How to read an Indian menu

How an Indian menu is laid out

Here's how to read an Indian menu in one line: it's a list of Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi words written in English letters, split into vegetarian and non-vegetarian sections, with breads and rice ordered separately from the curries. That's true in Delhi, Mumbai, London and Sydney alike. Spellings wander (dal, daal, dhal; murgh, murg; paneer, panir), so read by sound rather than letter.

A typical order of sections:

• Soups and starters, often split into veg and non-veg, with a tandoor section for anything cooked in the clay oven.
• Main course, again split: paneer and vegetable dishes on one side, chicken, mutton and seafood on the other.
• Dal (lentils), rice and biryani, and breads (roti, naan, paratha). A curry rarely comes with bread or rice unless the menu says so.
• Raita and salads, desserts, then beverages (lassi, chai, fresh lime soda).

In India, many places mark each dish with a small symbol: a green filled circle in a green square for vegetarian and a brown filled triangle in a brown square for non-vegetarian (older menus show a brown or red circle). The marks are compulsory on packaged food and many restaurants copy them. Egg counts as non-veg. A restaurant signed "Pure Veg" serves no meat, fish or eggs at all.

A thali is a set plate of small bowls (dal, two or three vegetable dishes, raita, rice, bread, a sweet). Many thali restaurants refill until you stop them. Tandoori chicken and biryani are often sold as half or full portions.

South Indian restaurants work differently. Tiffin (idli, dosa, vada) is served morning and evening, and lunch is often called meals: rice with sambar, rasam, vegetables and curd, sometimes on a banana leaf.

Abroad, especially in British-style curry houses, you'll see a heat ladder of sauces rather than regional dishes: korma (mild), then tikka masala, bhuna, madras (hot), vindaloo (very hot) and phall (extremely hot).

Reading the script

You'll mostly see English transliteration, but Hindi is written in Devanagari, which runs left to right with letters hanging from a flat line along the top. Vowels after a consonant are marks attached to it, so a word looks like one connected block. Urdu (common on Pakistani and Muslim-run menus) uses a Perso-Arabic script written right to left. In the South you'll meet Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam scripts, and in the East Bengali.

Two transliteration habits help: "ee" and "i" are the same sound, as are "oo" and "u", and "kh", "gh" and "bh" are breathy versions of k, g and b.

Cooking methods

These words tell you how a dish was cooked or sauced, and they're the fastest way to guess what's coming.

Meat, seafood and key ingredients

In India, "mutton" usually means goat. Beef is uncommon on menus in most of the country.

Allergy and diet watch-outs

Indian food is full of ingredients that don't show up in a dish's name. These are the ones to ask about.

• Milk and ghee. Ghee, butter, cream, yoghurt marinades, paneer and khoya (reduced milk, in sweets) are everywhere, and breads are often brushed with ghee or butter. Naan dough often contains yoghurt or milk. In India "veg" includes dairy, so a vegan or dairy-free diner has to ask for no ghee, butter, cream or curd. See milk.
• Cashew and almond pastes. Ground cashews thicken many restaurant gravies: korma, shahi paneer, malai kofta and many versions of butter chicken. Almonds and pistachios top biryani, kulfi and sweets. You won't see the nuts. See tree nuts.
• Peanuts. Common in western and southern cooking: poha, sabudana khichdi, some chutneys and Maharashtrian and Gujarati curries. Some kitchens fry in groundnut oil. See peanuts.
• Wheat in hing. Asafoetida powder is usually sold "compounded", cut with flour so it can be measured, and that flour is often wheat. A pinch goes into many dals, sambar and vegetable dishes, so a dish with no bread in sight can still contain gluten. Rava (semolina) dosa, upma, samosa pastry and all the breads are wheat. Pakoras are usually gram flour, but some cooks add wheat or rice flour. See gluten.
• Mustard. Mustard seeds are fried into the tempering of most South Indian dishes and many dals and pickles, and mustard oil is the main cooking fat in Bengali and Kashmiri food and some Punjabi dishes. See mustard.
• Sesame. Sesame (gingelly) oil is common in South Indian cooking, and sesame seeds appear in sweets and some chutneys. See sesame.
• Egg, fish and shellfish. Egg can be in naan dough and in some kebab mixtures. Coastal menus (Goa, Kerala, Bengal, Mumbai) use fish and prawns heavily. See eggs, fish and crustaceans.
• Soy. Indo-Chinese dishes (Manchurian, chilli chicken, Hakka noodles) use soy sauce, often with a cornflour batter. See soy.

