Online ordering for Indian takeaways and curry houses
Updated 20 October 2026
Online ordering lets your customers pick the curry, the protein, the spice level, the rice and the naan on their phone, pay, and collect or get it delivered, without reading the order back over a busy phone line. Menuthere gives an Indian takeaway its own ordering page with 0% commission: required choices for protein and spice, sides with their own prices, meal deals, a menu customers can switch into Bengali, Hindi, Gujarati or Tamil, and the 14 allergens on every dish. The Free plan covers 50 orders a month; Lite is US$17 a month for unlimited orders.
In short
- Hot Indian takeaway meals are standard-rated at 20% VAT: HMRC names "Chinese and Indian takeaway meals" in VAT Notice 709/1.
- Build sauces once, not twenty times: one korma with a required protein choice and a spice level, instead of a dish for every combination.
- Allergens to tag carefully: milk (ghee, cream, paneer, yoghurt), tree nuts (almonds and cashews in korma and pasanda), peanuts, mustard, and gluten in naan.
- On 320 orders a month at £32, Just Eat's 30% delivery rate costs £3,686.40 a month with VAT; your own page costs about £218 in card fees plus US$17.
Set up a curry-house menu
Most curry houses list a dozen sauces, each with chicken, lamb, prawn or vegetable. On an ordering page that's one dish per sauce with a protein choice, so the menu stays short and the kitchen ticket stays clear.
| On your menu | In Menuthere | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Korma, tikka masala, jalfrezi, madras, vindaloo | One dish per sauce | — |
| Chicken, lamb, king prawn, paneer, vegetable | Required add-on group, prawn and lamb priced higher | Required · choose 1 |
| Mild, medium, hot, extra hot | Required add-on group | Required · choose 1 |
| Pilau, boiled or mushroom rice | Separate dishes, or an add-on on curries | Optional |
| Plain, garlic, peshwari or keema naan | Separate dishes with prices | — |
| Poppadoms and chutney tray | A small dish | — |
| Meal deal for two (two curries, two rice, a naan, poppadoms) | One dish with add-on groups: "Choose curry 1", "Choose curry 2", "Choose your rice" | Each required |
| Chef's specials, thalis | Dishes with the contents in the description | Prints under the dish on the ticket |
Each option can add to the price, and in a multiple-choice group a customer can take two of the same option, such as two portions of rice. See add-ons and choices.
A menu in Bengali, Hindi, Gujarati or Tamil
On Lite, your menu's language button can translate the menu text for customers into Bengali (বাংলা), Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi and other languages you choose. Prices stay the same. Dish names like "chicken tikka masala" are best kept as you wrote them, so put any native-script name in the dish's second name, which works on every plan. See menu in several languages and multilingual menus in Hindi.
Allergens in Indian dishes
The FSA's 14 allergens include several that run through curry-house cooking. Tag them on every dish and sauce in Menuthere (every plan), and customers see them when they open a dish.
| Allergen (FSA list) | Where it often turns up |
|---|---|
| Milk | Ghee, cream, butter, yoghurt marinades, paneer, kulfi |
| Tree nuts | Almonds and cashews in korma, pasanda and peshwari naan |
| Peanuts | Some sauces, oils and snacks; check every supplier's label |
| Mustard | Mustard seeds and mustard oil |
| Cereals containing gluten | Naan, chapati, bhaji batter if wheat flour is used |
| Eggs | Some naan doughs and egg dishes |
| Celery | Some spice blends and stocks |
For online and phone orders, the FSA says allergen information must be given before the order is completed and again when the food is delivered, and it advises giving it in writing both times. A nut allergy is the classic curry-house risk, so be explicit on the dishes that contain nuts and on the ones cooked in the same kitchen. Print an allergen sheet for the bag with the allergen chart maker.
What you pay: apps vs your own page
An Indian takeaway taking 320 online orders a month at £32: £10,240 a month.
| Channel | Fee | VAT on fee (20%) | A month | A year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Just Eat delivers (30%) | £3,072 | £614.40 | £3,686.40 | £44,236.80 |
| Just Eat, your own drivers (14%) | £1,433.60 | £286.72 | £1,720.32 | £20,643.84 |
| Uber Eats, you deliver (13%) | £1,331.20 | £266.24 | £1,597.44 | £19,169.28 |
| Your own page: Menuthere Lite + Stripe | US$17 + £217.60 card fees | none on commission | about £217.60 + US$17 | about £2,611 + US$204 |
Stripe charges 1.5% + 20p per standard UK card: 68p on a £32 order. Menuthere takes 0%. App rates are from our pages on Just Eat in the UK and Uber Eats in the UK.
