Indian food & dieting!

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  • Rilke
    Rilke Posts: 1,201 Member
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    How often do you do this? Give yourself a break. Eat light the rest of the day, then get what you want in small portions. Keep the naan down to one piece instead of denying youself its deliciousness altogether. Eat everything slowly and enjoy. Indian food is amazing.
  • roxerella
    roxerella Posts: 80 Member
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    White basmati rice contains 195 cals per 180 grams of steamed rice. Indian restaurant portions are often much bigger than 180 grams.
  • TeenageSwag
    TeenageSwag Posts: 23
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    Chicken curry
    White Rice...
    Chicken Tikka...its the best food in the world...but it has high calories lol
    pakota
  • kcgslp
    kcgslp Posts: 212
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    Indian food fits perfectly into a diet.

    Avoid anything "paneer" that is cheese.
    Try Chana Masala (chick peas) it's pretty standard so they
    Should have it at most restaurants. yummy and low cal.

    But take this as an opportunity to try some wonderful vegatarian dishes!

    Enjoy
  • jonnyman41
    jonnyman41 Posts: 1,031 Member
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    skip the rice or share a portion with someone else and only have a little. Boiled only as pilu is cooked in oil. Have chapatis instead of nan and also instead of rice as they are quite low in cals. Also unleavend bread, as a puree is not too bad either or have chicken kebab for starter, (or other meat) Tandori chicken is fine with veg curry too.
    Have water at the table so that you dont drink too much alcohol or pop either
  • lisaslim1976
    lisaslim1976 Posts: 145
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    I love Indian food and have it quite often. The best option is tandoori or tikka–chicken (1 tandoori thigh 230 cals) (5 piece s of tikka 180 cals). These are both dry dishes, just the meat marinated in spice and baked in the tandoor oven. Avoid the rice or go for half a portion of steamed rice. Biryani and other types are fried in ghee-high cal. A side of spinach (Saag bhaji) is a safe option. Half a cup is approx 175 cals.

    If you really want something saucy make sure it is tomato based not cream/coconut. A madras and rogan josh are approx 450 cals per portion. where as a cream based korma is more like 650 per portion.

    Thank you :-)
  • Ngm82
    Ngm82 Posts: 1 Member
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    Hey thr! I am an indian and cook at home very frequently. Your best bet would be dal tadka ( ask them to get the tadka or tempering separately) with some mix veggies (again ask for less oil) with tandoori roti (instead ofc nan). tandoori roti is made with whole wheat flour therefore much healthier than nan.
    In case u wanna go for non vegetarian food, ask for tandoori chicken with least amt of oil, butter or ghee.
    You can also go for paneer tikka ( cottage cheese tikka) without butter or ghee.
    Go for salads and vegetable raita ( raita is yoguhrt with veggies)
  • BSummers321
    BSummers321 Posts: 94 Member
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    Tandoori Chicken or Chicken Tikka, plain boiled rice or chapati/tandoori roti instead of calorific Naan (Oh how I miss you naan).

    Stay off the creamy nutty curries, go for the tomato-onion based ones. Aloo Gobi is great, and low calorie too. I'd go for tandoori chicken with a nice Aloo Gobi on the side and a bit of rice! I don't go to Indian restaurants much, since I'm South Asian myself and make that food at home everyday, but I have been losing weight eating tandoori chicken! Love the stuff.
  • geordiegirl27
    geordiegirl27 Posts: 307 Member
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    mmm just been perusing the menu for tonight grilled tandoori prawns with salad, now I could fancy that dieting or not!!
  • starla5881
    starla5881 Posts: 190 Member
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    Heh, I live near an (American Indian) reservation, so I was thinking of fry bread and Indian tacos. Not quite the same thing, but diet killers as well. As far as your dinner goes, I'm with the "order what you want and watch your portions" faction. :-)
  • bhankiii
    bhankiii Posts: 217 Member
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    OMG I love Indian. I think dal is safe, and tandoori chicken since it doesn't have a sauce. Also gobi aloo seems like it shouldn't be too bad, it's cauliflower. Avoid the fried samosas and the bread.

    oh, and saag paneer, which is my favorite. If it was me I get this.
  • trybabytry
    trybabytry Posts: 181
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    MMM MY FAVORITE FOOD.

