Healthy Indian Meals
East Indian cooking relies on vegetables, rice, legumes, spices and herbs. It's generally healthy because there isn't an emphasis on meats, especially beef. Many Indians meals are vegetarian, but that doesn't mean they aren't flavorful. Preparation isn't complicated but does require some time. The list of ingredients to prepare an Indian meal might seem overwhelming, until you realize quite of few of those ingredients are spices. After you've stocked your pantry with the spices you'll be set to prepare any number of healthy Indian meals. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
-
Vegetables
-
You'll find lots of healthy and familiar vegetables in Indian cooking. Eggplant, tomatoes, English peas, spinach and cauliflower are all favorites used in various ways in various dishes. Onions and garlic form the backbone of many vegetable dishes. Vegetables take a prize position in Indian cuisine and are not relegated to side dishes. As an example, Baingan Ka Bharta is roasted eggplant combined with tomatoes, garlic and chili peppers. You won't miss the meat.
Rice
-
Rice is a mainstay of Indian cuisine similar to how potatoes show up at dinner time in American households. Rice is a low calorie food and is by itself low fat. Instead of drowning the rice in butter as Americans sometimes do, Indians use it as a base to absorb the flavors of the sauces and vegetables. Curry dishes are often served over rice.
-
Legumes
-
Lentils show up in lots of main dishes as do beans and other lentils. Legumes combined with rice provide many of the essential amino acids found in protein-based meats. It's satisfying even without meat. Lentils combined with vegetables form a rich vegetarian stew. Add curry spices to the dish for an authentic touch. Kaali Daal, for example, are black lentils cooked with chilies, onions, tomatoes and spices. Leave out the heavy cream and substitute vegetable broth and it's a healthy meal in itself.
Curry
-
Curry is a dish and a spice or combination of spices. Curry refers to a gravy or sauced-based dishes, so vegetables in a spicy sauce is called vegetable curry. The spices used to flavor the dish is called curry by westerners. It is sold in grocery stores labeled as "curry" and often includes cloves, black pepper, chile pepper, fenugreek, coriander, cumin, tumeric, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and nutmeg. Garam Masala is a spice blend often used by Indian cooks. Curry dishes range from mild to hot and spicy. The gravy color ranges from yellow to bright red and rich brown. Adding curry spices to a dish adds enough flavor that meats and oils can be decreased in the recipe to keep it healthy.
Yogurt
-
Because many Indian dishes are highly spiced, plain yogurt is served to cool down the palate. The yogurt is mixed with vegetables such as cucumbers and herbs such as mint, which taste cooling themselves. Yogurt is used as sauce for vegetable dishes and as a tenderizing marinade for chicken and lamb. It used also as dipping sauce for Indian bread called naan.
-
References
- Photo Credit lamb and tomato curry 2 image by Brett Mulcahy from Fotolia.com