Bring app customers to your own page. Put a QR sticker in every app bag and offer a small direct-order perk: a discount code such as 10% off over £25 (Lite). See create a discount code.
VAT and other rules
VAT. HMRC's VAT Notice 709/1 lists "Chinese and Indian takeaway meals" as hot takeaway food, standard-rated at 20%. Cold items sold on their own to take away can be treated differently; see VAT on takeaway food. Show prices including VAT, and don't add a card surcharge.
Late nights. In England and Wales, hot food sold between 11pm and 5am needs a late night refreshment licence under the Licensing Act 2003.
Printed menus in Wales. Takeaways in Wales must print a bilingual statement on menus and leaflets that list food, prices and a way to order without visiting, telling customers they can check the food hygiene rating online.
Delivery with your own drivers
Most curry houses deliver with their own drivers. On every plan you can draw delivery zones and set a minimum order; on Lite you can price delivery by distance and set a free-delivery threshold, such as free over £25. On Pro, drivers use the Menuthere rider app for iPhone and Android, you assign each order with one tap, and customers follow the driver on a live map. Menuthere doesn't auto-assign or plan routes. See the rider app. For more on running your own drivers, see own delivery drivers for takeaways. WhatsApp order updates from your own number are on Pro too, at about £0.0159 per update in the UK; see WhatsApp ordering for UK takeaways.
Menus and dates
Print a matching menu with our Indian restaurant menu template, and plan festival menus with the Diwali menu template and the UK restaurant marketing calendar.
Set it up this week
- Create your store at /get-started from your Google listing.
- Import your menu from a photo or PDF, then turn each sauce into one dish with protein and spice choices.
- Tag allergens on every dish, sauce and naan; check every price includes VAT.
- Build your meal deals with "choose your curry" groups.
- Set delivery zones, a minimum order and a free-delivery threshold.
- Connect Stripe on Lite, or start with cash on delivery and collection.
- Switch on the language button (Lite) if your customers read Bengali, Hindi or Gujarati.
Plans are billed in US dollars: Free US$0, Lite US$17, Pro US$39 a month. See pricing or the takeaway ordering system.
FAQs
Can customers choose the protein and spice level for each curry?
Yes. Add a required choice for the protein, with king prawn or lamb priced higher, and a required choice for the spice level. Each curry is then one dish instead of a dish for every combination.
Can I sell a curry meal deal for two online?
Yes. Make the meal deal one dish with its price and add required groups such as "Choose curry 1", "Choose curry 2" and "Choose your rice".
Can my menu be shown in Bengali or Hindi?
Yes, on Lite. The language button translates the menu into Bengali, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil and other languages you choose. You can also add a native-script name to each dish on any plan.
What VAT rate applies to Indian takeaway food?
Hot Indian takeaway meals are standard-rated at 20%. HMRC lists "Chinese and Indian takeaway meals" as hot takeaway food in VAT Notice 709/1.
Which allergens should an Indian takeaway tag?
Check every dish against the FSA's 14 allergens. In Indian cooking, milk, tree nuts, peanuts, mustard, eggs, celery and cereals containing gluten are the ones that come up most.
How much does Menuthere cost for an Indian takeaway?
The Free plan is US$0 for 50 orders a month, Lite is US$17 a month for unlimited orders and the language button, and Pro is US$39 with your own drivers and WhatsApp. There's no commission.
Sources (6)
- HMRC, VAT Notice 709/1 ("Chinese and Indian takeaway meals" among hot takeaway examples): gov.uk/guidance/catering-takeaway-food-and-vat-notice-7091 (accessed 20 Oct 2026)
- FSA, Allergen guidance for food businesses (updated 17 July 2026; 14 allergens incl. tree nuts "such as almonds", milk, mustard, celery, peanuts; distance selling §3.2): gov.uk/government/publications/allergen-guidance-for-food-businesses/allergen-guidance-for-food-businesses (accessed 20 Oct 2026)
- Licensing Act 2003, Schedule 2 (late night refreshment): legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/17/schedule/2 (accessed 20 Oct 2026)
- FSA, Food hygiene rating publication and displaying your rating (Wales bilingual statement): food.gov.uk/business-guidance/food-hygiene-rating-publication-and-displaying-your-rating (accessed 20 Oct 2026)
- Stripe UK pricing: stripe.com/gb/pricing (accessed 20 Oct 2026)
- Menuthere commission pages /en/delivery-app-commission/just-eat-uk (archived 13 Jul 2026), /uber-eats-uk (read 11 Oct 2026)