How healthy is traditionally prepared Indian food, such as Rajma, Bindi, Saag, Chicken Curry?

Question

I eat Indian food at least once a day. It is prepared traditionally (no cream or butter added) and is cooked with olive oil. The oil is also skimmed from the the surface after cooking. All natural, fresh vegetables are used along with powdered spices and tomato sauce/paste. I want an estimation of the calorie information in say, a bowl of Rajma but it is hard to find nutritional information for these ethnic dishes on the internet. Thank You.

Answer 1

Tradtional Indian food is healthy because they rely on the spices to enhance the food, oils used are vegetable or Ghee a clarified butter or Vegetable Ghee which has no dairy in it, the pulses and purees along with all the other foods are slow cooked and enhance the qualitys and flavours.

Curry powder is blend of 20 - 30 spices and herbs, tomato is mostly in the fresh form, I would say if you looking for calorie counts figure it this way, vegetables themselfs are fat free, the sauces and other ingredients are what makes a dish high calorie, I am a former chef and cook both East Indian and West Indian dishes, they are all low fat, and I do some like red lentils in the microwave with chickpeas.

You only have to look at what you cook with to determine the fat,calories and carbs, the rice will give you the carbs along with beans, pulses and legumes. breads like nan and chapati are excellent protein bases. I use alot of vegetables, bindi is nice and does well in the microwave with tomatos, onions and spices. Dairy products like yougart for raita and in marinates.

Look at the way you cook these foods to, shy away from deep frying, trim any meats or buy skinless chicken, I am a fan of dark meat and prefer thighs and legs with the bone, breasts are fine for grilling or stir frys, but you want the flavour of the bones, lamb, beef and I sometimes used pork, shoulder chops, mainly for West Indian cuisine.

Answer 2

Traditional Indian Food Rocks......

I See You Have Modified The Indian Recipes And Started Cooking Them With Olive Oil. That Itself Is A Good Idea.

These Indian Dishes Are Rich In Taste And Are Filled With Different Healthy Nuterients.

Answer 3

If you or your cook are using olive oil to prepare Indian food then you mosr certainly are NOT eating "traditional" Indian food! It should be cooked using ghee (clarified butter), olive oil will change the flavour and possibly the texture of many other ingredients!

Of course, that doesn't mean it won't be delicious!

The nutritional content will depend on each ingredient used, but suffice to say that you can eat ANYTHING and maintain a healthy diet, just so long as you don't eat too much of anything, and avoid too much saturated fat (err...ghee!).

Of course it is far better to eat what you love and die at 75 than to eat cardboard three times a day and live to be 100!

Answer 4

Traditional Indian food can be very high in fat, thus calorie dense. This is mainly from the use of fats to roast spices and meat in. In India, many of the dishes are accompanied with a starch, and the starch makes up the majority of a meal portion. So, take it easy on "curries" and other such dishes and use them to compliment the starch dishes. Rather than the other way around. I hope this helps. Indian food is absolutely delicious.

Answer 5

My favorite is Sweet & Sour Chicken. I love the harmony of the tastes. General Tso's Chicken is always nice to break the monotany every once in a while. Curry Chicken is pretty good, but I find that curry with vegetables atop some pork cuts and rice is the best way to eat curry. (Yay for the Japanese influence!)

Answer 6

Well honestly...I can't say!!
But I would assume it's pretty healthy because I can't remember the last time I saw a fat Indian person and often I see alot of old Indian people...so I guess It can't be that bad??!?!?!?!?!

Answer 7

well i eat indian food as well and i think it is quite healthy. as u have written that you use olive oil that is also good for your health as it has less fat than butter.

Answer 8

In most of Indian dishes we use turmeric powder which has anticancer properties and other herbs and spices also have speciality in them.so i think it is most healthiest food.

Answer 9

trust me, it is very healthy. Just don't use to much oil.
about indian food nutrition read at http://indianfoodsite.com/nutritional_information.htm

Answer 10

healthy, but don't eat too much