Detailed Gluten-Free Restaurant Card — India (Hindi)

Head south, and ask about the hing

South Indian cuisine is rice-based — dosa, idli, and rice plates give me many naturally gluten-free starting points, while North Indian food leans heavily on wheat: roti, naan, paratha. Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi have dedicated GF restaurants. The hidden trap is hing (asafoetida): it’s often cut with wheat flour and goes into dal and curries everywhere, so I ask about pure hing every time.

What’s on the card

• A clear explanation of celiac disease (सीलिएक रोग) in Hindi, so the kitchen treats it as medical
• What I can’t eat and where gluten hides: anything made with atta, maida, or sooji; hing cut with wheat flour in dal, sambar, and curries; pakora batter that’s gram flour but often mixed with wheat
• What’s usually workable: dal, sambar, and rasam (after the pure-hing question), and dosa — verified no wheat in the batter and not cooked on a shared tawa
• The kitchen questions — including “Is the hing pure, or cut with wheat flour?” and a clean-pan request

What’s in the travel companion (page 2)

• How I pick restaurants: South Indian kitchens first, high-end hotel restaurants, and vegetarian and Jain restaurants whose simpler kitchens are easier to verify
• Dishes worth ordering (idli — verify the batter; tandoori chicken — verify the marinade and skip the naan), shopping notes (Schär at premium markets, pure compounded-free hing at larger groceries, naturally GF staples like rice, poha, and besan — watch bulk-bin cross-contact), and where options cluster — Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Goa
• If you get glutened: the chemist’s shop with its green cross, and 112 as the all-India emergency number

The honest certification picture

There is no restaurant gluten-free certification in India. The Celiac Society of India is a patient support and advocacy organization — it doesn’t certify anything. FSSAI regulates “gluten-free” claims on packaged food, and imported products carry international certifications at premium groceries. In restaurants, the card does the explaining.

Format

Instant download: 2-page PDF, printable or phone-ready.

This card helps communicate your dietary needs. It does not guarantee a gluten-free meal or eliminate cross-contact risk. Always use your judgment, and when in doubt, do not eat. Not medical advice.