Is curry a healthy meal ?

cr17

i cooked a chicken jalfrezi last night. only contained chicken breast, tomatoes, cumin, coriander, ginger , garlic ,onion, tumeric, lemon juice and a tablespoon of butter. Served with some basmati. it was real yum.

Is this healthy or unhealthy ? The ingredients scream to me that its a pretty healthy meal ( butter i know, but just a bit ) but the word curry has this stigma that its always fatty , bad for you etc

any comments

watna

I think the reason curry is seen as unhealthy is that some are unhealthy as they contain a lot of cream, ghee, coconut cream or clarified butter. If you just make it with spices and vegetables/meat it's not as bad.

People usually eat a lot of naan bread with curry too. Without all the bread it's better for you too.

BraziliaNZ

yeah if you make it yourself and use yoghurt and spices and canned tomatoes etc, i can't see how it can be anything but healthy. I just eat it with a side of boiled veg instead of rice.

rubadub

watna wrote: »

cream, ghee, coconut cream or clarified butter.

Yeah, takeaway ones are usually swimming in oil & some have sick amounts of salt & MSG. I would not worry about coconut but it is shockingly high in calories, and usually overpowered if it is hot anyway.

Also takeaway portions are usually ridiculously large, I reckon in my local it would be 2500kcal min. My brother gets 2 good feeds from one tray of curry and 1 rice.

I would go with wholegrain rice (if any) I think basmati is the best choice of white rice though, I think it has a relatively low GI number compared to normal white rice. I also just have wholemeal pittas and treat them like naans.

Tandoori chicken is a good option too.

all_smilz

:pac::D

I would go with wholegrain rice (if any) I think basmati is the best choice of white rice though, I think it has a relatively low GI number compared to normal white rice. I also just have wholemeal pittas and treat them like naans.


Where does brown basmati come in on the healthy scale? i am thinking that it goes white rice, basmati, brown rice, brown basmati..... i am open to correction...........

superbad50

basmati rice is fine , low gi rating , low cal / fat . my nutritionist recommended i use , obviously wholegrain would be slightly better but the taste leaves alot to be desired . curries made at home 10 times better than takeways which are covered in oil and fats

lumpy_grumpy

sounds very healthy to me. nothing nicer than home made curry

EileenG

Strictly speaking, "curry" means sauce. It's what you put into it that makes it healthy or unhealthy. Make your own and you are fine.

corkcomp

sounds healthy enough ... sometimes I bulk out a curry with lots of frozen garden peas instead of having rice - just throw them into the curry a couple of minutes before its cooked ..

watna

rubadub wrote: »

Also takeaway portions are usually ridiculously large, I reckon in my local it would be 2500kcal min. My brother gets 2 good feeds from one tray of curry and 1 rice.
.

Agree with this completely. Our local Indian does a mini portion for $8. (A "normal" sized portion is $14) My OH and I get one mini portion each and it lasts us for dinner and for lunch at work the next day. We know people who go to the same curry place and get a "normal" portion and loads of roti and eat it all in one go.

My OH's family are Indian South Africans so we get a lot of curry meals from my mother in law to put in the freezer. You can't beat a home made curry! She makes quite healthy curries as my father in law has had two heart attacks and is only mid fifties! :eek: Heart disease is quite big in Indian communites because of all the ghee they use in cooking. My OH is very careful about watching his colesterol so no creamy curries for us!