What do I order at an Indian restaurant with a nut allergy?

Posted by schaweniiia@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 19 comments

My non-British sister is visiting me this weekend with her friend and their respective partners. She always wanted to eat at an Indian restaurant (not a thing af all in my home country), so I happily booked a table for 6. Today, when I picked them up at the airport, one person mentioned that they have a mild nut allergy. It's not extreme, but there shouldn't be more than one nut-worth of nut in their food. So now I'm panicking - what can they actually eat at an Indian place without a considerable amount of nuts in it? I never had to think about allergies. The table is booked for 8pm, so any fast advice would be very welcome!

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19 Comments

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youvelookedbetter@reddit

Definitely not butter chicken. Always call them. Menus are not 100% accurate with what exactly is in the sauces.

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BroodLord1962@reddit

Call the restaurant to see if they can cater for this person. If they can't then you wither have to cancel the booking or that person is going to have to have nothing to eat

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aanonymoususer1998@reddit

Basically you want to order something that doesn’t contain nuts. This is the case for any restaurant

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spiraldinosaur@reddit

There's loads of recipes without nuts in. Have a look at the menu and they should list allergy information on all of their meals. Every restaurant says to mention allergies when you're ordering. No need to panic.

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TURNAH92@reddit

A proper curry house hasn't changed their laminated menus in about 10 years, just the prices have stickers on top with the inflation added lol. I can't think of a single curry house I've been to that has any allergy information on it. Deffo need to call up beforehand, but even then I'd say it's a risk.

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jeremyascot@reddit

You are right Also, lot's of these places aren't making dishes fresh, they are made offsite and brought in. Their lineage probably not known. There is no way I'd risk it unless it was posh modern Indian who make everything from scratch

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FelisCantabrigiensis@reddit

Anything from commercial suppliers has allergen info on it. The legal risks of not specifying this are too great, and the legal risks of a restaurant buying in prepared items without allergy info is also too great. In addition, at least one Indian restaurant owner (restaurant was "Indian", not sure where the owner came from) went to jail within the last few years for recklessly ignoring food allegies. That's put the rest of the industry on notice that allergy responsibility is not optional.

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IronicBanter@reddit

As someone with a severe peanut and nut allergy I never eat at Indian or Chinese restaurants. They're used in a lot of different dishes and there are several stories of people having reactions despite informing staff and checking that their dish is supposed to be nut free.

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MomentoVivere88@reddit

Call the restaurant to inform them and ask their advice. They know their recipes best

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Nun-Taken@reddit

This. Common sense.

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delirium_skeins@reddit

And honestly the only safe thing because of cross contamination. You could order something without nuts and it still could have touched nuts or someone's hands could. They really need to be informed so they can take extra care in preparing this meal.

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forgottenoldusername@reddit

I have a milk allergy and once got hospitalised at an all vegan Indian, despite even double checking the food was free from milk and explaining my allergy 🤷

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whistlebj@reddit

You definitely don’t need to call and tell them in advance. Just make it clear when you order 👍🏻 I do this every time and I have a nut allergy that would kill me pretty damn quickly

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CatFoodBeerAndGlue@reddit

Literally just ask the restaurant lmao why are you asking Reddit

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tmstms@reddit

I have a nut allergy and 99% of Indian restaurant stuff is OK. Just tell them before you order.

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uReaditRight@reddit

Call the restaurant in advance and let them know. There are many dishes that don't use nuts in the Indian cuisine, but it may still come into contact. They may even cook the food separately for you.

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piratemurray@reddit

Ask the restaurant they should be able to advise.

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AdrenalineAnxiety@reddit

You absolutely need to tell the restaurant there's an intolerance to nuts and what can you have to avoid nuts. Don't guess at all. As someone with allergies myself, you need to inform them and they will let you know what on the menu is safe. You need to do this for every restaurant she eats at. It may be worth calling in advance to avoid getting there and being told "everything contains nuts". My guess is most of the menu will be nut free though. They'll want to be really really really clear to you that cross contamination is a risk and that there is no guarantee of being nut free, which is of critical importance if someone is anaphylactic.

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