Getting an indian takeaway is daunting as a lactose intolerant, ghee and yoghurt and common ingredients. Unless you’re in the restaurant or you are ordering over the phone you can’t easily see which food doesn’t have milk or yoghurt. Ok as you can tell…I’m sometimes pretty lazy and like to order take aways with apps like Just Eat and Hungry House, which don’t have allergy information built in, and don’t like you add requests to your order (Who knows why!?).

So if everyone is ordering Indian takeaway, and you want a 99% safe meal option we’ve picked the best options for you. Most of these are tomato based and if they use cream it will be coconut cream. (As a side note these are great to make in a slow cooker on your own). We haven’t included ones that include yogurt in our main list either. Both ghee and yogurt CAN be fine for lactose intolerants, but if you’re dairy free or severely allergic then don’t risk it

Which curries are dairy,lactose and milk free?

Our top dairy free curries are – Bhuna and the madrass (can be made with veg oil or ghee, so check). However we recommend you check with the restaurant as some places will use ghee or yogurt.

Which curries contain yogurt?

Rogan josh, dopiaza, balti, karahi, biryani all tend to have yogurt as part of the recipe. Tandoori chicken is usually marinated in yoghurt too.

Which curries can contain ghee?

While all curries can have ghee (which should be lactose free), the madras, Tenga mitta, dhansak, jalfrez, karahi as all likely to have ghee in them.

Which indian sides are dairy free?

Naan contains dairy so go for a good old chapati! Onion ajis are usually fine too. Pilau rice contains butter, so go for steamed or boiled rice.

Curries is an area where I struggle to find a guaranteed option. My personal choice is the bhuna which i’ve had no problems with so far, but really, you should call up and check, or ask the servers.

Most thai curries are totally safe too as they use coconut milk

Please add comments below with your experiences and recommendations, it would be great to get more opinions and discussion on this topic.