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I received about 18 responses. Thank you to everyone who offered help and
advice!

My original post stated:

I was contacted this morning regarding a newly diagnosed 6 year old with
Celiac who's family is from India and eat Indian Cuisine, which is basically
a vegetarian diet. I would appreciate any information you can provide to
help this family with their child's gluten free diet.

Let me correct one thing, the father stated that they eat no meat, thus my
comment about their vegetarian diet.


The following are the responses:

1. Two list members offered to correspond with the family.


2. Triumph Dining donated one of their Indian Cuisine Dining Cards. Thank
you!!


3. I eat Tasty Bite Agra Peas & Greens which states 'No Gluten' on the
package. Tasty Bite is Indian Cuisine, and other products in this line
may be gluten free.


4. Here are some resources for your Indian family

Gluten free Indian and middle eastern recipes:
http://www.celiac.com/st_main.html?p_catid=62

This is a brand of Indian food sold in Canada.  Don't know how useful it
would be to them in U.S.
http://www.pataks.ca/products/gluten-free.html

Here are some prepackaged Indian foods that are GF
http://www.tastybite.com/Gluten_Free_Food_s/56.htm

Here is a source for an Indian dining card that should detail which
foods are safe:
http://www.triumphdining.com/FAQ.html

Source of many recipes on a gf site from the UK.  Caution them to double
check ingredients as sometimes the U.K. allows wheat starch which is a
no no in U.S.
http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Indian%20Section/1stindian.htm

Please encourage them to use some of off the shelf flour mixes to
experiment with their family recipes.  I've included Carol Fenster's
guide to using xanthan gum in recipes as an attachment.


5. There's Indian cuisine ready meals at:
http://www.tastybite.com/Indian_Food_s/1.htm

Other products: http://www.pataks.ca/products/gluten-free.html

There's:  Mr. Spice Indian Curry Gluten-Free Sauce

There's some indian/middle east recipes here:
http://www.celiac.com/st_main.html?p_catid=62

They might be familiar with Sorghum Flour, which is gluten-free,
and widely available in India.



6. Depending on what part of India they come from, wheat may or may not be a
part of their everyday diet, north vs. south.

Also, not all Indians are vegetarian. But if they are veg, there are plenty
of vege resources out there. I am partially vege and I am on the Yahoo group
for GF/Vegetarian. Lots of people there to answer questions.

Most Indian dishes can be modified just like "western" food with a gf flour
mix.

I would suggest hooking them up first with another vegetarian celiac, if you
have any, even if they are not vegetarian, only because vegetarians are more
likely to be "into" other ethnic foods and may have suggestions on how to
modify their daily diet to fit.

I think Living Without Magazine did an article on another Indian celiac
family back a few years ago. I think they lived here in Chicago but you
might contact the mag? Indian celiacs are becoming more prevalent, just like
the rest of the world...



7. Well for one thing they can't eat cous cous or that Near East Rice
Pilaf stuff that has orzo (wheat pasta) in it.  I would think Indian
shouldn't be too hard since those countries eat a lot of rice.
I don't believe rye or barley is an issue in their cuisine like it
is for northern Europeans who use barley in soup and eat rye bread
(I am 1/2 Danish and miss both).  They will need to see the child
gets enough protein and calcium to grow; I have a 18 yr old daughter
who missed 4 years of growth and isn't much bigger than when she was
10 so they need to be careful the kid gets enough nutrition to grow.

Are they vegan? Will they let the child eat eggs, fish & dairy?
You have to assume they are not absorbing all their protein.



8. I don't really see the difference in being gf and Indian than being of
any other nationality....However, since most Indian cuisine is naturally
gf I do not see that they would have much of a problem adjusting to the
diet at all. They just need to eliminate everything with gluten in it,
wheat, rye, oats, barley...as everyone else.

I've eaten in many Indian restaurants and cook lots of Indian food at
home without any problems at all.



9. I have a friend from Nepal.  -- There are diff ethnic cuisines in diff
parts of India.  My friend does a lot of things with lentil flour, little
fried pufed breads (more like a chip)  called Pappadum or Poppadum.  They
are GF if made without wheat flour added.

Curry spice is traditional throughout India.  Would need to ck. that starch
has not been added to the curry spice blend.

Nepalese use a lot of rice, including poha, or rolled rice.  It is used at
almost every meal, and for snacks.  Many families there purchase poha in
large quantities.

Snack products from India that are poha or fried-lentil based have to be
checked for added wheat ingredients.

Sorry, that is the extent of my meagre knowledge.  The traditional ethnic
cuisine, at least of Nepal, includes wheat-flour based items, but is not as
centered on them as the Standard American Diet is.



10. Rice and besan are ok.  They will need to read labels carefully in
buying 
prepared foods from India, and I am sure they are well aware of problems
with Indian packaging and labeling.  I myself haven't had any problems
though with products from Indian groceries.



11. We eat a great deal of Indian food, and generally find it an easy
cuisine
to work with.

Naturally GF things:
lentils
chickpeas
rice
vegetables
are all mainstays of the food. Lentils can be made into flour and mixed
with other flours, usually rice, to make things like dosa and idli. There
are many recipes incorporating chickpea flour - naturally GF, but they need
to ask about the mill where it is ground, or perhaps grind their own, as
some of my Indian friends do.

Paneer (cheese) is almost always GF; I haven't found any that isn't. Yogurt
is also GF.

Naan and roti are out, as they are made from wheat flour. The only concern
I know of with seasonings is anything that contains asfotedia (spelling?),
as sometimes it is mixed with wheat flour when it is ground.

If the family can learn to make substitutions for the flour in sauces, and
to bypass the naan and roti, it should be fairly straightforward for them
to go GF.

* Please remember some posters may be WHEAT-FREE, but not GLUTEN-FREE *
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