Indian Food - Ideas for Ordering Healthy?

Thank you! I am going out for Indian on Friday and was going to ask the same thing LOL

Hi - I'm indian, so in a good position to give you some advice. Don't order anything in a curry. Your best bet in tandoori chicken or chicken tikka masala. Both of these will be fairly dry, so no chance of them floating in oil. Eating vegetables at an indian restaurant in a healthy way is difficult, so either order them again tandoori (although they will still taste different than the chicken) or just get a salad. If you want a starch, stay away from the rice and the naan and just ask for a roti - it's the safest option. Hope this helps.

what is a 'roti' I've heard of it but never found out!!

Hi there, I am Indian too, so here goes: as the other poster mentioned, avoid the naans- they are made of white flour and are just loaded with calories- esp the butter naan, as the name suggests. Dishes that have 'kadhai' in them will have bell-peppers and no cream, (usually), so they can be a safe choice. At some places, even chicken tikka masala contains cream. Any dish with a light orange colored curry most likely contains cream. Tandoori chick/fish/shrimp will be your best bets.

Have you ever been to restaurants with items like idli, dosa, etc on the menu? If not, try the idlis- they are steamed rice cakes , served with a lentil gravy called sambar. Healthy and filling. Dosas are made from the same batter as idlis, but they are made like crepes and can contain some amount of oil, tho' still not as much as the curries.

Roti is usually thinner, made from whole wheat flour, but the ones I have had in restaurants seem to have some mix of white flour in them. Still they are less in calories than naan.

Hope that helps!

Aloo Gobi! Potato and cauliflour