Inspired by my new location and previous post (see: "Frustration") I want to try indian food. Ive had palak paneer meals from frozen food sections but I want to go to a restaurant.

A friend is insisting I try pani puri which seem to be these little fried balls filled with stuff? I looked up the calorie count and got anywhere from 25 each to 150-180 for 4-5 up to 475 for a plate. Im wondering if the counts are for filled or not?

One site says:

"Pani Puri: Called by varied names across India- Puchka, Gol Gappa, Bataashaa, Gup Shup, is a round hollow fried crispy shell, and filled with water mixture of tamarind, chili, chaat masala, potato, onion and boiled chole (chickpeas).
Yes, the shell is fried, but the filling is mostly healthy, so this one is on our approved list of chats.
Calories: 150-180 calories for 4-5 medium sizes pieces."

another "Pani Puri
1 plate (6 pieces, 475 calories)"

Any ideas?

Anyone tried this or eat indian food often and know what dishes to eat if Im looking for a low calorie meal?

I don't eat it out, but I do make chicken curry at home, and measuring it all out I get rice and curry for about 450 calories. However, I'm probably eating a lot less than restaurant portions, and I skip adding any butter or oil... it's strictly curry paste, coconut milk & tomato paste with boneless, skinless chicken and garlic and onions in it. I'd say it's about roughly 2 cups of rice & curry mix for that. And I don't have any delicious naan bread or anything like that....

To watch calories I'd look for something that is not fried and that is either chicken or vegetarian.... maybe something like tandoori chicken, which is grilled chicken that was marinated in yogurt & spices.

I love Indian food! I'm originally from Scotland, in my home city we have a large population of Indian folk, I now live in the U.S and the part of Michigan that I live in also has a large population of Indian people, along with many other ethnicities which is great because of all the wonderful places to eat. There is an Indian restaurant called Udipi, Udipip actually means vegetarian so this is great for me since I'm pescetarian. I almost always get Channa Masala which is chick peas cooked in spices.......I also get the white rice and nan bread, however this is something I reserve for cheat days once in a great while and I still eat until I'm comfortable, not stuffed. From what I know the Channa Masala isn't too bad......in comparison to many Indian dishes, it's generally the rice and bread that adds it all up. Since Pani is fried I would reserve it for a cheat day, maybe?

Have a read over this little tidbit:

http://www.diet-blog.com/06/indian_f...hy_options.php

This is also going to be very helpful:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...der.html?cat=5

http://www.indianfoodsco.com/Health/...estaurants.htm

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...cle5460855.ece

And on that note, I'm done. Hope you get some answers out of those.

I love to get mushroom masala. Lots of veggies and low calorie, about 200 per 1 cup serving. I also enjoy veggie pakora at only 14 calories a piece.