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Indian food for lunch?

Someone started this a while back but I didn't find it. I'm going out for Indian food with my colleagues today and I'm really particular this week....what should I order? Any advice is appreciated.

Wed. Jan 4, 8:17am

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Rice (small portion) with dhall (lentils) will be a good choice and some pickles if you like them. Try a small piece of fish (fried). You can have a cup of cow's milk tea or a mango lassi to top it up.

- barbara.j

Wednesday, January 04, 2006, 8:51 AM

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Lentils are relatively high calorie, but a good choice if you are looking for protein. I'd recommend any vegetarian dish made without cream, some of the meat curries will also serve you well. Rice is high calorie - see if you can get brown rice instead because at least it has nutrition. For a drink, I'd say just go with water. A mango lassi is essentially junk food and cow's milk is for baby cows - not humans.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006, 10:50 AM

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Why is cow's milk for baby cows and not humans? Isn't the "milk" that most of us refer to actually cow milk? Or is cow's milk in an Indian restaurant something different? I've never been to an Indian restaurant.

I agree with the above poster about ordering water though, or a diet soda - not as good, but at least not full of calories. Drinking empty calories is a waste. And I was very surprised that the original responder said rice and fried fish! I don't know Indian food at all, but I'd think a dish heavy on vegetables, with some lentils, or chicken or fish (but NOT fried) would be very healthy. I'd skip the rice and ask them if they could cook it w/o oil. Definitely stay away from the samosas!

Wednesday, January 04, 2006, 11:04 AM

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indian food is my favorite, and i eat it quite often--a good choice is anything from the tandoor -- tandoori chicken or fish is delicious, and basically just baked with spices. I often get saag panneer (spinach w/cheese), channa masala (chickpeas), or as an earlier poster said, a curry without cream. I almost never eat any rice or nan--it's just simple carbs without any nutrition, and its so good that it's hard to stop! Also, pretty much anything you get will be heavy, so drink lots of water throughout the meal, savor each bite, and you will find yourself satisfied without eating too much! Above all enjoy the treat...

Wednesday, January 04, 2006, 11:54 AM

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oh, and all the beverages like lassi, chai, etc are generally super unhealthy--tons of sugar and whole milk/yogurt/cream, and they tend to be big.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006, 11:56 AM

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Some curries are really healthy while others are laden with cream. If you read the descriptions on the menu, you should be able to figure it out. A lot of chicken curries are started with a tomato & onion base, so those are fine. I'm half Indian and most of my family recipes for curries use very little oil and no cream. They're delicious!

Saturday, January 07, 2006, 4:56 AM

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Animal milk

I agree with cows milk being for baby cows not humans. Cows milk is meant to nurish baby cows up to hundreds of pounds and is naturally FAT. Our bodies are meant to get the needed nutrition from other sources. If we were meant to drink cows milk it wouldn't be "cows" milk now would it? Animal milk although advertised as being good for us is pushed by dairy farmers. If one wants too drink it that is thier choice but it really isn't meant to be consumned by humans. Water is a better choice you can gloify your water with natural nutrients making it a much better source of vitamins. You can purchas nonfat milk, skim milk etc. but when you get down to it it is more water then anything else and doesn't even taste like milk anymore and then they fortify it with vitamins...come on now just take a good muliti vitamin and get yourself a glass of pure water and quit kidding yourself. Water is the best drink to have with a meal. Cheers. Elaine

Saturday, January 07, 2006, 10:23 AM

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what about the dish Mattar Paneer? It's cheese cubes and peas-- but is it laden with cream? it's kind of a sweet yello curry? I love this dish!

And the spinach sagwala dishes (I think that's what it's called) are a lot like creamed spinach, with lamb, beef, etc....

I have also had something called "rogan josh", I think it's lamb cubes in a tomato based curry... but not really sure,,,

Tandoori Chicken tastes good, but I'm not sure if they baste it in butter or not-- it's basically a baked chicken... to the poster who is half Indian, can you suggest some dishes?

I wish they would include more of these types of ethnic dishes on the calorie counters...

Saturday, January 07, 2006, 12:17 PM

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I'm the half-Indian poster.

The person who recommended tandoori dishes is spot on. Chicken tandoori is about the best thing you can order at an Indian restaurant. Some places also do chicken kebabs on skewers -- those are really tasty and are usually a good pick, too. Stay away from any of the korma dishes -- those are made with loads of cream. Also, don't order naan bread! It's pretty fatty! Go for the poppadums instead. The recipe I know for rogan josh does use a bit of vegetable oil, but not too much. There's no cream in it, so it should be an OK choice compared to some other things on the menu.

The other option is to make your own curries at home! That way you can control exactly what goes in them!

Sunday, January 08, 2006, 10:23 AM

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animal vs plant

I also agree animal milk is meant to nurish animals ie. cows etc. humans and animals wean their young because mothers milk is no longer needed. Just because we CAN drink it doesn't mean we should. I agree we should be getting our nutrients elsewhere. Myself, I love soy milk, it is an aquired taste, once you get used to it it is very tasty. Cows milk is also an aquired taste, most of us were given a bottle of the stuff when we were babies it became a comfort food hence aquired. I feel babies should be weaned to something other then animal milk even if it is plain water.

Sunday, January 08, 2006, 10:26 AM

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resurrecting this for the person who asked about indian food

Sunday, July 09, 2006, 11:31 AM

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There is an awful lot of yummy Indian food that is calorie-dense. My approach is to take 2 forkfuls of each dish (if we are sharing around the table). That way one gets to taste everything without overeating. In other words -- portion control.

Milk folks: The point about cow's milk is a political one, not a biological one, for many people. Check out the January thread linked to below -- people have been dairying for 10,000 years, and because it conveyed such advantages, people in some populations are evolved to drink non-human milk.

Link

Sunday, July 09, 2006, 1:44 PM

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The tandoori option is the best - beware of any other Indian food! Korma has lots of cream. Other vegetable dishes use lots of ghee - fat! I love palaak paneer - creamed spinach w/ cheese -- and was so unhappy to see the fat content is something around 40 grams per serving becuase of the ghee - and it's bad fat not good fat.

Sunday, July 09, 2006, 2:00 PM

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