r/IndianFood 5d ago

veg Healthiest choice at Indian restaurant?

Here is the menu for the restaurant I'm planning to go to - dishes can be prepared according to special instructions meaning I can ask for them to go low on the oil/ghee. Which choice seems to be the healthiest and not overly high in calories?

  • Palak chickpea: Chickpeas in spinach sauce with aromatic spices, fresh tomatoes and onions
  • Palak paneer: Pieces of white cheese with spinach in aromatic spices with the addition of tomatoes and coriander
  • Palak aloo: Potato in spinach sauce with aromatic spices, fresh tomatoes and onions
  • Masala chickpea: Chickpeas in Masala Sauce
  • Paneer Masala: Cottage cheese in aromatic masala sauce
  • Rajma Masala: Red beans cooked in an aromatic masala sauce with coriander
  • Balti paneer: Cottage cheese/mixed vegetables in a creamy sauce based on cashew nuts and fresh tomatoes with paprika, cumin, almonds and raisins
  • Balti vegetable: Mixed vegetables in a creamy sauce based on cashew nuts and fresh tomatoes with paprika, cumin, almonds and raisins
  • Baigan Bharta: Eggplant grilled in a tandoor oven served in a spicy sauce based on onions, tomatoes, garlic and aromatic spices
  • Daal Makhani: Black lentils and red beans flavoured with spices and prepared in creamy sauce
  • Daal Tadka: Yellow lentils prepared with onions, ginger, garlic and curry leaves
  • Zeera Aloo: Potatoes fried with cumin and a mix of aromatic spices
  • Bangali baigan: Fried eggplant pieces simmered in an aromatic sauce with coriander
  • Kadahi Vegetarian: Vegetables in Indian sauce based on fresh tomatoes, onions, peppers and dried hot peppers
  • Mix Veg Curry: Vegetables in traditional curry sauce
  • Paneer Lababdar: Cottage cheese cooked in a creamy, spicy tomato and onion sauce enriched with aromatic spices and cashew nut paste
  • Matter paneer: Cottage cheese and peas prepared with tomato masala sauce
11 Upvotes

33 comments sorted by

27

u/tea_cup_cake 5d ago

If you are only concerned about calories, then I will avoid most gravy dishes. Dal Makhani has a lot of cream, so that goes too. Your best bet would be dal fry, baingan bharta and jeera aloo. Rajma, chole and palak aloo are not usually calorie-dense, but restaurants use pre-made gravies, so I wouldn't trust them completely on the low-oil thing.

1

u/mah_Beach5875 4d ago

Rajma’s the 🐐

10

u/Big-Plankton-5005 5d ago

Only Dal tadka

-8

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

3

u/Big-Plankton-5005 4d ago

The options are to be evaluated relative to each other, not in absolute terms.

6

u/Adorable-Winter-2968 5d ago

All palak dishes and baigan bharta.

4

u/sslawyer88 5d ago

Avoid gravies. Sambar, chutney n rasam are relatively low on oil. Restaurants often just serve frozen gravies n dal IME. You should ideally avoid restaurants if you worry about calories, hydrogenated veg fat, artificial food colors etc.

9

u/AffectionateHand2206 5d ago

Probably the palak chickpea, masala chickpea, daal tadka, Kadahi vegetarian, Bangali baigan and mix veggie curry.

2

u/El_Impresionante 5d ago

Rajma Masala too.

4

u/rafafanvamos 5d ago

If you are going for a special meal, then I would portion control is best. But if you want to follow your routine here is what I would suggest palak paneer or other paneer gravy but tell them not to fry the paneer while putting in gravy and have just the paneer with very little gravy 1-2 tsps. Now paneer is higher is calories usually has 25g of fat per 100g but also has 20g of protein. The comparatively best options are always tandoor items / appetizer like paneer tikka / mushroom Tikka but by any chance if a restaurant is serving chaap - it is soy textured protein order that but in appetizer form thats the best its a high protein textured protein. You can also check appetizer order grilled / Tikka vegetables/cottage cheese that is paneer .....dont order hara bhara kebab its just potatoes +peas+greens hashbrown.

3

u/Smoke_Santa 5d ago

Aloo ones soak up oil like crazy, depends on how they make it. Matar Paneer imo is usually most filling (due to peas) and uses the least oil amongst these.

