41 recipes
Gluten-free Indian recipes
Most Indian food is naturally gluten-free, since rice, all millets, all pulses, besan and dairy contain none. What has to go is wheat and barley, along with hidden sources such as commercial asafoetida, some masala mixes and soy sauce.
Indian cooking is one of the easiest cuisines in the world to eat gluten-free, and most households already cook a majority of their food that way without thinking about it.
Rice in every form, all the millets, every dal and pulse, besan and other pulse flours, all vegetables and dairy, and almost all whole spices contain no gluten. Most of South Indian cuisine is already gluten-free, as is a great deal of eastern and western Indian cooking, and Indian fasting food was developed precisely to avoid grains.
What has to go is wheat, barley and rye, and a short list of hidden sources that catch people out. The full detail, including cross-contamination in a shared kitchen, is in a gluten-free Indian diet.
Every gluten-free recipe
Each one carries its method, its nutrition note and the reason it belongs here.
Aam Panna
Aam panna is a summer cooler made from cooked raw mango pulp, jaggery, roasted cumin and black salt, diluted with cold water when you want a…
Vegetarian · VeganRecipeBaingan Bharta
Baingan bharta is a North Indian dish of aubergine roasted whole over an open flame until the skin blackens, then peeled, mashed and cooked…
Vegetarian · VeganRecipeBajra Khichdi (Pearl Millet & Lentil Khichdi)
Bajra khichdi is a North Indian one-pot dish made by simmering pearl millet with split moong lentils, vegetables and mild spices into a soft…
Gluten-free · Diabetic-friendlyRecipeBesan Chilla (Gram Flour Savoury Pancake)
Besan chilla is a North Indian savoury pancake made from a spiced batter of gram flour, or besan, milled from chickpeas. NNWA includes this…
High-protein · Gluten-freeRecipeBesan Ladoo
Besan ladoo is gram flour roasted slowly in ghee until it darkens and smells nutty, cooled, then mixed with powdered sugar and rolled into b…
Vegetarian · FestiveRecipeBhindi Masala
Bhindi masala is a dry North Indian dish of okra sauteed with onion, tomato and ground spices. The whole technique is about managing mucilag…
Vegetarian · VeganRecipeChicken Tikka
Chicken tikka is boneless chicken marinated in curd and spices, then cooked hard and fast until the edges char. Without a tandoor the proble…
High-protein · Gluten-freeRecipeGajar Ka Halwa
Gajar ka halwa is grated carrot cooked slowly in milk until the milk has gone, then sweetened, enriched with ghee and finished with cardamom…
Vegetarian · FestiveRecipeJeera Rice
Jeera rice is basmati cooked with cumin seeds bloomed in ghee, and nothing else beyond salt and perhaps a bay leaf. Its purpose is to carry…
Vegetarian · Gluten-freeRecipeMango Lassi
Mango lassi is ripe mango blended with curd into a thick, cold drink somewhere between a lassi and a milkshake. The whole thing turns on the…
Vegetarian · Gut-healthRecipePaneer Tikka
Paneer tikka is paneer marinated in spiced hung curd with capsicum and onion, skewered and cooked at high heat until charred at the edges. T…
Vegetarian · High-proteinRecipeSweet Lassi
Sweet lassi is fresh curd churned with sugar, chilled water and a little cardamom until it is thick and topped with foam. It takes five minu…
Vegetarian · Gut-healthRecipeTandoori Chicken
Tandoori chicken is bone in chicken scored to the bone, marinated in two stages and cooked at very high heat until the surface chars and the…
High-protein · Gluten-freeRecipeEgg Bhurji
Egg bhurji is Indian scrambled egg, cooked with onion, tomato, chilli and spices until it sets in soft curds. It takes ten minutes and goes…
High-protein · Gluten-freeRecipeEgg Curry
Egg curry is hard boiled eggs finished in an onion and tomato masala loosened with curd. Two decisions settle it: how long the eggs boil, an…
High-protein · Gluten-freeRecipeKaju Katli
Kaju katli is ground cashew cooked with sugar syrup to a pliable dough, kneaded warm and rolled thin into diamonds. It has four ingredients…
Vegetarian · FestiveRecipeMasala Peanuts
Masala peanuts are raw peanuts coated in a spiced gram flour mixture and fried until the shell is crisp and the nut inside has roasted. The…
Vegetarian · VeganRecipeQuinoa Upma
Quinoa upma is quinoa cooked in a South Indian tempering of mustard seeds, dals, curry leaves and vegetables in place of semolina. Quinoa mu…
Vegetarian · High-proteinRecipeRice Kheer
Rice kheer is rice simmered slowly in full fat milk until the milk reduces and the starch thickens it, sweetened at the end and scented with…
