Calorie counts are all over the place for this stuff!

A good friend and I frequent a little local Indian place and I need to figure out how often I'm allowed to treat myself there . A 700 calorie meal I can do... a 1,000+ calorie meal maybe not so much.

Naan- I know this is bad news. I split mine with her yesterday and the piece I had was still about the size of my head. I guestimated 400 calories... do you think that's accurate?

Keema Curry made with chicken - I had a small portion and it doesn't seem fatty at all. I guestimated 250 calories for the small 3/4cup-1cup portion I had. Does that seem close?

They serve unsweetened thin yogurt with tapioca in it. I'm not even sure what to call this in the calorie counter, but I like it .

Thanks for your help! And any other advice on what to eat while we're there. They have pretty much all the traditional Indian fare. I was drooling for a Samosa yesterday but I kept myself in control .

Can you maybe find a similar restaurant that has it's calories posted online and base it off of that?

Indian food is a tough one! Sometimes it seems like it's swimming in oil, other times pretty healthy. The grains are usually refined rice and white-flour breads, not "dense" carbs usually.

I know that if you make it at home (and it's very fun to cook!), you have total control over what goes into it. When I cook it at home, I serve it with healthy grains (quinoa, or homemade whole-wheat flatbread). But of course, that doesn't solve the problem of wanting to eat Indian restaurant food.

Southern Indian cooking is usually more lentil/bean intensive and tends to use fewer creamy sauces than northern Indian.

Daal is usually a lentil-based dish, and might be a good bet.

Don't know how reliable these are but they will give you ballpark figures anyway:
http://www.peertrainer.com/DFcalorie....aspx?id=57617
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/...les.asp?id=554
http://caloriecount.about.com/tag/food/indian
There is probably a lot of variation in different restaurants and different countries but it's a place to start

My family is Indian. I personally think this fact played a big role in my weight gain. A LOT of the food is high in calories. Since I started losing weight I have cut out all Indian food except when I go to a relatives house for dinner. In which case I have extremely small portions. Despite it not seeming like it's high in calories, it was most likely made in a very bad fat.

Well darn... I guess we'll have to find somewhere else to do our lunches .

The Keema didn't have any cream in it... do you think it was cooked in a lot of animal fat anyway?

I know the Naan is horrible but it's like my favorite thing, EVER. I wonder if I could make a better version at home?

Perhaps you could try out tandoori roti instead of naan once and see if you like it. It is made of wholewheat flour and so should be less calorie. Also daal is a better option. Perhaps you could ask them to put in less oil/butter etc in yours.
Also perhaps tandoori chicken instead of gravy dishes. Tandoori things are normally roasted and would have lower fat and less oil.
You could try raita which is an yoghurt based salad (sort of). Often yummy and good with spicy food.

Hope that helps.

Thank you for the suggestions! The guys there know us but their English is limited (and our Japanese/Hindi is pretty much nil) so I will try next time .

I like the atmosphere and the people enough that I'll give it a try.

I went to an Indian Restaurant last week. India Palace with dinner buffet. I ate as I did before CC and watched my portions. Went home, found the names and googled the calorie counts. Time consuming but doable. 1736 with Mango Lassi is what I ate. One plate for dinner, one plate for desserts. I love Indian food.

After researching I found the food to be highly caloric. I guess one could eat low cal, like one could eat low cal with Italian, but it isn't the norm. I have this value inputted into my CC as a recipe and it will be a very long time before I go back. I just can't afford it now. And this was mostly vegetarian dishes. Sticker shock still surprises me.

YMMV.

While in CA last week, we ate at a Muslim Chinese Restaurant. This was a mystery meal, delicious to be sure. I just used my Indian food count and called it a day.

If I get more time this week, I might refine my inputs. I consider my plan a success if I record to the best of my ability every day.

I'm glad this thread is here. I am having Indian food delivered tonight for a friend and I. I ordered the Chana Marsala and decided to skip the naan. I have no idea how many calories it will end up being, but I think it was the safest choice.

The Naan is kinda high (it is bread after all) and the curries "gravy" is made with a fair bit of oil BUT the lentils (dahl) and such re good and high in protein so if you skip the ones with butter or really creamy Indian food can be *great*, imo!

I think I'll try a lentil dish next time . Thanks!