Healthy Indian recipe!! Only 300 cals for a HUGE serving!

mufamuscles

Okay, so anyone who likes Indian food knows that it is a) delicious and b) filled with coconut milk, ghee, cream, and oil. I love a nice warm, creamy Indian stew and have been working on this for awhile to get it right. If anyone is familiar with butter chicken or butter channa (chickpeas) (called chicken/channa makhni at some places), this is my healthified version! Makhni sauce is tomato-based but usually made with a ton of cream and ghee. I totally removed the cream and ghee from this recipe and replaced it with fat-free plain yogurt (regular, not Greek) - it is just as creamy but saves a LOT of calories. Plus the spices make it so flavorful that you really don't miss the fattiness.

Also, I made this recipe with chickpeas for a meatless meal, but you could replace the chickpeas with boneless, skinless chicken breast cubes. You would probably want to pre-cook the chicken breast or at least sear it in a pan before transferring it into the sauce.


Here you go -

Ingredients:

1 small onion, diced
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp garam masala (may sound intimidating but it is common - I got mine at the regular grocery store, it's McCormick brand!)
1 tbsp curry powder (can also get at any grocery store)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp red pepper flakes (can increase or leave out to your spiciness taste)
24 oz tomato sauce
4 x 16 oz cans chickpeas, drained and thoroughly rinsed
4 cups fresh spinach (optional)
1 cup non-fat plain yogurt (use Greek at your own risk! I love Greek yogurt but thought it would be too bitter for this recipe)

Directions:
Cook the onion and garlic over medium heat until onion is soft and translucent (I did this with Pam, but you can use oil - it'll just increase the calories a bit). Add the spices and cook for a few (2-3) minutes. Roasting the spices like this releases their aroma and makes the whole dish more flavorful. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a simmer. When the sauce is heated through, add the chickpeas. Now cover and heat at least until they are heated through or as long as you like (I've done up to an hour)., on low heat so it is gently simmering If you want to throw some spinach into the recipe (not as authentic but I gotta sneak vegetables to my husband somehow), after you've simmered the chickpeas for the time you want, open the pot, put the spinach on top and close it. After the spinach has started to wilt a bit, stir it in and simmer a few more minutes until spinach is almost cooked through. Then stir in the yogurt. Heat through and serve! We have ours on top of brown or white rice. (Even my husband, who HATES spinach, said he couldn't taste the spinach at all - but you could still leave it out. Or if you love spinach you could increase it.)

I added all of the ingredients into the MFP recipe builder and this is what I got if you divide it into 6 servings. Btw, each serving will be HUGE. I have a BIG appetite (can easily eat half an x-large pizza and still have room for more) and I was COMPLETELY full with one serving this, 1/2 c brown rice and some steamed broccoli.

Per serving:
301 calories
61 g carbs
5 g fat
17 g protein
1403 mg sodium (note: the actual amount is probably less after rinsing and draining the chickpeas thoroughly)
19 g fiber

For the whole recipe:
1805 calories
365 g carbs
28 g fat
101 g protein
5040 mg (again, probably less in reality)
113 g fiber

Enjoy!

Ah, edited to add that it's even more flavorful the next day

Equina

bump

seasonsanna

Bumping to add to my grocery list tomorrow!

harby74

Thanks, I will definately be trying it!!!!

mungowungo

That sounds absolutely delicious.

SutapaMukherji

Just had put chickpeas to soak in water and had thought of making chana masala tomorrow.

Many many thanks for the alternative :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

lyn_2013

Bump! Thanks for sharing!

KLiburd86

Sounds lush :-)

eljelc

Thanks for sharing!

GertrudeHorse

I have been using a very similar recipe lately. It's delicious and I've been experimenting with adding different veggies.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/readers-recipes/9667198/Recipe-Easy-chickpea-curry

Dividing that recipe into two portions (and without yoghurt or rice) it is: 196 calories, 26g carbs, 5g fat, 9g protein, 457g sodium, 7g sugar.

If you add 240g brown rice and 150g full-fat Greek yoghurt (very generous portions!) the total meal comes to 620 calories, 94g carbs, 16g fat, 23g protein, 555g sodium, and 20g sugar.

I was super full and satisfied for hours after that :--)

Dewymorning

I use a similar recipe when I want to make a chicken or chickpea curry. Sometimes I use lite coconut milk instead of yoghurt.

Also, when I make with chickpeas I also often add pumpkin.

BigTireFlipper

I love the sound of everything except the sodium content. I try to keep my sodium intake at less than 1600 per day and it can be pretty difficult unless I prepare all my meals myself. Never had chickpeas before. Are they supposed to be that salty or is it just the way those were packaged?

birgitte101

I love indian food! bumping for later!

Myhaloslipped

I will try this! I think I have 95% of these items in my kitchen already. I love Indian food.

kelly_c_77

Bump

Supadoopafly

Bump

mufamuscles

Omg I love the pumpkin idea. Thank you!

mufamuscles

I love the sound of everything except the sodium content. I try to keep my sodium intake at less than 1600 per day and it can be pretty difficult unless I prepare all my meals myself. Never had chickpeas before. Are they supposed to be that salty or is it just the way those were packaged?

It comes out that salty because of the salt in the canned chickpeas but it is not necessary. You could start with dried chickpeas to eliminate nearly all of that sodium.

Blokeypoo

Bumping this!

Hansonian

This sounds fantastic! I'm definitely going to try it! Thanks for posting!

aim2befitagain

bump