a balanced indian diet? need your opinions

Kali112

so I am moving in with my fiance (our first place together!) and we both have very busy schedules. He cannot cook and would rather eat out every day than try (we live in India, where eating out can be very reasonable) and i don't want to eat out every day with unhealthy restaurant food. So i am planning 1 week sample meal plans so i can make sure we are both getting a healthy and balanced diet. Most lunches he will probably eat out but i can take my own lunch. I try to stay away from dairy as much as possible as well as sugars. I am trying to incorporate mostly indian food as 'western' food like cheese, pasta etc is expensive, but some western as well for variation.

Need your opinions! is anything missing? not enough fats, too much carbs, too little variety etc? In terms of drinks, i will mostly only drink water and herbal teas/coffee or tea with soy milk.

MONDAY
Breakfast- Oatmeal with cinnamon (made with soy milk and water), 1 boiled egg
Lunch-mixed veg sabzi (curry, v little oil), 2 wholemeal chapatis (indian flatbread)
Dinner-CHINESE-noodles with peanuts, strips of chicken, dressed with soy sauce and spring onions/cilantro, with shredded carrot salad

TUESDAY
Breakfast-scrambled eggs with tomato and cilantro to garnish with 1-2 wholemeal chapatis (leftover from day before)
Lunch-leftover noodles & salad from day before, eaten cold
Dinner-INDIAN-chicken curry with yoghurt (made with 2 tsp oil), wholemeal chapatis and large salad of cucumber, tomato & carrots with lemon juice and salt/pepper

WEDNESDAY
Breakfast-oatmeal with cinnamon, 2-3 hard boiled egg whites, handful of almonds
Lunch-leftover chicken curry with 1 chapati & cold salad
Dinner-fish/king prawn curry/stir fry (cooked in 2 tsp oil), brown rice, side dish of sauteed green beans with seasame seeds

THURSDAY
Breakfast-Soaked oats overnight in soy milk with diced apple, almonds, walnuts & raisins
Lunch-sprouted mung bean salad with 1 boiled egg, 1 banana
DInner-beef steak (fried in 2tsp oil) with cremy mushroom sauce/peppercorn sauce (made with yoghurt) aloo methi (diced sauteed potatoes with spices and methi/cilantro) OR lebanese diced potatoes (1tsp oil)

FRIDAY
Breakfast-oatmeal with cinnamon, handful of almonds
Lunch-leftover sprouted mung bean salad, 1 boiled egg, 1 banana
Dinner-chicken tikka, lentil and spinach salad (from jamie's 15 minute meals)

SATURDAY
breakfast-scrambled eggs with peas, onions and 1-2 chapatis
lunch- most likely to be out somewhere, if not, vegetable aubergine/lady fingers sabzi (curry) with 1-2 chapatis, leftover salad from day before
DInner-king prawn chow mein with side dish of stir fried bell peppers and peanuts

SUNDAY
Breakfast-1 egg + 2 egg whites omelet with diced tomato, onion and cilantro, 1 chapati
lunch-if not out, vegetable sabzi (curry), lentil daal, brown rice
Dinner-bengali mustard fish curry (2tsp oil), brown rice, cucumber/tomato/carrot salad

Firefox7275

Maybe have more fruit or veggies at breakfast? Ideally you would eat nine servings a day in the full rainbow of colours (blue/ purple, green, red, orange/ yellow). I like how much seafood you have, are some of the fish oily for the omega-3s? You might add in block creamed coconut for more healthy fats, also check you are getting enough calcium without the dairy (I note the nuts and green veggies but you are aiming for about 1g which is quite a lot). That's all being picky tho, in general it looks very nutritious and tasty!

curds

Hey Kali,

I'm no expert by any means, but I think that might be too much carbs? I go nuts for chapatis/naan/roti you name it, but I sadly had to cut them out of my eating plan as I just couldn't fit the calories and carbs into my goals (why oh why must carbs so delicious!)

Yoghurt is definitely a better option than cream to make the curries with, luckily though growing up we mostly omitted creams/yoghurts in our curries so its not odd for me to take them out.

Also you might try quinoa instead of the brown rice? It tastes rather nice with a masala dish.

Otherwise great menu! I wish I could lol get into the spirit of cooking

Mawra

Maybe have more fruit or veggies at breakfast? Ideally you would eat nine servings a day in the full rainbow of colours (blue/ purple, green, red, orange/ yellow). I like how much seafood you have, are some of the fish oily for the omega-3s? You might add in block creamed coconut for more healthy fats, also check you are getting enough calcium without the dairy (I note the nuts and green veggies but you are aiming for about 1g which is quite a lot). That's all being picky tho, in general it looks very nutritious and tasty!

What they said. Plus, can you give the beef steak a miss? They are really high in calories and red meat is something you should steer clear of. Good integration of sea food there. Add more vegetables, how about salad for lunch someday it'll be easier and hassle-free too. Soup again is a good option, so is frankee minus the mayo of course.

Kali112

thanks so much for all your replies, i could indeed incorporate more veggies into breakfast (it's just trying to get my fiance to eat them that is difficult!) and never thought it was too much carbs but now i look at it, it probably is...what i will do is on the nights where we eat curry, just have it with vegetables or 1 chapati (the chapatis are small and thin, like a mini tortilla).

i've got 2 salads in there...will try to add a third for more fresh veggies as i realise i have a lot of cooked foods also...


And mawra, what is frankee? i see you are also in kolkata but i have never heard of it. I only put beef steak because i tend to get aneamic if i don't eat enough iron, i don't really like it and would prefer fish or chicken over it any day