Healthy Indian takeaway meals?

miss choc

Since joining Slimming World have lost about 2 stone and trying to be good with the takeaway. There was a time I would only ever eat kormas, tikka masalas and butter chickens from Indian restaurant. I am now trying to be a bit better choosing my meals when eating out or ordering takeaway but am confused with some of them btw I dont really like dry dishes or very hot so wouldnt just eat tadoori chicken and rice. I can manage medium spicy here are a few I see on menus which would be the good chicken ones please Do Piaza, Balti, Jal Friezy, Bhuna or Rogan Josh Would be nice to have a choice of a few of the above to have with my boiled rice.

Mars Bar

Is there such a thing as a healthy indian takeaway?

Stench Blossoms

Depends how you define healthy.

thegreatiam

most Indian food is veg and spices with some meat. add a yoghurt or some cream here and there.

from a decent takeaway then most of the food would be healthy.

Just the portions wouldn't.

miss choc

Well I guess they are always gonna use oil and not spray oil but some are less oily than others just dont know which ones. I only have the takeaways as a treat now and again but just want to see which ones are the lesser of the all evils.

thegreatiam

miss choc wrote: »

Well I guess they are always gonna use oil and not spray oil but some are less oily than others just dont know which ones. I only have the takeaways as a treat now and again but just want to see which ones are the lesser of the all evils.

oil in and of itself is not unhealthy, find out the oil they use.

miss choc

Try Slimming World scares us off oil cos allowed 15 syns a day and 1 tablesp oil has 6 syns so thats why we use spray oil cos its free. But sure what restaurant is going to use spray oil in fairness. Just wondering re Baltis, Jal Friezy, Rogan Josh, Bhunas trying to switch to them instead of Kormas/Malsalas

schadenfreude8

i think the lowest in calories is dansak, make with tomatoes and lentils.

and is pretty tasty

miss choc

Not on my local menu but heard about that one will keep an eye out for it in restaurants

thegreatiam

miss choc wrote: »

Try Slimming World scares us off oil cos allowed 15 syns a day and 1 tablesp oil has 6 syns so thats why we use spray oil cos its free. But sure what restaurant is going to use spray oil in fairness. Just wondering re Baltis, Jal Friezy, Rogan Josh, Bhunas trying to switch to them instead of Kormas/Malsalas

then you need to define healthy.

Just cos it's low calorie doesn't make it healthy, and high calorie isn't unhealthy.

Some oil is very good for you, as they are fats. and your body functions on fats.

Lots of high calorie food is very healthy and spay oil is so low or "free"cos its such a small measurement. If youre suing it by the spoonfull then it would add up fast.

thegreatiam

If youre only interested in the low calorie rather than the health of the meal then

Popadums are the lowest calorie starter.

chicken tika or any tandoori, is the lowest main dish. basically any dish without a sauce (so not chicken tika masala), The sauce will usually be cream or milk and carry the majority of the calories.

Chicken tika/tandoori is just marinaded and baked meat

mixed veg as a side, or boiled rice.


http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories/calorie_content/indian_food.htm

nosietoes

Bhuna has no cream or yoghurt in it either - made one last night and it basically is onions, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and spices

Mick Murdock

Rogan Josh is mainly tomato based, but will have varying degrees of oil or ghee added depending on the takeaway.

Boiled basmati rather than pilau and that's generally not a terribly unhealthy meal.

Naan, roti or anything deep fried should obviously be avoided.

Most indian takeaways do nice salads with meats that are baked or grilled in a tandoor.

That would be my guess.

miss choc

Great might try that one next time I heard Dhansk is good but not on menu. I had had a Balti which was nice but seemed very oily. I do like meals with a sauce to be honest and always get the boiled rice not naans trying to try different things never tried rogan josh or jalfrezi. Thats one thing SW does it it takes you out of your comfort zone in eating mine was tikka malsala all the time for an Indian meal it makes you try different things.

blatantrereg

Indian food often has a lot of oil/ghee in it, and it can vary widely how much is used between restaurants. So the same dish in different places might have a great difference in the calorie content.

You would be best off just cooking your own dishes. You can make very tasty dishes and know exactly what is in them. Most Indian food can be prepared in bulk and stored for a long time. It doesn't lose its flavour on reheating either.

