How To Make Everyday Indian Meals Healthy

Many of you wonder Indian meals are healthy or not? In this post I am sharing with you how can you eat healthy Indian food by following these simple steps and recipes every day. Let's see how to make everyday Indian meals healthy.

First of all, let me tell you that Indian food, just like any cuisine can be as healthy or unhealthy as you want it to be. What makes any food healthy or unhealthy is what you eat, cooking method, and most importantly the portion size of the food.

So next time when you are cooking an Indian meal take care of the few tips mentioned below to make your Indian meal healthier.

Also, You can check out my Healthy Everyday Indian Meal Plans.

Unfortunately, Indian foods tend to get a bad rep of being unhealthy. This impression about Indian foods exists because most restaurants and takeaways tend to serve us with huge portions of greasy, fattening and calorie-dense meals.

What makes a food healthy or unhealthy really comes down to the preparation, cooking methods, ingredients used and portion size. You CAN enjoy healthy Indian food without sacrificing the flavors.

The next time you were to cook or enjoy an Indian meal, here are Few tips to make Indian Food healthier

Best Fat to Cook Indian Meal

Fat like raw pressed oil (kacchi Ghani tel) and ghee are good, but when eaten in moderation. The amount of fat used affects the calorie count fairly quickly as fat has highest calories (9 Calories per gram) so it can shoot up the calories in meal very quickly.

I personally know in many homes the Indian curries are judged by the creaminess and oiliness. It may look good but using lots of fats is never going to make the curry healthy. You can add creaminess by using various alternative methods like I used in the Paneer Tikka masala or Methi Malai Paneer even Healthier Dal Makhani where gravies came out creamy and tasty but with fewer calories than the original oily versions.

Make tomato based curries instead of cream based curries. In stews etc reducing coconut milk to half can reduce the number of calories very considerably.

Which Cooking Method is good for Cooking Indian Food

In regular Indian cooking change the cooking method to grill, pan frying or air frying instead of deep frying. If you deep fry your Indian food you can check these tips to make deep frying better. You can even make healthy pakora without deep frying with these Ragi and Methi Pakora.

Choose Healthier Options over Regular High-Calorie Options

If you are a rice eater choose steamed rice or brown rice over pulao or biryani. If you want to eat flavored rice pulav or Tehri is a better option over biryani.

Choose chapati over paratha or Naan if you are going to eat a full meal with Dal sabzi etc.  A naan or paratha on average has 250-300 calories and can go up to 600 calories if not cooked in a healthy way (Tips for making Healthy Paratha)

If you love to eat Idli or Dosa, try choosing healthier options like brown rice Idli, Chana dal Idli, Multigrain Idli, ragi idli or ragi dosa etc. Which is healthier than regular versions. All these healthier options are more protein and finer rich than regular Idli dosa.

If you love oats, try using traditional Oats Dalia over Instant oats, steel cut oats are also a good option over instant oats. When in hurry you can try these Instant oats recipes (Oats savory porridge with lots of vegetables, Overnight Oats recipes).

Portion Control When Eating Healthy Indian Food

Even the healthy dishes can quickly become unhealthy for the body if not eaten in the right portion. While eating any cuisine pay attention to how much is one serving. For example, healthy paratha is almost 250 calorie a piece so if you are eating two it becomes 500 calories add a dollop of butter to it it becomes 600-700 calories.

One piece of multigrain idli is 135 Calories, if you keep adding the number it can become significant and that itself makes it unhealthier. So other than paying attention to what to eat also monitor how much to eat. Sides that you serve with the main meal are also important.

So Indian meal plan is also as healthy or unhealthy as any other cuisine in the world. What makes Indian food healthy is what ingredients you are using. The quantities of ingredients used, or the portions you are eating also is important.

If you enjoyed reading the article and find it useful do share it on facebook, twitter or Whatsapp with your loved ones. It keeps us inspired to share more healthy tips and tricks for cooking Indian food. Do tag me with #mytastycurry if you cook any dish I love to see your cooking.