Ladakh is not kind to coeliacs. This mountain region at the far north of India, which borders Tibet, is too high to grow much rice. The local people grow barley as a staple food. The main meal you see is often based on white rice, but as I understand it this is distributed by the government.
The problems begin at breakfast, which in traditional food is almost always barley roti/chapati. In addition to the words for wheat flour (Hindi: maida, atta) you need to know the Ladakhi for barley meal (Tsampa). The only option I found in homestays was to bring my own rice flakes and crunch them as if a sullen donkey. Asking for an omelette without chapattis is risky and so one might appear above or below or otherwise contaminating the omelette.
Lunch and dinner can be treated as one, you have to avoid momos (wheat dumplings) which may be offered as a treat. But the staple dinner (rice, dal, vegetable) is not fully safe either. Dal (lentils) cost money and so this may be thickened with wheat or barley. I found this about half the time, especially in roadside cafes. On one occasion the dal was thickened with spaghetti/pasta/noodles which the local people called fin/phin. They were not aware these were made of anything else, and I was not aware to ask about this until I covered my rice in the dal and sat there in despair.
For some reason the tea is a risk. I'm not sure how it could be contaminated, (the old tradition is to add barley meal to a half drunk cup and eat this), but I suspect it is.
Going gluten free in Ladakh (outside of touristic Leh) is a choice between white rice and sickness (the usual Indian rules on contaminated spices apply). My advice is to buy Poha (beaten rice) and eat it dry. Crunchy and safe.
The problems begin at breakfast, which in traditional food is almost always barley roti/chapati. In addition to the words for wheat flour (Hindi: maida, atta) you need to know the Ladakhi for barley meal (Tsampa). The only option I found in homestays was to bring my own rice flakes and crunch them as if a sullen donkey. Asking for an omelette without chapattis is risky and so one might appear above or below or otherwise contaminating the omelette.
Lunch and dinner can be treated as one, you have to avoid momos (wheat dumplings) which may be offered as a treat. But the staple dinner (rice, dal, vegetable) is not fully safe either. Dal (lentils) cost money and so this may be thickened with wheat or barley. I found this about half the time, especially in roadside cafes. On one occasion the dal was thickened with spaghetti/pasta/noodles which the local people called fin/phin. They were not aware these were made of anything else, and I was not aware to ask about this until I covered my rice in the dal and sat there in despair.
For some reason the tea is a risk. I'm not sure how it could be contaminated, (the old tradition is to add barley meal to a half drunk cup and eat this), but I suspect it is.
Going gluten free in Ladakh (outside of touristic Leh) is a choice between white rice and sickness (the usual Indian rules on contaminated spices apply). My advice is to buy Poha (beaten rice) and eat it dry. Crunchy and safe.
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