You might try channa masala, which is usually a safe choice that will be tasty and highly nutiritious. Dal varies - it can be delicious or disgusting, and loaded with oil or healthy. It would be a mistake to dismiss Indian vegetarian dishes simply because you are not vegetarian. Vegetarianism is a major influence on Indian cuisine and it does come across.

nosietoes

If you're not comfortable in cooking your own Indian meals, I would recommend green saffron spices - they put everything you need spice-wise into sachet and you can then control the fat input by using 0% yoghurt, or spray oil and the like. Huge range and wonderfully balanced. I'm a very comfortable making Indian food but when I feel lazy I tend to turn to their mixes. They deliver too if you're not near anywhere that stocks them though their distribution seems to be growing.

http://www.greensaffron.com/

Mr. CooL ICE

Make your own. With a decent collection of spices and your own tools, they can be very easy to make.

Curry Addict has a great guide to create large batches of curries that taste exactly like takeaways. They all contain a ton of vegetable oil, which isn't really good for you.

There is a separate recipe for korma here. It uses coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and from what I can tell, the ingredients are all healthy. Except for the little bit of sugar.

thegreatiam

LordChessington wrote: »

It uses coconut oil instead of vegetable oil

make your own ghee from local butter.
That will be authentic and healthy.

Stench Blossoms

I'm getting Indian for dinner.

blatantrereg

nosietoes wrote: »

If you're not comfortable in cooking your own Indian meals, I would recommend green saffron spices - they put everything you need spice-wise into sachet and you can then control the fat input by using 0% yoghurt, or spray oil and the like. Huge range and wonderfully balanced. I'm a very comfortable making Indian food but when I feel lazy I tend to turn to their mixes. They deliver too if you're not near anywhere that stocks them though their distribution seems to be growing.

http://www.greensaffron.com/

Green Saffron spices are good alright! They sell hot food made with them at some places too, which is good quality and cheaper than takeaways (the Saturday market in Limerick is one such place). The spice mixes are also reasonably priced.

rubadub

Bombay pantry have little symbols beside food, showing how hot it is, but also has a heart shape for low fat which is therefore usually lower calorie -(not saying fat is bad).

YOu have to be careful about takeaways, the new trend I see is them stating ludicrously low calories for their foods. I have seen this in a chipper, kebab places, and I some noodle place. The Chinese near me also has several dishes labelled as low fat, but are high sugar & very high calorie in the portions they give.

Most Indian places give ridiculous portions, so either split it or plan on keeping some for the next day, or buy starter size portions.

anewme

Just to add to what a couple of others here have said, I cannot recommend the Green Saffron Spices enough.

I made a chicken tikka masala from one of their sachets a couple of weeks ago and basically it was onions, ginger, garlic, chicken, tomatoes and low fat yoghurt! It was so easy to make. The smell in the house was amazing and it was so much nicer than any takeaway I've ever had.

Going to make their dal next! Really really fab!

April O Neill II

rubadub wrote: »

YOu have to be careful about takeaways, the new trend I see is them stating ludicrously low calories for their foods..

Zaytoon!

whitewave

anewme wrote: »

Just to add to what a couple of others here have said, I cannot recommend the Green Saffron Spices enough.

I made the Butter Chicken using their spices before, but the sauce is quite creamy (and buttery!) so I'm guessing it wouldn't be the healthiest? I find alot of Indian food too spicy/hot, even with natural yoghurt added, so any recommendations for their spices that aren't too hot and are still healthy?

Dolbert

Most Indian restaurant takeaways use oil by the ladle-ful - if your goal is low-fat then you need to avoid sauces entirely tbh (or make your own)

Mmmmm... curry :P

Mick Murdock

There are some interesting vids on Youtube of Indian (mainly in Britain) takeaways and their chefs showing you how to prepare their food. They all follow a pretty similar formula in my experience.

As Dolbert said, they use ghee/oil by the ladle full. Not only that but the base of almost all their tomato sauces also has a lot of vegetable oil, which they reuse after deep frying onion bhajis. I think quite a lot of them use a particular spice mix (brand) aswell which can be bought online. The name escapes me at this moment in time.

If you want to make something at home which is closer to an actual takeaway, look at how they make their tomato base 'gravy' (it's quite simple and can be made in large quantities.) Takes a bit of time though! A good blender is required.

You could cut out a lot of the oil they are using and use Green Saffron spices and some yoghurt rather than cream etc.


Lot of effort though.

anewme

whitewave wrote: »

I made the Butter Chicken using their spices before, but the sauce is quite creamy (and buttery!) so I'm guessing it wouldn't be the healthiest? I find alot of Indian food too spicy/hot, even with natural yoghurt added, so any recommendations for their spices that aren't too hot and are still healthy?

The beauty of using the spices is that you control what ingrediants you are putting in. Eg, the Chicken Tikka I made said to include yoghurt, so I included low fat yoghurt! At least when you make it at home, you control what goes in. I did not see a sachet for Butter Chicken, but if you made it with a lot of butter or cream, then obviously it is not the healthiest.