Keeping to your diet while eating authentic Indian food
Indian food can be a great option if you are trying to watch your diet. Here are some tips to make sure your next trip to an Indian restaurant doesn't result in a diet blowout.
Choose an authentic Indian restaurant
Authentic Indian food is very tasty and is created with a range of herbs and spices. The serves are relatively small and pack a lot of flavour punch. Westernised Indian food can be blander and served with more creamy sauces to tamp down the spice factor which can add a lot of calories. Finding an authentic Indian restaurant means you can get all of that flavour that you love.
Fill up on veggies and bean-based options
Filling up on fibre filled vegetables and lentil or chickpea based curries can limit how much you eat in your main meal. Indian food has a lot of great vegetarian options and can be a good way to discover new vegetables that don't make it into your normal rotation. The spices can make some normal unappealing or bland options such as spinach tasty and interesting. Try getting some dahl (lentil curry) and vegetable curries as an entree to ensure that you don't overindulge at the main meal.
Keep the servings down
As with any meal, part of the trick to keeping the calories down is to keep the serving sizes down. It can be particularly tempting to fill up on the yummy sides such as roti, onion bhaji and pappadums but these can add a lot of calories without filling you up. Take a few minutes between trying the curries to chat with the other people around the table and enjoy their company - in Indian culture eating is a social event!
Drink lots of water (or low-calorie drinks)
Having some spicy food may lead to you reaching for your drinks over and over again. While beer is a tasty accompaniment to Indian curries it can seriously notch up the calories so drink water and low-calorie drinks instead. Low-calorie drink options can help to fill you and stop you over eating, without adding the calorie intake.
Watching your calorie take is no reason to abstain from your favourite Indian foods. Finding an authentic Indian restaurant and making some sensible decisions on your drinks and meals to keep the calories down can mean you get to enjoy a tasty and low-calorie Indian meal in a fun environment.
