Feature

By Priyanka Dayal

Eating Smart: The First Step Towards Healthy South Asian Food

You can't always count the calories in daal (lentils) and the carbs in roti (grilled flatbread) but know this much: they’re good for you. But as for those rich gravies, stay away! Reach for grilled meats and veggies instead.

It's not easy following healthy diet guidelines while trying to incorporate South Asian food into your life. Picking healthy South Asian foods can be challenging, but there are plenty of options, even when you're eating out. While many people flock to restaurants for the creamy chicken tikka masala (chicken pieces covered in tandoori spices and cooked in a clay oven, then simmered in creamy tomato sauce) and buttery naan (flatbread cooked in a clay oven), you don't have to be one of them.

Ann Yelmokas McDermott, a dietician who works in Boston and San Luis Obispo, California, says South Asian food offers a lot of healthy choices, especially of the vegetarian variety.

"Plant-based foods have very few calories for the volume of food," she says. "You can eat big plates of food, but it wouldn't carry as many calories for that big plate."

When McDermott eats at Asian restaurants, she starts with a soup – that way, she eats less of the other dishes. "Lentil soup is great because it is plant-based. Lentils have a phenomenally high fiber count," she says. Chickpeas and legumes are high in fiber, too.

"I don't focus on counting calories … Food is supposed to be a beautiful, enjoyable experience," McDermott says. Instead of counting, she recommends filling your plate with different colors of food, with about half of it vegetables, a quarter protein and a quarter starch.

At India Quality Restaurant, a Boston landmark since 1983, most diners head straight for the garlic naan and gravy dishes, explains manager Pammi Singh. But if you want to be healthier, he suggests the vegetable jalfrezi (vegetables cooked in a spicy, tangy curry). Also, saag (spinach) dishes can be good for you and entrées cooked in coconut milk are on the healthier side. Typically, naans are made from white flour and topped with butter. A better option could be roti, which is usually made from wheat flour.

Remember to stay away from these words: malai (cream-based) and makhani (butter-based). Look for items served in a lighter sauce or no sauce at all. Here's an easy one: order the tandoori chicken, not the chicken tikka masala. Tandoori chicken is marinated and cooked in a clay oven and has plenty of flavor.

"The best technique is a knowledge of how these foods are made," said Jim Foster, editor of Diet-Blog.com, an online forum for diet and weight-loss topics. "Don't be afraid to ask when you are ordering food from a restaurant."

Most curries are high in fat, because of the cream or ghee (clarified butter), Foster points out. "Combine that with a lot of rice and bread and you have the making of a… calorie-dense meal," he says. "Other Indian foods are often deep-fried and the quality of the oil could be questionable."

Singh says his restaurant cooks in vegetable soybean oil, which is healthier than butter.

Foster maintains that you can still enjoy Indian food at a restaurant while keeping the fat and calories in check. He has the following tips:

- Order a chicken tikka entrée, which is boneless marinated chicken without the sauce. If you're vegetarian, try a vegetarian curry.

- Order a roti, which usually is served in smaller sizes than naans.

- Order a salad.

Salad at an Indian restaurant, you say? "I ask for as large a serving as they will make," Foster writes on his blog. "In most places the salads are delicious, and usually consist of a mix of cucumber, capsicum, cabbage, carrot, etc. Only one restaurant looked bewildered at my salad request.”

He also recommends taking your time to finish your meal. You can enjoy the flavors longer, and you'll be able to prevent overeating.

Kavita Mehta, owner of Indian Foods Company in Minneapolis explains that when she sits down at an Indian restaurant, she asks for steamed vegetables. She adds flavor with low-fat accompaniments like salad, yogurt and chutneys. If she gets a papad (lentil cracker) appetizer, she asks to have it roasted rather than fried in oil.

If South Indian food is your preference, fill up on rasam (tomato-based, South Indian lentil soup) and eat more idlis (savory cake of black lentils and rice) than dosas (fried South Indian crepe made of rice and lentils). If you order a dosa, ask to have it made with as little oil as possible, Mehta suggests.

To end the meal, instead of a sugary dessert like kulfi (ice cream) or gulab jamun (fried milk ball in syrup), order coffee or tea. Chai is a good choice because it is sweet and full of spices, not fat.

Or you can make your own dessert. Have a weak spot for carrot halwa (a carrot confection)? Instead of making it with heavy cream, try skim milk. Tarla Dalal of Bombay, the renowned author of several books on Indian cuisine, offers many healthy recipes on her website, www.tarladalal.com. Just type “healthy” in the search bar and you get dozens of results from soups to paneer tikka (marinated and grilled cubes of farmer cheese). Nutrition information for each recipe is listed at the bottom of the page.

Most experts agree that if you have a craving, you shouldn't ignore it. Just remember, you don't have to devour everything that’s placed in front of you.

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