Indian Food Allergies and Dietary Restrictions: What to Know

This is the post we'd want a family member with a serious allergy to read before eating out. Please always talk to the restaurant directly too — this is guidance, not a guarantee about any kitchen but ours.

Dairy

The most common hidden allergen in Indian food. It's in:

• Yogurt marinades — nearly every tandoori item.
• Cream and butter — makhani, korma, malai, kofta gravies.
• Ghee — often the finishing fat on dals and vegetables.
• Paneer — it *is* cheese.
• Naan dough — frequently made with milk or yogurt, and brushed with butter.
• Raita, lassi, kheer, most desserts.

Safer picks: dry-cooked vegetables (aloo gobi, bhindi masala, baingan bharta), chana masala, dal cooked with oil, plain basmati, tandoori roti with no butter. Say "dairy allergy" and we'll build the marinade differently.

Nuts

Cashew and almond paste is the thickener in korma, malai and kofta gravies, and nuts garnish most desserts. Peanuts turn up in some chaats and chutneys.

Safer picks: tomato-onion masala dishes, karahi, bhuna, tandoori items, dal.

Gluten

Good news: almost all gravies, dals, rice dishes and tandoori items are naturally wheat-free. The problems are the breads (naan, roti, paratha, all wheat) and fried items where batter or a shared fryer is involved. Asafoetida powder is sometimes cut with wheat flour.

Safer picks: tandoori meats, curries with rice, biryani. Skip all breads and fried starters.

Mustard, sesame, egg

Mustard oil and mustard seed are common, especially in pickles and some vegetable dishes. Sesame appears in some chutneys. Egg is in a few breads and desserts and, obviously, egg biryani.

Onion and garlic (Jain diets)

Nearly every gravy starts with both. Ask us which dishes can be made without — several can, but they need to be cooked from scratch, so give the kitchen a little time.

Halal

Every meat we serve at The Namak is halal-certified and hand-sourced, with no exceptions. We don't serve pork.

How to order safely

Say the word "allergy" and name the ingredient. For anything serious, put it in the notes on your online order and call the restaurant so a person confirms it. We cook to order, so we can genuinely change what goes in the pan — see the menu here.