Coeliac Disease - Gluten Free Diet
 

Can anyone tell me which language is most widely used in India? I will be travelling to Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Goa & Mumbai and I need to take my diet cards with me to avoid becoming ill, so I need to know which language is best to get them translated into.

National Language is Hindi . Mos of he people can speak English though
cheers

While there are about 8 major languages spoken in India, English is one of them and I think you will find it the most "widely" spoken for your purposes. It will be hard to say what language a particular cook might speak, but a waiter or someone else should be able to translate from English if necessary into a local dialect. Other major language groups on the cities in your itinerary include Hindi, Gurjurati and Marathi, but there are many sub-dialects in these regions as well, and cooks may be from many other areas altogether and could speak Pashto, Punjabi, Tamil, Urdu, Bengali or Telgu as well as a myriad of other dialects and sub-dialects.

IMO you would just need to explain your needs in English. If you have a translation in Hindi and perhaps Gujurati and that might be helpful. However, given your other post and the fact that I believe most of your dining will be in hotels of good quality, I think English will be the only language you will need, and in fact unless you are 100% sure of the translation you may just want to stick to the English. I would not really rely on a website to translate "gluten" into Hindi for me. If at all in doubt, ask for the cook to come out and speak with you together with the waiter and/or anyone else whose English seems to be sufficient to YOU to understand what you are saying. Indians are very used to people having strict dietary concerns so your needs should not be an issue to address.

FYI, if you can beans, lentils, etc these are generally called “pulses” in India and you may be asked if it is OK to include these in dishes. Dal is a lentil-based dish and there are many variation of this in India, hopefully you can include these in your diet. Wheat-based foods are more of a north-India food like in flat naan breads, those you would need to avoid I would guess. There are rice-based breads in South Indian cooking that you may be able to have, I don’t know your particular restrictions. A good bit of food in Goa is breaded (like Goan crab) due to the Portuguese influence.

Thanks for the replies. It is useful to know all these things as I do have to be careful.
I can't eat Wheat, Gluten, Rye, Soya & Malt (e.g. vinegar) but pulses, rice, fish, meat and fruit and veg are fine for me, so I know I won't starve!
I love Dal, and rice too, so as long as I can get those dishes I will be ok.
I just thought it would be nice to have the translation in, as you suggest Hindi as a polite thing to do.
This is what I am going to take.....

http://www.celiactravel.com/gluten-f.../18-hindi.html

Thanks again for all your help. I leave in 10 days and I am so excited.

I have the same trouble and although I haven't been to India have tried to cope in other parts of South East Asia.

Generally English has done the trick especially in hotels but I do carry a card in local languages just to help especially in smaller restaurants. Doesn't always work though.

Best plan I have is to make good contact with the hotel before arrival and ask to speak to the chef on arrival and then also to use their services to contact eating houses I might want to use - so far they have been really helpful. I always do as much research as I can before hand too so I can have a reasonable idea of what should (only should) be in a dish.

Definitely don't just have cards that say gluten - even the best English speakers rarely know the full implications - say wheat etc and also list things like flour, pasta, egg noodle, breads and such.

Also helpful to list the things that are okay - almost always I find that there is really no good understanding. I live in Australia where coeliac and gluten free is high profile but still have problems sometimes getting people to understand what is a problem.

Have a great time and keep well.

Lots of Indian cooking in some regions includes chickpea flour (also called garam flour or besan flour). If you don't already know, it might be an excellent idea to know whether or not this is ok for you.

I'm sure that Ali does know that chickpea flour is okay. The trouble comes when they often use a little wheat flour in the recipe as well - often its difficult to get across that a little is still a problem. I've had trouble in parts of Thailand where I've been at great pains to check things out but even with cards its difficult as the people have just said they use "powder" and don't understand wheat flour. Powder as far as I'm concerned means trouble.

I also have trouble even in Singapore - my brothers wife is Singaporean and her sister is a great cook but even with excellent English she still doesn't always get it - once she showed me a packet of Hong Kong flour because she wasn't sure if it was okay. On the back in reasonable print was "wheat flour". They are all much more careful of what they offer these days since seeing me horribly sick - until then they all felt that a little didn't really hurt!

Best luck I've had was this year in Phuket where we chanced upon an Thai/Italian restaurant where the Thai owner also couldn't eat gluten - wonderful!!!!!

Thanks again for all your replies.
Yes I am aware that Chick Pea flour etc. is ok.
As Mary W. says, even a small amount can trigger off a bad reaction. My worst was eating a forbidden "twiglet" For all the pain I went through the next day, I should have had the whole packet!
My biggest loss is HP sauce, but I am not going to India for that!!
I can't wait to experience all the different curries and flavours on off, it is just such a PAIN to have to explain it all everytime, but as I have always travelled abroad for Christmas (Kenya, Phuket, Sri Lanka, Maldives + many more) I am not going to let my recently diagnosed Coeliac Disease stop me from doing what I love!

Ali - I'd be very grateful if you could report back on how you get on and how effective the cards are for you.

Have the best of times and keep well!

Dear MaryW, I am in Phuket and desperate to know where this wonderful Italian restaurant ijn Phuket is located. Please, please, let me know as I'd be the happiest coeliac in Asia if I could eat some food that isn't Thai or cardboard.

I look forward to hearing your response.

Also, if there is anyone out there who can offer me any advice on places to eat and outlets that sell GF food, then please get in touch.

Thanks, Eldred11

Dear Eldred11 - its up at Surin Beach about 30 minutes from Patong and just below the Bang Tao area so a bit out of the way - we were staying at Surin. Its called the Capri Beach resort on the road running behind the beach very near Twin Pines hotel and Surin Beach hotel. They have a small hotel and the restaurant is on the ground floor at the front - with a wood fired pizza oven out front. If you go there ask for the male owner (sorry can't remember his name) as his english is excellent and he's the one who will understand your needs. The other staff don't really quite understand mainly because their english is not so good. We found the food good (and cheap) and such a comfort for me not to have to struggle about what I was eating! His seafood risotto is great as is the eggplant dish done in the pizza oven.

Hope you find it okay - the email is [email protected] just in case you need it.

I assume you are on holiday in Phuket - so just ask to see the chef in your hotel and get them to do some things for you - I always ask and get really good responses.
Regards,
Mary