Glutenfree and milkfree diet

agatap

Hello
I will be travelling around South India and Nepal with my kids.
My son has a gluten/lactose intolerancy, which means that he is on a diet where gluten & milk is avoided.
Gluten is found in wheat, rye, oats ... instead he can eat flour from potatoes, chickpeas, mais, etc.
Milkfree means no cheese, milk, butter...

So my question is - have any of you been in India on a similar diet?
Is it possible to stock up on glutenfree cookies/bread?

For glutenfree - I basically try to avoid wrong types of dough/bread. What kind of bread is safe to eat?
How about ghee - i have heard that the milk part is removed??? has anybody with milk allergies experience about this?

I hope to learn a few names of meals / bread /dough types, that are safe to eat ...

Best regards,
Agata

machadinha

Hi, and welcome to IndiaMike. The question gets asked from time to time, so you could try and search the site for "gluten," or for gluten-free or glutenfree maybe.

I'm not sure how relevant this thread will be to you, but maybe it has some tips: What we learned about allergies in India.

Oh sorry I see now, it's about milk too. Hm. You could search for that as well, of course, might be more difficult to find. I and some others did some rambling here a while ago about vegan options, will give you nothing conclusive, but may be something to go on: RESTAURANT GUIDE: Kochi (Cochin) #1. That conversation took off from post #24 and onwards on that thread. Mind you, no allergic or medical concerns came into it, and again it will offer you no real answers, just a few thoughts. I assume it's been talked about before.

Good luck with it in any case. Ghee would be known as clarified butter in English, so you could search the web for both terms. I'm not sure about the details of what precisely is clarified from there. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghee, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarified_butter ; note that Wikipedia is made by its users, so there's a lot of nonsense on it too. Just meant as some easy pointers, maybe it will give you some links or keywords to search on about.

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wonderwomanusa

One thing to do before you leave home: get someone to write out, in languages spoken where you will be travelling, the allergies your son has and what must be avoided.

You might find some gluten-free products in the upscale shops in large cities, but I think it will be very difficult in small towns, especially for treats like cookies, so you'll want to bring as much of that sort of stuff as you can cram into your bags.

I just googled "gluten allergies India" and came up with quite a few hits, so you may find some information on what is available there by doing the same.

Aishah

For the first year of living here I was on a gluten free diet - millet,(bajra roti) rice, besan flour rotis were my staples and of course you can eat plenty of fruit and veggies. Soy milk is obtainable in big cities but travelling around I think you will have problems finding a milk substitute. Out in the villages you can get goat's milk but that situation may not even arise! I would bring dried soya or milk substitute powder to last the journey, for him.
OT but slightly related - funnily enough all my allergies cleared within 6 weeks and slowly I started eating wheat products. Now I can eat anything. I ditched the gluten free diet quite rapidly. When go back to Oz or NZ by the time I'm ready to return (around 6 weeks) skin rashes are starting to reappear.I think it is more chemical related to processed foods, insecticides etc. and fluoride in the water.

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machadinha

Just out of interest: The milk wouldn't necessarily have to be substituted, right? I mean vegans get by without it, but it takes some special attention, esp. for kids. (Cow milk isn't so great for humans anyway, some say, but it's a different discussion really that I don't mean to get into here.)

Like I wrote on that other thread, I think dairy is fairly easily avoided in India. It's the ghee that would seem harder to me, but then as in the above and with the described particular concerns I'm not sure what is or isn't in there.

Glutens I have nothing to say on, as they don't cause me or anyone I know any trouble. Maybe I should point out I'm a non-meat-eating fish-eater and generally a vegetarian beyond that, so hardly an authority on any of this. I understand the concern though; I'm not sure if esp. with younger kids (9 and 12, I take it from another thread by poster) with allergy concerns I'd go through the trouble of venturing out there at all, but that's up to the original poster. I'm sure there are others who do it and manage. Or then maybe they don't. I'd sure try and get some good dietary advice before I leave, not just from a site like this.

agatap

Thank guys for your inputs.
I have tried searching the site with "glutenfree diet" without success, I will try the keywords that you suggest.

I have been travelling before with my son who does not tolerate milk/gluten very well. My kid has suffers from a mild form of autism, and we use the diet as an intervention treatment - he has improved wonderfully on the diet.

In my experience travelling, meeting new cultures with open eyes is a wonderful experience for both parent and children - and one of the best gifts you can give them in their upbringing: realizing there is a world outside the tip of your nose. I am not looking for moral advice (like: why bother) - but for experience from somebody on a similar diet.

What kind of food/brands did they find? Which shop brands did carry things like glutenfree bread? Is it true that papadums are based on chick pea flour, and thous gluten free ... and the like.

It is my impression that diary products should be easy to avoid, you are right machadinha - milk does not have to be substituted, if you can eat something else for breakfast.

I also have the impression, that gluten (wheat) is not a big issue in the indian cuisine. It is usually dough and bread that poses a problem. I can of course bring a bag from Denmark, but if it can be bought locally, we can travel more lightly.

