Indian cuisine is becoming increasingly popular in the world, however, many people are sometimes unpleasantly surprised when they taste something from the Indian cuisine and it is either too strong for them or just bad.
Also, some of them simply have too many calories and are thus unhealthy. Let’s see what should be avoided and what should not be avoided.
Table of Contents
The dishes that should be avoided:
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Biryani
source: schwartz.co.uk
It is needed to say that Indian meals are usually served with rice, and to be more precise a basmati one that is cooked. So, to order more rice on the top of that would be just redundant even more if you plan to eat something more.
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Paneer/Malai
First of all, we need to say that paneer is fresh cheese while malai is fresh cream. On top of this, they are both produced by using full-fat dairy. These are very strong ones and they have a lot of calories. Sometimes, the best solution is to mix these with some vegetables.
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Butter chicken
We all know that Indian cuisine prefers the use of curry and other similar spices like onions or tomatoes. On the other hand, we will not find these in this dish since gobs of butter and glugs of creams are only used when making it. Since this is a very unhealthy version, there is a way to make it healthier: prepare either chicken tikka masala or prepare chicken vindaloo.
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Buttered Naan
source: archanaskitchen.com
In essence, this is a flatbread and it is prepared until charring and bubbling. A lot of butter is used, or ghee sometimes, and there are a lot of spices sometimes, such as garlic or cilantro. So, we would advise avoiding this one but just trying and using a simple naan.
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Too many dishes
It often happens that people order a lot of dishes since it seems to them that the portions are not big enough or because it may seem that there would not be for everyone. However, this is not true since Indian food is very strong and there is a lot of meat included. The advice is very simple: the smartest thing to do is to order one, maybe two, dishes and then order more if you are hungry.
The dishes that should be tried:
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Vegetable-based ones
Indian culture and cuisine are very rich in vegetables and vegetables an integral and important part of their cuisine. There are numerous dishes that use vegetables only and that are simply very tasty and that you may like more than meat ones. However, some of the vegetables should be avoided, to mention okra and eggplant.
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Tandoori
source: tastemade.com
What is tandoor, in essence, is an oven, but not a regular one since it has a cylindrical shape and the dishes prepared there are very tasty and have a unique scent, just as they have been prepared on a grill. That flavor is actually obtained from the dishes that are made on a natural fire. So, try any type of dish, meat or vegetarian one, which is made in tandoori and you will be amazed.
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Lentil and Chickpea ones
Indian cuisine is also very rich in lentils, which have a lot of proteins and fibers, and chickpeas. Both of these are great ways to prepare a starter that would be both satisfactory and healthy at the same time. We can find lentil in a lot of dishes such as dosa, dal, and porridge. Chickpea can be used in papadum (actually, we use the flour made from ckickpea here) and chana masala, which is a soup made from chickpea and tomato.
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Water
We would also advise you not to drink alcohol or any dairy products that are served with Indian food and to drink just plain water. Water is recommended since Indian cuisine is very spicy and oriental and you will actually need a lot of water to soothe the avalanche of spices and tastes in your mouth.
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A fresh vegetable dish
Unfortunately, Indian cuisine is not rich in fresh vegetables used in meals and salads. However, whenever they are present or served, try them since they are very tasty and healthy, above all.