum or bags of snacks. Gram or besan: a gluten free flour made from chickpeas, which is sometimes mixed with maida. Maida = wheat flour. There have been times my body felt ‘off’. Could be I ingested some of this, without knowing.

Gluten free in the north of India

During our visit this time we went to these places: New Delhi, Amritsar, Mcleod Ganj and Manali. Most of our time is spent in Mcleod Ganj and Manali, roughly three weeks, so most of the information about food is from these places. We make a couple of very long journeys by train and by bus. Read my post about travelling by train and bus here.

The focus of our journey lies on the north-western region of India, which influences my food choices. Since the Brittish colonial regime, people have started to use more wheat (flour) in food preparation. I’m told people go back to using the more native grains again, like millet. But I don’t see much of it.

Mcleod Ganj and Manali are cities who were sought out by people interested in yoga, Reiki or Buddhisme. You can see this on the buildings and menus: the words ‘vegetarian’, ‘vegan’ and sometimes ‘gluten-free’ are regularly to be seen. Good for me, since vegan means less of a problem with the lactose part. At this time, we seek out these cities to make it a bit easier for me with my diets. Yes, shame on me, eating like a tourist instead of getting proper Indian food.

Ontbijt/lunch

Breakfast will often consist of omelette with veggies, fruit juice and fruit, like banana or an apple. In many restaurants you can choose a set breakfast, normally served with bread. Some of them can be made gluten-free with a few adjustments. Here you can read a post with an example of what I would eat for breakfast in Manali.

Not all breakfast options are good for me, Indian breakfast will consist of chapati with sauce. Nothing to be done about it; I just can’t have this.

Often you can order loose items from the menu, like a bowl of yoghurt with fruit.

Where there’s vegan food, gluten free food will propably be easier to find. These restaurants respond to the need of tourists and maybe think more about the ingredients they use. At least they’re used to ‘diets’.

Millet

A pancake with millet might be an option in some places. I’ve seen the millet pancake in Mcleod Ganj and Dharamhot (a small village close to Mcleod Ganj). Often, I will eat a heavy meal in the morning and again early in the evening. I liked to eat my breakfast before 10:00 AM, since restaurants less busy. You will get the full attention of the staff and there is less chance of a mix-up in the kitchen. Sometimes I share a plate of fried rice somewhere to eat in the afternoon. Portions are big, so sharing means we both get a nice snack. There are times I find a place with a vegan cookie or something, but not very often. And it always means taking a risk.

Dinner

We have dinner early (mostly because I’m hungry!). Vegetarian curry or fried rice is always somewhere to be found as is Thali.

Do not be put off when people laugh at you a bit, or grin when reading your diet card (at least when you use the one I do). It is written in a formal form of Hindi, and nobody is used to reading their language like that.

Some Indian dishes are easy to adjust for my needs. I like to order curry aloo (potato) but make sure to shun ‘paneer’ because of the cheese. A salad can be a good option, more so at the more expansive restaurants. Otherwise make sure to ask of they wash the vegetables in filtered water, or you might spend a lot of time at the toilet.

I pick something, I think could be ok gluten-free and then ask the waiter or cook of it is doable. The restaurants I visit are divers, as is the food. Indian of course, but also Italian, Nepali or Tibetan (not a good choice, much dough). In Manali I’ve also seen Russian food and Sushi. Many places serve Israeli food, some of this food are actually great choices if you are looking for breakfast. Like Shashuka (eggs with veggie and humus).

Like

It appears ‘no’ is not an option when it’s about food. The Indian mindset seems flexible when it’s about recipes and food. Food is often only prepared when ordered, so it’s easy to ask for an adjustment. People might be a bit bewildered when they learn I follow this diet out of medical necessity. It is not very known in the places I’ve visited. A couple of times people seemed to recognise it. But nobody is unwilling to help, as strange as it might seem.

Everywhere are small stores where you can buy snacks. In India there are many different languages or dialect, which means people often know multiple languages to make themselves understood, like Hindi and English. You also see this on the packaging; English is often to be found on the ingredient list.

Don’t like

Cross contamination is a pretty big risk, because bread is often sold with food. Think roti’s with curry. This makes the kitchen pretty unsafe. I just assume the cook might not wash his hands. I’m not sure who actually makes the roti’s; they might be bought elsewhere, or made by the help in the kitchen.

Even when gluten-free options are offered, the waiters won’t necessarily know how to deal with this. The cook or owner probably does. Just ask if the kitchen know about the diet.

Indian people seem ready to please. Sometimes this is unfortunate: they might say ‘yes’ without understanding what you say. I found this out while someone served my omelette on bread, even though I just to him I did not want bread. I do not enjoy telling people getting it of the bread won’t make a difference at this point.

India

All in all, India is not really easy to visit with a gluten free diet, but it is defiantly doable. To be fair, which country is that easy? It will depend on the places you visit how much choice you have when it comes to food. Places frequented by tourists might be a bit easier, but you will also get to eat less authentic Indian food. When we travel to India again, I will try get a taste of the real India for sure.

Wanna read more about food in India? Read my post about my visit to northeast India, the less tourists states of all India!

Gluten: 1x

Lactose: 1x