Vegetarian · FestiveRecipeRoasted Makhana (Fox Nuts / Lotus Seeds)
Roasted makhana is a light, crunchy snack made by dry- or ghee-roasting fox nuts, the seeds of the prickly water lily, with a little salt an…
Gluten-free · Weight-managementRecipeVegetable Khichdi (Rice & Lentil Comfort Dish)
Vegetable khichdi is a one-pot dish of rice and split moong or toor dal cooked together with mixed vegetables and mild spices until soft and…
Gluten-free · Diabetic-friendlyRecipeAppam
Appam is a Kerala pancake made from a fermented batter of raw rice, cooked rice and coconut, cooked in a curved pan so it forms thin lacy ed…
Vegetarian · Gluten-freeRecipeBeans Poriyal
Beans poriyal is finely chopped french beans cooked quickly with a mustard and urad dal tempering and finished with grated coconut. It is a…
Vegetarian · VeganRecipeCoconut Chutney
Coconut chutney is fresh grated coconut ground with roasted gram dal, green chilli and ginger, then finished with a mustard seed tempering.…
Vegetarian · VeganRecipeCoconut Rice
Coconut rice, thengai sadam, is cooked rice folded into freshly grated coconut warmed in a tempering of mustard seeds, dals, cashews and cur…
Vegetarian · VeganRecipeIdli Sambar (Steamed Rice Cakes with Lentil Vegetable Stew)
Idli sambar is a South Indian breakfast from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka pairing steamed, fermented rice-and-lentil cakes (idli) with a tangy l…
Vegetarian · Gut-healthRecipeIndian Fish Fry
Indian fish fry is fish marinated in chilli, turmeric and tamarind or lemon, coated in semolina and shallow fried until the crust crackles.…
High-protein · Heart-healthyRecipeKootu
Kootu is a thick South Indian side in which a vegetable and a mild lentil are cooked together and bound with a ground paste of coconut, cumi…
Vegetarian · VeganRecipeLemon Rice
Lemon rice, called chitranna in Karnataka, is cooked rice tossed in a tempering of mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, curry leaves and turm…
Vegetarian · VeganRecipeMasala Dosa (Fermented Rice & Lentil Crepe with Potato Filling)
Masala dosa is a South Indian dish from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu made from a fermented rice-and-lentil batter cooked into a thin, crisp crep…
Vegetarian · Gluten-freeRecipePeanut Chutney
Peanut chutney is roasted groundnuts ground with dried red chillies, garlic and tamarind into a thick, creamy side for dosa, idli and upma.…
Vegetarian · VeganRecipeRagi Dosa (Finger Millet Crepe)
Ragi dosa is a South Indian breakfast crepe made from finger millet (ragi) flour, rice flour and buttermilk, cooked thin and crisp on a grid…
Gluten-free · High-proteinRecipeRagi Malt (Ragi Java)
Ragi malt, called ragi java in Karnataka and ambli in its savoury form, is finger millet flour cooked into a thin drinkable porridge and fin…
Vegetarian · Diabetic-friendlyRecipeRagi Mudde
Ragi mudde is a dense ball of cooked finger millet flour, eaten across southern Karnataka with sambar, soppina saaru or a bassaru. It is swa…
Vegetarian · VeganRecipeRasam
Rasam is a thin, sour, peppery South Indian broth of tamarind and tomato, loosened with the water from cooked dal and finished with a temper…
Vegetarian · VeganRecipeThoran
Thoran is a dry Kerala side in which a finely chopped vegetable is cooked with coconut crushed together with shallots, garlic, cumin and tur…
Vegetarian · VeganRecipeTomato Chutney
Tomato chutney is a South Indian side ground from tomatoes cooked down with dried red chillies, garlic and a little lentil, then finished wi…
Vegetarian · VeganRecipeDhokla (Steamed Fermented Gram Flour Cake)
Dhokla is a Gujarati snack made from besan (gram flour) batter that is lightly fermented, steamed into a soft spongy cake, and finished with…
Vegetarian · Gluten-freeRecipeKhandvi
Khandvi is a Gujarati snack of gram flour and buttermilk cooked to a smooth paste, spread paper thin, rolled into tight cylinders and finish…
Vegetarian · High-proteinRecipeSabudana Khichdi (Tapioca Pearl Khichdi)
Sabudana khichdi is a Maharashtrian breakfast made from soaked tapioca pearls (sago) stir-fried with roasted peanuts, cumin and green chilli…
Gluten-free · VegetarianRecipeSabudana Vada
Sabudana vada is a Maharashtrian fritter of soaked tapioca pearls, boiled potato and crushed peanuts, deep fried until crisp. It is eaten du…
Vegetarian · Gluten-freeRecipe01The hidden sources most lists miss
Asafoetida. Commercial hing is very commonly bulked with wheat flour, it is in almost every Indian kitchen, and it is the single most missed source in Indian gluten-free diets. Buy hing that states it is gluten-free, or pure resin.
