Indian food?
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MimiOfTheLusciousLawn
Posts: 2,212 Member
My daughter and I will be going out to an Indian buffet next week. It'll be the first time for either of us, as we know nothing about this type of cuisine. Any helpful LCHF suggestions, what'll work, what to avoid, etc?
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MimiOfTheLusciousLawn wrote: »My daughter and I will be going out to an Indian buffet next week. It'll be the first time for either of us, as we know nothing about this type of cuisine. Any helpful LCHF suggestions, what'll work, what to avoid, etc?
Just about anything prepared in a tandoori should be fine. Watch out for the sauces, as most are thickened with some sort of starch.0 -
I work with many Indians and we go to many different Indian restaurants for lunch. Its hard to be keto on Indian. Beans and rice is their forte. Most of them are vegetarians, so they might only have a small selection of meat. Most don't do beef (for religious reasons).
Now, when they ask me to go to lunch, I am very reluctant.
Good luck.
Dan the Man from Michigan
Keto / The Recipe Water Fasting / E.A.S.Y. Exercise Program
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Saag paneer is spinach and cheese with spices. From my knowledge, it isn't thickened with any flour or anything but a buffet may cut corners. You would have to ask.0
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Panda_Poptarts wrote: »MimiOfTheLusciousLawn wrote: »My daughter and I will be going out to an Indian buffet next week. It'll be the first time for either of us, as we know nothing about this type of cuisine. Any helpful LCHF suggestions, what'll work, what to avoid, etc?
Just about anything prepared in a tandoori should be fine. Watch out for the sauces, as most are thickened with some sort of starch.
Yep, tandoori is the way to go, it's basically marinated meat baked in a clay pot. And they tend to use yogurt and spice marinates that aren't heavy on the sugar, unlike the marinades in other cultures. The only downside is that you'll be protein heavy and fat light, which may not satisfy you as much as you're used to. But for me, the intense flavour and spices offsets the lack of fat.
Indian food is actually my go-to Keto takeout. My husband and I get a giant chicken tandoori kebab and split the meat, he eats the naan bread with it and I eat the salad.
Lamb shish kebabs are another good choice, at a sit down restaurant, as opposed to a takeout joint, they often offer them as an appetiser.0 -
Thank you so much! I'm excited to go, and reading their extensive menu I don't even know what a lot of the stuff is. Good Friday, here we come!0
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When I have Indian I will eat most any of the meat dishes and just try to limit how much of the sauce I consume. In general, I don't get too hung up about sauces and gravies by just being careful not to eat much. I think the big "win" is avoiding the naan bread, rice, potatoes etc. It's not like you eat Indian every day and you can be extra cautious the rest of the week.0
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That's pretty much in line with my thinking, @daylitemag. I want to try a little naan, but can skip the rice and potatoes. I figure one meal, not going to sweat it too much. Any ideas which sauces would most likely have sugar so as to avoid them?0
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I echo saag paneer (spinach with cheese and you can ask for it with beef or lamb or chicken) is my favorite. Also the tandoori chicken is a good option.0
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Honestly, I think they mainly use cream to thicken their sauces. Personally, I love butter chicken and shrimp or lamb vindaloo (spicy). I wouldn't bother with the naan bread unless it is made fresh and by fresh I mean 60 seconds before you put it in your mouth. It's not worth the carbs when there are so many tasty meaty options.0
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Just a lacto-ovo vegetarian point of view, from someone who loves Indian (and Thai, and Greek...) food, this is what I've found.
The primary protein in vegetarian Indian food is paneer. The paneer in the vegetarian dishes does have carbs, so saag paneer and many of the other paneer dishes will have some carbs, so you may want to have half-portions. The spinach in saag paneer does have carbs, and as it is a lot of spinach concentrated into the dish, that does add more carbs than you might think. I cook Indian food myself and would never use a starch as a thickener, and I don't think a good restaurant would do that, as it just isn't necessary. Your other vegetable dishes, such as a vegetable korma, will have quite a lot of carbs without the protein and fats that paneer would bring - and stay away from anything with dumplings. When not at a buffet, you can ask them to ease up on the sauce and add more of the paneer.
I've developed a somewhat-keto tomato paneer curry, which is heavy on paneer and coconut milk, light on tomatoes, which still has 11g total carbs per small serving, so I freeze it and only have it on days when I'm really in the mood for Indian food.
By the way, a very nice, quick keto meal is to fry some paneer in coconut oil with some mustard and cumin seeds.0 -
I'd aim for the tandoor meats, and some saag paneer. I love the vegetables at indian restaurants. Ask questions about how they are prepared.0