Wonderwomanusa: I have an indian friend of a friend in Chennai that is meeting up with us, I will ask her to help me with a litle "dictionary" of products we want to avoid.

Thx,
Agata

Aishah

Pappadums are based on besan (chick pea) flour. You could ask for bajra (millet) roti (chappati) or makki (cornmeal) roti - both gluten free. Only in the big Metros will you find bread, other than white or brown wheat flour, in packets and I don't know if gluten free bread will be there in those speciality bakery stores. Most smaller places around the country will only have the white or brown loaf.

machadinha

Yes, searching is always a little tricky; glutenfree will not give you gluten-free, etc., so it takes a bit of thinking of the right keywords, or toggling those around. Good luck with it.

Absolutely agree

ps On keywords in numerous languages about one's allergy to carry around with you, that allergies thread linked to above mentions a website by a company that produces precisely such cards I believe. *Checking, no it doesn't, but it gives the name, and here they are: http://www.selectwisely.com/

agatap

Thanks for the tip with selectwisely ... I really like the idea of these cards ... just need to do the translation ... they are really cool!

machadinha

They look good to me, yes. Not sure what you mean about translation; looks like the point is you can special-order them in (and from) just about any language in the world, and geared to your precise needs. I was giving them a quick look and they don't look overly costly. You can view some examples of various cards on their site, and again it looks like you can get them custom-made as well (e.g., from Danish to Hindi, I presume), with pictorials too. I guess you may need a couple to cover different needs. Note also that in India local languages will depend on your location, Hindi for instance won't be all that commonly spoken everywhere. So you might prefer Marathi for Maharashtra, Malayalam for Kerala, Tamil for Tamil Nadu, etc. It looks like you can just contact them for any special orders and discuss your needs with them, and they do email delivery if you're in a hurry. So e.g. maybe you can just ask them I need one card from Danish to these 3 languages, for these allergies, including pictorials, and a couple of emergency phrases while I'm at it.

Well, hope they work for you As those people above describe it on that thread:

Heck, I think I've finally found my solution to complicated discussions in far-away places in the "I'm a vegetarian [as in I don't eat meat, and not chicken or ham or duck either, thank you] -- but I'd like some squid -- and besides my partner would like none of that at all -- however that doesn't mean you need to worry about serving us complicated soy & lentils dishes, a salad minus the tuna will do just fine" field. (In other words, they seem to cover such questions as well.)

crvlvr

There are a lot more foods in India that are without gluten than in the west. But, is your son prepared for an Indian diet? Almost any curry (except the ones with cream) can be eaten with rice for a gluten/lactose free meal. However, if you attempt to replicate a western diet in India without the gluten, substitutes may be hard to find.

Madhu10

Maybe you should go to a Indian restaurant in your town and take a menu and go through the menu with somebody at the restuarant who has patience and can help with what is in a typical menu.

Lets say Appetisers...if you see something called Pakoras..these are veggie fritters with Chick pea flour. Samosas on the other hand are made with refined flour which does have gluten.

Most entrees veg and non veg (non cream) will be good.

All the rice dishes will be fine.

Once you get to the bread sections Naan, roti etc will be off limits as that will be made with refined flour.

If you are traveling in South Indian you will have choices for things like DOSA (pancakes made with rice or lentils), Idli..steamed fermented rice cakes. Uttapam..same ingredients as Dosa.

If you are staying in decent hotels in advance talk to somebody in the management area and tell them your situation. In general Indians are very freindly especially when it concerns with a kid. They will do their best to accomodate your needs.

Good luck.

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wonderwomanusa

I think this is a translation problem. Dough is made from some sort of flour -- and wheat, oats and rye are usually the culprits in a gluten allergy. Chapatti are normally made of wheat flour, as is naan, so you'll not want to order those for your child, as well as avoiding the bread you'll find in the local markets, which is also made of wheat.

You might also want to look at this diet, for sometime after you are back home in Denmark; I've heard it is very good for autistic children: http://www.pecanbread.com/new/scdscience2.html

agatap

I have just received allergy cards from SelectWisely - with nepali and hindi translations ... thank you for pointing them out to me, machadinha.
They list the stuff we want to avoid - and I think they will be an excellent basis for conversation about food at a restaurant. We will try to eat the local diet of course, and not try to replicate a western diet! We love the indian cuisine (at least the version that we know).

We are leaving next sunday, thats very, very soon
Thanks for your advice!

Agata

machadinha

Good. Go have a swell trip!

An afterthought I had: Those cards will form a decent basis, but they won't work magic, and you'd still need to make sure what you're getting, of course. But I'm sure you'd already thought of that In your position, maybe opting for slightly more upscale places (nothing overly fancy, just where English is more commonly spoken and so on) would make sense. Although some decent roadside snacks and yummy hole-in-the-wall places are very much part of the fun...

Well, good luck with it, let us know how you fare. I'm sure you'll have some good tips on your return!