Shared fryers and tandoors are normal, so cross-contact is likely. North vs South matters too: dosa and idli batters are rice and urad dal, which avoids wheat, but they're cooked on shared griddles that may also make rava dosa.

Jain food leaves out meat, fish, eggs, honey and root vegetables such as onion, garlic and potato, but uses dairy freely. Many restaurants in India will make a "Jain" version on request. Halal: meat isn't halal by default in India; Muslim-run restaurants usually are, so ask.

Useful phrases

English is widely understood in Indian restaurants, but these help with staff in smaller places. Verbs change with the speaker's gender: a man says sakta, a woman sakti. The -iye ending is the polite form.

Ordering and paying

Order dishes to share. A table of two usually orders one or two curries, a dal, rice and a few breads, and everyone takes from the middle. Breads arrive in rounds, so order more as you go.

• Tax. In India, menu prices often exclude GST, with "taxes extra" or "taxes as applicable" at the bottom. GST at most restaurants is 5%, added to the bill.
• Service charge. Consumer guidelines from July 2022 say restaurants can't add a service charge automatically or by default, and a single judge of the Delhi High Court upheld this in March 2025; restaurant associations have appealed. If one appears, you can ask for it to be taken off.
• Tipping. Voluntary. Around 10% is common at sit-down restaurants if no service charge was added; small change is fine at casual places.
• Payment. City restaurants take cards. Smaller places often prefer UPI (phone payments) or cash.
• Eating with your hands. Normal with breads and in South Indian meals. Use your right hand.

Abroad, follow local practice: a UK curry house may add a discretionary service charge, and many Indian restaurants in the US expect a standard tip.

Dishes to know

• Butter chicken (murgh makhani): tandoori chicken in a butter, tomato and cream sauce.
• Palak paneer: paneer in puréed spinach.
• Biryani: rice layered with spiced meat or vegetables, often cooked dum.
• Masala dosa: a crisp rice and lentil crêpe with spiced potato.
• Chana masala: chickpeas in a spiced onion and tomato gravy.
• Korma: meat or vegetables braised in yoghurt or cream with nut or seed paste.
• Dal makhani (दाल मखनी): black lentils and kidney beans slow-cooked with butter and cream.
• Chole bhature (छोले भटूरे): spiced chickpeas with fried, puffed wheat bread.
• Idli (इडली): steamed rice and lentil cakes with sambar and chutney.
• Rogan josh (रोगन जोश): Kashmiri-style lamb or mutton curry, red with Kashmiri chilli.

Questions

What do the green and brown symbols on an Indian menu mean?

A green filled circle inside a green square means vegetarian. A brown filled triangle inside a brown square means non-vegetarian; older menus and packs show a brown or red circle instead. In India, vegetarian means no meat, fish or eggs, but dairy is included.

Is a service charge compulsory in Indian restaurants?

No. Under 2022 consumer guidelines, upheld by a Delhi High Court judge in March 2025 (restaurant associations have appealed), restaurants in India can’t add a service charge automatically or force you to pay one. If it appears on the bill you can ask for it to be removed, and any tip is up to you.

Is Indian food gluten-free?

Some of it is naturally wheat-free (rice, dal, dosa batter, gram flour) but breads, samosas, rava dishes and many fried snacks contain wheat. Hing (asafoetida) powder is often cut with wheat flour and goes into dals and curries, so ask the kitchen which brand they use.

What is the difference between North and South Indian menus?

North Indian menus lean on wheat breads, tandoor dishes, paneer and rich dairy gravies. South Indian menus are built on rice, fermented rice-and-lentil batters (dosa, idli), coconut, tamarind, curry leaves and mustard seeds.

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Vegetarian and non-vegetarian marks
2. All India Radio News: Delhi HC rules restaurants can’t impose mandatory service charge
3. Wikipedia: Jain vegetarianism

Last checked 1 November 2026. Spotted something wrong? Email support@inventum.com.au.