If you want to add healthy foods in your diet, traditional Indian foods remain as the best option. It consists of a balanced meal of starch (roti and steamed rice), dal or lentils, lots of vegetables, saag, yogurt, etc. When you visit the restaurants you can also see a lot of fat-laden Indian foods on the menu. But such foods are best for the festive season and it can be taken once in a while. If you want to practice a healthy eating habit, make use of the following suggestions that remains as the lighter alternatives.
Include healthy Indian starch in your diet
When you order vegetable curry, ensure to order healthy side dishes like steamed basmati rice. It is healthy and tasty than other food options like pulao or Biryani. Ensure that the steamed rice is not served with generous ghee. Chapathi or roti which is referred to as Indian flatbreadsremain healthy than other side dishes like stuffed paratha or flatbread poori. It is also recommended to order naan which is a baked flatbread. It can be taken in moderate portions. The main thing to remember while taking Indian foods is to avoid additional coating of ghee or butter on the rice or bread.
Healthy Indian appetizers
There are a lot of fried food options in Indian dishes. Some of the popular options are pakoras and samosas. As they are deep fried in oil, they are not considered healthy. It can be taken once in a while but not on a daily basis. Such dishes are fully loaded with starch, fat,and salt. Alternative options are papad, papadum or thin lentil wafers. It is best to get roasted papads and avoid deep fried ones. Nowadays, most of the Indian restaurants are serving healthy baked papads as an appetizer to your regular dishes.
Healthy main dishes
If you wish to include healthy vegetables in your daily diet, you need to consider ordering curry. It is the best way as the vegetables are not much cooked and at the sametime, they are creamy in texture. Dal that is popularly referred to as lentil curry or soup is the best where it can be consumed along with Indian bread or rice. It is not recommended to eat too much dal since it is rich in sodium.
Any vegetable dish or meat dish is referred to as Makhani or Korma. Dishes that are prepared using butter and malai remain creamy and saucy in texture. Several restaurants serve such curries where you can order rice or bread and enjoy the dish. They are the best combination for most Indian foods.