    As I'm sure others have said:

    any kind of tandoori is usually very healthy, and dal (lentils) and baingan bharta (eggplant) can be quite healthful as well -- aloo matter (potatoes and peas) is good, as are saag dishes, but stay away from paneer and tikka masala and anything that says "cream" (duh, LOL) -- things with cashews are also likely to be high-calorie... Don't get puri or naan, and limit your rice.
  • paulaviki
    paulaviki Posts: 678 Member
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    We had a curry the other week and I had tandoori chicken tikka (dry kebab type thing) with a vegetable curry and chapatti instead of naan bread. It was delicious and far less calories than having a curry and rice!
  • verptwerp
    verptwerp Posts: 3,659 Member
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    How often do you do this? Give yourself a break. Eat light the rest of the day, then get what you want in small portions. Keep the naan down to one piece instead of denying youself its deliciousness altogether. Eat everything slowly and enjoy. Indian food is amazing.

    ^
    ^

    this ..... and have a great time ..... (darn, now I'm wanting Indian food :drinker: )
  • geordiegirl27
    geordiegirl27 Posts: 307 Member
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    Well beautiful meal I had

    Chicken chat on purée
    1 poppadom
    Grilled garlic tandoori king prawn with salad
    I had 3 tbsp of pilau rice & 1/4 naan bread
  • lilylight
    lilylight Posts: 128 Member
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    Oh and a 4oz serving of rice (which is more than enough for 1 person, I serve 8 oz for 3) is approx 140 calories, so I fail to see why you should avoid it, especially as its much lower calories than anything else that will be available in the restaurant and will make you feel full.

    Just keep in mind what. 4 oz -- 1/2 cup -- looks like. The problem with biryanis, at least where I've had them, is the portions. I'd say my local place serves at least 3 cups of rice -- probably more. I take huge portions home for future meals, but still, it's tempting. I would go for tandoori chicken or something else without a rich sauce.
  • fatgirlslim32
    fatgirlslim32 Posts: 31 Member
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    Thank you everyone! Some great ideas - chicken tikka sounds a good option and I'll see if someone wants to share a naan bread. (Not so keen on poppadoms).

    You've given me more confidence I can still fit it in with MFP without 'missing out' so thank you all so much, looking forward to it now.
  • paulaviki
    paulaviki Posts: 678 Member
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    Oh and a 4oz serving of rice (which is more than enough for 1 person, I serve 8 oz for 3) is approx 140 calories, so I fail to see why you should avoid it, especially as its much lower calories than anything else that will be available in the restaurant and will make you feel full.

    Just keep in mind what. 4 oz -- 1/2 cup -- looks like. The problem with biryanis, at least where I've had them, is the portions. I'd say my local place serves at least 3 cups of rice -- probably more. I take huge portions home for future meals, but still, it's tempting. I would go for tandoori chicken or something else without a rich sauce.

    Is the 4oz you guys are quoting cooked or dry? The rice I have at home is nearly 200 calories for 50g which is about 2oz dry. It's actually a pretty small amount and u reckon the average biriyani I have had would have at least 3-4 times that amount of rice, plus the meat, veg, cooking fats etc. so a biriyani would actually be like 800-1000.
  • Elle408
    Elle408 Posts: 500 Member
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    OMG - After reading this thread I NEED some Indian food in my life... hmm, lamb bhuna, keema naan and saag aloo... I reckon that if I stop eating now, by next Friday I shall have amassed enough calories to still be within my limit! lol
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
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    I have an Indian meal every month with a group of friends. It's not the most varied menu, being in rural England, but I've now settled on; chicken tikka (dry, i.e. without marsala) tarker dhal or channa marsala, then I raid what's been ordered for the table in general for a spoonful of plain rice, half a poppadum, and a bit of plain naan bread. Doesn't work out too bad at all.

    Otherwise just plan your food a couple of days before and after - it's fairly easy to shave a few hundred calories and add extra exercise spread across a few days to allow a bit of a blow out.

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