Healthy meals from an Indian restaurant?

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turquoise_elephant
turquoise_elephant Posts: 83 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm going out for dinner to catch up with some friends tonight. I haven't set foot in an Indian restaurant since I started losing weight, because I know it would be my downfall- the naan breads, the pilau rice, the creamy curries! To say I'm a little nervous about tonight would be an understatement but, deep down, I know I'm ready now to have this meal without reverting back to my old habits.

I just wondered if anyone knows the kind of foods I should be ordering? I have around 700 calories left today, although I'm planning on a 100 calorie snack later. I'm driving, so I'll just have water, so no calories from drinks, which is good! I was thinking maybe a tandoori or tikka meat with a vegetable side dish? No rice or naan... What do you think?

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  • bellaboo07
    bellaboo07 Posts: 22 Member
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    tandoori chicken and salad are always your best bet. Fish tikka is nce too! enjoy your meal.
  • daffodilsoup
    daffodilsoup Posts: 1,972 Member
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    Aloo Gobi is my favorite go-to - curried cauliflower and potatoes. No heavy sauces, but still packed full of flavor!
  • Lina4Lina
    Lina4Lina Posts: 712 Member
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    Chana Masala is my go to healthy meal. Just beware the Naan. Each piece can have 200-300 calories.
  • losinginseoul
    losinginseoul Posts: 6
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    Just went to an Indian restaurant tonight. Unforunately, I did not do research. We also did a set meal for 3 people because one of our friends had never had Indian so we wanted him to try a variety. Overall, I don't feel too bad about the tandoori chicken and curries. I do have regrets about how much nan and rice I ate. Wish I had only chosen one and limited myself. Hope you have a good time. Indian is delicious!
  • TheArmadillo
    TheArmadillo Posts: 299 Member
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    It depends on the restaurant. I like a chicken bhuna (extra hot) from our local, its tomato based and has extra veg in. Also they don't use ghee and their portions are a reasonable size, not too large.. I then tend to have sag aloo (potatoes and spinach) as a side dish which does have a bit of oil in. That comes to roughly 700cal. But dishes change from place to place. I don't get dry dishes as I like sauces and don't feel satisfied with them. If you want something with a sauce, stick to tomato based ones. Avoid kormas, tikka massalas and anything else with cream in.

    I do skip the rice (mostly or I share with my son), naan (om nom nom peshwari naan) and my biggest weakness poppadums and mango chutney. If you can't skip all of them, choose one and have a half portion.
  • _VoV
    _VoV Posts: 1,494 Member
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    Skip the high-calorie breads, and order pappadum with coriander or tamarind chutney for an appetizer. If there is salad of some kind, that's a great option.

    Order a vegetable curry without a creamy sauce (be it real cream, cashew or coconut 'milk'). Usually plain basmati rice comes with that, but 1/2 cup of that is only 100 calories, or so.

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