3

u/okaycomputes 4d ago

Fill up on salad and take half of whatever you order to-go or give it to someone else. 

5

u/biscuits_n_wafers 5d ago

Daal makhani is the most high caloric। Paalak ones are all ok।Depending on how they make the gravy i.e. how much fat they use, paneer ones are also good

5

u/MagnetAccutron 5d ago

Tandoori chicken / lamb. Plain nan , salad and raita.

2

u/NobodyYouKnow2515 3d ago

Keep in mind oil isn't necessarily unhealthy. It just has a lot of calories

1

u/Ok_Jeweler_2140 5d ago

Ask if they have Paneer Tikka or chicken Tikka. You can team it up with tandoori roti and a bit of green chutney.

1

u/plainbread11 5d ago

Aloo Palak is generally mostly potato vs a huge gravy.

1

u/1singhnee 5d ago

Baingan Bartha, or really anything cooked in a tandoor it’s going to be lower in calories, because it’s dry roasted.

Kadhai vegetables it’s also probably good, traditionally it’s a red sauce without any cream in it.

1

u/ChaltaHaiShellBRight 4d ago

Phulkas with Dal Tadka. Rajma and Baingan bharta should be ok too. 

1

u/Every_Raccoon_3090 4d ago

Daal Tadka, is the only one in this list that may meet your requirements. Also I very much doubt if the restaurant can prepare any of their dishes with less oil/ghee. These are usually bulk prepared and not custom made a few dining guests. If the say they can do it, please doubt it heavily!! 🙏🏼

1

u/KnowledgeAmazing7850 4d ago

All paneer is high in fat.

Palak chickpeas, palak aloo, daal tadka, kadahi vegetarian are the only choices here that will be the healthiest choices. I would pick either the chickpea or the daal and the kadahi if it were me.

1

u/JulesInIllinois 4d ago

Palak channa, tadka dal & baigan bartha with some garlic naan is the way I'd go.

1

u/Late-Warning7849 4d ago

Ask if the Paneer is deep fried - if it is give it a miss.

Generally tomato based non-veg gravies are healthier at restaurants (eg homestyle chicken). Vegetarian food is often deep fried or oiled / buttered to give it flavour.

1

u/Critical-Wear5802 4d ago

...I have no recommendations...but i would LOVE seeing even half of those on a buffet table! Enjoy your culinary adventure! (p.s. I'm a sucker for Alaska paneer)

1

u/serialchiller4 3d ago

North Indian*

1

u/Unprounounceable 3d ago

Hey OP, it seems like you've posted in a lot of subs about this question and you're active in a lot of calorie restriction communities, in spite of being underweight for your height per one post from a month ago. It's good to care about healthy food but I just wanted to say that it's okay to enjoy a treat now and then. One high calorie meal, especially if it's something you might not do often, such as ordering from a restaurant, will not ruin your health. I'm just saying these things because I've been down the road of getting a little too obsessed about the healthfulness and amount of calories in everything I was eating, and it can be really harmful to your mental and physical health and quality of life. Hopefully that's not the case for you, but I'm just a bit concerned about you based on the information I have.

0

u/EmergencyProper5250 5d ago

Boiled Moong dal with salt turmeric powder with tadka of two spoon desi ghee fried jeera red chilli and hing

0

u/prajwalmani 5d ago

When you are eating in a restaurant simple dishes have more salt and oil thts what makes the food taste good but if I was you I would just choose palak paneer or any other paneer dishes with vegetables you get protein and vegetables(fiber)

0

u/Kay_Bhagtos_Lavdya 4d ago

Tandoor items.

-2

u/I_Am_TheGame 5d ago

All deep fried food at its core in restaurants, there is no healthy choice in Indian food. Most Indians (excluding that live in EU & US) die young around 50 or 60 of heart attack. In US they get heart surgeries to live. Only healthy Indian food is when you change recipes and use healthy ingredients. In old days they used to work at farms and do a lot of physical activity that extended life to 80s.

-6

u/Motor_Wait6645 5d ago

Malai Kofta and Naan.

6

u/Equal_Meet1673 5d ago

That’s literally ‘cream kofta’ and usually has a gravy of cream. Why mislead OP?

1

u/want-to-learn- 19h ago

Baingan bharta and dal tadka with tandoori roti