<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
At 08:58 AM 11/14/95 +0100, [log in to unmask] wrote:
 
>I have found the restaurant cards in the back of Jax Lowell's book Against
>the Grain very helpful.  But one omission is translation of the text into
>Hindi. There are a number of Indian restaurants where I live now in Germany
>and I would like to be able to have them understand what I cannot eat.  Can
>anyone translate the card below into Hindi, or another commonly spoken
>Indian language?
 
There are some 23 major languages in India, plus minor ones. English is a
unifying language.
 
Indian restaurants are easy to eat GF at, or they should be as their curry
dishes are thickened with chick pea flour. Wheat does not grow in hot
climates, so is not used much in traditional Indian cooking, even less so in
very hot parts of India like Madras.
 
This is what you have to watch for. The homemade cheese should be made with
lime juice, however some, to save money, use vinegar. Also all dishes should
use fresh tomatoes, unfortunately some use canned tomato paste, which at
least here in the States has HVP in it. Tomato paste will most likely be
used in the Chicken Makni.
 
Appetizers can be GF or not. Pakoras (vegetable fritters) are usually made
with chick pea flour. Samosas are usually in wheat casings, but will be in
chick pea flour if from Madras (which will usually be a vegetarian
restaurant). If they use different flours, they probably share the frying oil.
 
Chicken cooked in the tandoor oven will have been marinated. Again it should
be in lime juice and not vinegar, but you will have to ask. Since bread is
cooked on the sides of the oven, the person tending the oven could have
wheat flour on their hands. When removing the meat from the skewers (it
won't touch the oven sides) the person should use a piece of paper, and not
their hands. To be safe one can just avoid things from this oven.
 
Some restaurants will start you off with papadum. It is a crispy wafer made
from lentil flour. They usually fry it in its own oil, but they can also, on
request, bake it.
 
Hope this helps get you started on an exciting GF cuisine.
 
Don.