Ready-made masala mixes, which frequently use wheat flour as a filler.
Soy sauce, conventionally brewed with wheat, which makes Indo-Chinese food a common problem.
Packaged namkeen, which often contains wheat flour even when the base is besan.
Shared frying oil, a genuine contamination route for coeliac disease when puris and pakoras have been fried in it.
02Replacing the chapati
This is the practical problem for a north Indian household eating roti twice a day.
Jowar roti is the closest in behaviour and the easiest starting point. Bajra works well in winter. Ragi carries a real calcium advantage. Rajgira and kuttu rotis are already familiar from fasting cooking. And besan chilla replaces the meal rather than the bread, with more protein than any of them.
Expect the first attempts to fail. Gluten is what makes wheat dough hold together, so millet doughs crack. They need hot water, patient kneading and a gentler hand: a learnable skill rather than an impossible one.
These recipes are general nutrition education, not personal medical advice. If you are managing a diagnosed condition, are pregnant, or take regular medication, confirm any dietary change with the doctor treating you.
What people ask about gluten-free Indian food
Expand any question to read the answer in full.
Is Indian food gluten-free?
Much of it is. Rice, all millets, all pulses, besan, dairy, vegetables, meat, fish and whole spices contain no gluten, which makes most South Indian cuisine and a great deal of eastern and western Indian cooking naturally suitable. What must be removed is wheat in all its forms, barley, and a handful of hidden sources including commercial asafoetida and some masala mixes.
Is besan gluten-free?
Yes. Besan is made from gram, which is a pulse rather than a cereal, and contains no gluten. It is one of the most useful flours available on a gluten-free Indian diet, and besan chilla is a higher-protein breakfast than most wheat-based alternatives. Check packaged besan for cross-contamination warnings if you have coeliac disease.
Do I need to buy special gluten-free products?
Usually not, and often you should not. Commercial gluten-free breads, biscuits and flour blends are typically made from refined starches, are lower in fibre and micronutrients than what they replace, and cost considerably more. Building the diet from food that is already naturally gluten-free (millets, rice, pulses, besan, vegetables and dairy) is cheaper and more nutritious.
Browse the database another way
The same sixty recipes, grouped by a different question.
High-protein
Dishes where protein is the point, not an accompaniment to the rice.
18 recipesDiabetic-friendly
Dishes built for a steadier glucose response, not for restriction.
20 recipesWeight management
Filling dishes that are moderate in energy, not diet food.
27 recipesGut health
Fermented and fibre-rich dishes the Indian kitchen already knew.
11 recipesHeart-healthy
Dishes moderate in salt and fat, without tasting like it.
43 recipesVegan
Indian cooking without dairy, planned rather than improvised.
6 recipesNortheast Indian
Boiled, steamed and fermented: India's lightest regional cooking.
13 recipesEast Indian
Bengali and Odia cooking, light gravies and a well-ordered plate.
Knowing why a dish works is the professional skill
Anyone can follow a method. Building a plan around a household's budget, kitchen and condition (and knowing when it stops being your call) is what a qualification teaches.