Help! Going out for Indian food- best choices??
 

I'll be going out to indian food this saturday and I'm just not sure what to choose. Usually, the group I'm going with will just order the buffet, but that's terrifying (there's no salad on it, just saucy dishes!) . Could you help me pick something from the menu that will be low calorie?
The menu is available here:

http://www.tajpalacecolumbus.com/

Thank you!

From the menu, I see that they have an entire section of items made from the tandoori oven. The description even says for the calorie/cholesterol conscious :). The items will most likely be spiced nicely minus the buttery sauces.

I find that at Indian restaurants the biggest temptation is the unlimited breads they normally bring out to go alongside their tasty curries so be careful of that. If I dont watch out, I end up eating 4-5 pieces of naan ~ goodbye daily calorie limit!

I know how you feel, naan is my downfall as well!

I'm actually going to India for a month in January, and I'm wondering the same darned thing!!! All the food is usually so sausey, like you said! And I agree on the bread part... I LOVE their naans and rotis... argh...

I hope when I'm there I can figure out some good veggie dishes that are low on the carb end of it....

At a restaurant I would get chana masala, no rice and a whole wheat roti (no butter).

You might want to ask the restaurant when you are there but I would avoid any cream sauces and paneer. Chickpea and/or cauliflower dishes are usually what I get but again as long as they don't have a cream sauce or ghee in them. Ghee is in a lot of Indian dishes though. Tomato sauces are the way to go generally.

My husband and I (while we were dating) went out to Indian every week, now we go once a year or so.

Depending on what you're doing for diet plan, the rice should be fine. It's normally basmati and it's steamed and the most healthy rice you can eat, aside from brown. They should also have some veggie dishes that would be ok.

The chicken chaat would be ok as a starter (I think). And the tandoori oven stuff would be fine - the tandoori murg is good if you're new to Indian food. Also the Barra Kebab would be awesome if you like like lamb. And all the tandoori stuff is baked and served on basmati rice, which is pretty good.

The madras curry would also be ok, I think. It's not too spicy and is really tasty.

And any of the biryani's should be ok - it's a rice dish that's baked and is absolutely delicious and not spicy.

Sides are things like dahl, which is basically lentils. And raitta which is yogurt and cucumber.

Ok - I'm jealous. I miss the good Indian restaurants from back home! In England they're all over the place. Enjoy!!!

There are plenty of option in this menu - Nimbu Jalzeera, Mulligatawny Soup, any item under 'Tandoori Specialties', Biryani (remove the nuts), Baigan Burtha, Bhindi Masala, Aloo Baigan, Saag Aloo, Pindi Channa, Aloo Chana. For bread go for Tandoori roti.

@Amanda - If you will be having home made food in India, it won't be very high calorie. Everyday Indian food is very low in calorie and healthy too. The food you get in Indian restaurant is not what Indians eat everyday.

Personally, I'd stick with dry vegetable curries (such as cauliflower/potato/pea type curries, made dry without sauce), dhal dishes (boiled, spiced lentils), plain rice if you need it (avoid the curried/seasoned ones), and tandoori chicken (basically flash-roasted in a superhot oven without sauce)...pappadums are deepfried but if done right (you'll know it), don't absorb much oil and they are less starchy than naan because they are thin and crispy not thick and doughy).
Mmmm, I LOVE Indian food....

Thanks for making this post. My family is taking my mom out for Indian food this coming Saturday for her birthday. This will be my first Indian meal since being diagnosed as a diabetic. Potatoes, rice, and bread are off the menu for me, but I was curious as to what was safe. Great replies.

Healthyliving.... Not quite sure how exactly it'll be there, since like you said a lot of restaurant food here is usually a bit less healthy... but my boyfriend and I will probably be eating out the majority of the month because we'll be staying in hotels. I have this weird idea/hope that we can find a fruit/veggie market somewhere (they've got to have them!!) and I can hit that a few days a week for fresh fruits and veggies... but I'm only keeping my fingers crossed on that!

I'm definitely gonna go for a lot of the tandoori foods, and try to keep my carb portions in mind when it comes to consuming the rice and the breads (rotis, naans, etc)... I'm just nervous about anything with sause cos god know how many hidden calories can be in those! I'll try and see if my boyfriend can help me find enough foods that are more tomato based than anything... hopefully.

Does anyone know if there are a lot of heavy, non saused veggie dishes you think might be available?