Menu in Hindi: how to write a Hindi menu card

A Hindi menu card is written in Devanagari, and most dish names are written the way customers say them, not translated. Butter chicken is बटर चिकन, paneer tikka is पनीर टिक्का, and "menu" itself is मेनू. That's the main trap of machine translation: a word-for-word Hindi phrase can be correct Hindi and still not be a name anyone orders by. Write your Hindi names yourself for the dishes that matter, and let customers switch the rest of the menu into हिन्दी with one tap.

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Devanagari on a menu card

• The headline bar. Devanagari letters hang from a line across the top (शिरोरेखा). Fonts that break that line look wrong to Hindi readers, so check your second names on a phone.
• Vowel signs and joined letters. Vowels attach to consonants as signs (मि, मी, मु), and some consonants join (क्ष, त्र, ट्ट). A copy-paste from a PDF can separate them. Type names fresh, or paste and check.
• The nukta dot. Sounds borrowed from Urdu and English can take a dot: फ़ (f), ज़ (z). Many menus skip it (फ्राइड राइस instead of फ़्राइड राइस). Either is understood. Just be consistent.
• Numbers. Indian menus almost always print prices in the digits you already use (120), not Devanagari digits (१२०).

How Hindi menus name dishes

Transliteration the other way. On the English side, North Indian menus use familiar spellings: paneer, makhani, tikka, bhature, kulcha. Customers search for these spellings on Google and the delivery apps, so keep them.

Useful Hindi menu words

Example: a Hindi menu card section

A short sample for a North Indian restaurant.

Who needs a Hindi menu

Selling on the apps today? Compare what you pay on Zomato, Swiggy, ONDC and Ownly. Your own Hindi menu with ordering has 0% commission on every Menuthere plan. Opening a new outlet? Check your license with the FSSAI license checker.

Set up a Hindi menu in Menuthere

1. Give each dish its Hindi name (every plan). Edit the dish in Menu, choose Add secondary name and type it in Devanagari, for example दाल मखनी under Dal makhani. Customers see it beneath the English name, in their cart and on their order.
2. Switch the whole menu into Hindi (Lite). Under Settings → Store details → Currency & Language, turn on Offer other languages and select हिन्दी. Hindi readers then get your Devanagari names as the main names, with the rest of the menu translated automatically.
3. Choose the opening language. Most Indian menus stay on English (as written). Set हिन्दी as primary only if most customers read Hindi. Each customer's own choice is remembered on their next visit.
4. Test the Hindi view. On your own phone, pick हिन्दी and read down the list. Fix any dish that reads oddly by giving it a Hindi name.

The Hindi button is part of Lite: US$17 a month, charged to Indian stores in rupees, converted from the dollar price, with the rate shown on the invoice. You can try it free for 7 days (a card is needed to start).

Good to know: Menuthere matches second names by script, and Hindi and Marathi share Devanagari. A Devanagari second name therefore shows on both the Hindi and the Marathi menu. In Mumbai or Pune, decide which spelling your customers expect: see Menu in Marathi.

Hindi menu card checklist

• Dish names written as customers say them, not translated word for word.
• One spelling style (with or without nukta) across the menu.
• Veg and non-veg clearly marked on each dish.
• Half and full portions set up as sizes, so the price changes with the choice.
• Your 10 best sellers have Hindi second names.
• Someone who reads Hindi has checked the menu on a phone.

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