Indian Recipes in a Diet? Opinions and what Ingredients could replace the High calorie Ingredients

hscjed

Hey guys,
I'm very new here so this is my first Post.
Let me introduce you, so my Name is Vasco, 25 years old and live in germany.
I never was very stunned by the typical german food.
So due to my Life i've traveled a lot, and i loved to discover the different Cultures and especially the different taste and kitchen. And i felt in love with the indian kitchen!
So for example, a lot of the Indian recipes like Masala, contain a lot of Butter or Ghee.
Is it really necessary to use such huge amounts of butter?
And for example the typical indian Paneer Cheese, how could i substitute that, maybe with Tofu?
I am not very much into all the recipes yet, but due to the fact that i'm doing a Diet and love to watch Cooking tutorials on YouTube for indian recipes, i would like to discuss about what i wrote in the Topic.
Especially this youTube Channel has some of the best looking recipes I've ever seen:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_CydIbJiig9zulZh-seJ_Q/videos

Tell me your Tricks how to achieve similar consistency for Gravys without going to high in the calories, i would love to talk about this with some other members.

aokoye

I suggest Madhur Jaffrey's recipes. She has a number of books, but also you can find her recipes all over the internet. I, in general, find that you can easily cut down on the oil/butter/ghee used in most recipes. I do it all the time. Here's an example of some of her recipes. For both the keema and the dal recipes I would likely half the amount of oil called for.

I personally wouldn't substitute paneer with tofu but I am not a fan of either of cheese or tofu (more than my stomach hates tofu), though a google search shows that people have done so. Really though, there are a ton of Indian recipes that don't use paneer. There are a lot quite a large number of meat free recipes, which is logical given that India has the lowest meat consumption in the world (this is likely, at least in part, related to various religious dietary restrictions).

hscjed

Thank you for your reply! This article is very interesting and helpful. Right now, i'm checking some Tutorials of her on YouTube! For me personally, i love Paneer, cause we don't have anything similar here in Germany, just Feta looks kind of similar but it melts when it gets fried and the taste is also quite different. And thanks for the tip of reducing the Amount of Oil/butter/ghee by half.

aokoye

I will say, there are far more dairy products in Germany and Austria than there are in the US. Alas for you, no paneer. That said, you can make it at home. Here's a recipe - https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-paneer-cheese-in-30-minutes-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-57008

Also, I do the same reducing the oil/butter thing with most things I cook, including the maultaschen I made earlier this week

Elra65

I use this book the whole time. Flavour is amazing and rarely have Indian take away now as it can't compete! The Skinny Indian Takeaway Recipe Book: Authentic British Indian Restaurant Dishes Under 300, 400 And 500 Calories. The Secret To Low Calorie Indian Takeaway Food At Home.

tabithalobster

The Hairy Dieters (uk tv chefs) cookbooks have a lot of Indian recipes. The beef madras is one of our favourite curries, and the others are all great too, jalfrezi, bhuna, korma etc. You can find many of their recipes online. They are light on the butter and coconut cream, but really good flavour.

whoami67

Like others said, you can just cut back on the amount of fat in the recipe. You can make paneer at home; it's very easy and certainly much cheaper than buying it where I live.

Bring 1/2 gallon of milk (2%, semi-skimmed or full fat milk) to a boil slowly, taking care not to burn the milk. Just when it reaches a boil, stir in 1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar (lemon tastes better). Give a gentle stir as the curds separate from the whey in the boiling milk. Remove from heat. Strain through cheesecloth. You can rinse the cheese if you like. Press the cheese into a block.

I've used only pasteurized milk. I've read that ultra-pasteurized does not separate, but I haven't tried it.

acpgee

I love papadums, but did you know you can microwave the ones that are sold for deep frying at home? About 34 kcal per papadum. They crisp up a treat in the microwave.

I would pair the papadums with a light Indian dish such as bhel puri chaat.
https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/vegan/pomegranate-bhel-puri/

TeaBea

https://www.skinnytaste.com/indian-flavor/

gallicinvasion

Elra65 wrote: »

I use this book the whole time. Flavour is amazing and rarely have Indian take away now as it can't compete! The Skinny Indian Takeaway Recipe Book: Authentic British Indian Restaurant Dishes Under 300, 400 And 500 Calories. The Secret To Low Calorie Indian Takeaway Food At Home.

I bought this book because of your recommendation. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I’ve made dopiaza and chicken korma, and they both came out so delicious; just like real Indian takeout!! Conquered my cravings perfectly.

solieco1

I've used the recipes on this board before with great success
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10354056/indian-vegetarian-recipes/p1

Buff_Man

Don't use ghee in anything it's not needed. You can replace with extra virgin olive oil and experiment with the amount until you find the right level for your calorie goal. Instead of naan bread make chappatis or rotis much lower calories. Instead of white basmati go for wholegrain basmati. Avoid red chilli powder as it can cause irritation, use fresh green chillies instead. Indian desserts are full of calories lol so have them as a treat!

aokoye

Buff_Man wrote: »

Don't use ghee in anything it's not needed. You can replace with extra virgin olive oil and experiment with the amount until you find the right level for your calorie goal. Instead of naan bread make chappatis or rotis much lower calories. Instead of white basmati go for wholegrain basmati. Avoid red chilli powder as it can cause irritation, use fresh green chillies instead. Indian desserts are full of calories lol so have them as a treat!

Ghee and olive oil taste very different and calorie wise olive oil isn't going to be any better. It's also a bit of a joke if you want to cook something at a high temperature compared to ghee. For their weight, I would assume that rotis would have more calories than naan per gram given how much ghee (or any oil) is used. Lastly, if someone doesn't have issues with red chili powder, there's no need to substitute it for fresh green chilies.