From this menu (warning: pdf file, but it’s only 4 pages long.) Which of these dishes has the fewest calories. I realize that I’d probably need to stay away from anything with a creamy sauce.
http://www.rasoi.com/images/menu.pdf
If you’d rather not open this particular file, can you tell me, in general, which Indian dishes are lowest in calories? Thanks!
Also, the hotter, the better, as far as I’m concerned, so don’t let the heat factor be a factor!
My wife is an expert calorie counter, and she usually orders Baingan Bharta (sometimes called Bengan Bharta or Eggplant Bharta). I usually hate eggplant but must admit the stuff is pretty delicious.
The Indian restaurant across the road from me makes it but calls it Patiala Baingan its a delicious mush of spiced eggplant, dried fruit and nuts. I have it regularly. I love leftovers on toast.
What is your goal here? Do you love Indian food and but want to find something more healthy at your favorite restaurant? Is your work buying you free lunch every day at this restaurant but you don’t want to blow all your calories on one meal? Your friends keep dragging you to Indian and you have to eat something so it might as well be something low-cal?
My first reaction is “give up.” The reason why restaurant food tastes so good is that they pour tons of fat and salt into it- especially tons of butter. This is surely goes double time for Indian food where clarified butter is often the main cooking oil. Unless it is specifically a health restaurant, they are probably pouring glugs of the stuff into everything.
If you want to eat Indian, it’s probably better to eat a reasonable amount of the dishes you love most than to count on finding something particularly low-calorie. Think of it like pizza night. That said, tandoori meats might be a more reasonable option than a saucey dish. Roti or rice is probably a better idea than butter-soaked naan or parathas. Indian food can also be a lot of fun to cook at home once you get a few basics down. If you are dedicated to both health and Indian food, this might be the best option.
even sven, I understand what you’re saying, but that doesn’t mean I have to give it up or just throw in the towel on the diet for the night. I can, however (as you implied) make smarter choices. That’s just what I’m after. Not being that familiar with Indian cuisine, I chose to post this question.
I could ask the same about meals from McDonald’s. Obviously, you’re not going to find tons of low-cal items there, but the question of which item has the fewest calories is still relevant.
Plus, I’m a pescatarian…so calories from other meats will automatically be removed, which helps a little bit.
The “OKRA-DO- PIAZZA” looks like it should be low-calorie, as should the “CORBETT GAME HEN.”
I would disagree with the Okra Do piaza suggestion - if it is like anything I have eaten in the past, it would probably be swimming in oil.
Some tandoori dishes would be lower in calories than similar “curry dishes”. One way you could lower the calories is to go by what even sven has suggested. Stay away from naans and parathas. And even for the rotis, make sure they don’t put any butter or “ghee” on them. And definitely stay away from samosas and pakoras - taste awesome, but they are deep fried.
The Vindaloo is usually quite spicy and so would the Kerala fish curry.
I checked out the main website for that restaurant. And got very hungry! It looks like a lovely place with a wide-ranging menu. Phrases like “cream sauce” & “coconut sauce” are red alerts for the diet conscious!
Here’s a guide to Eating Out on a Diet: Indian Food. This is a UK site, so UK-styled Indian food is featured. More take-out snacks than the high-end restaurant you’ve suggested. But you can get some ideas…
More information here. Including advice on taking some home for another meal. Much of this delicious cuisine reheats beautifully. (Or delicious cuisines. Northern Indian food often features meat. Southern India features more vegetarian dishes–which are often cooked with lots of oil or butter.)
I would say go for the malai kabab and a salad. Skip the naan and rice if you’re really watching your calories, or be very careful with your portion control on those items. Tandoori chicken also shouldn’t have a lot of calories, especially if its skinless (as it often is).
Well, it said “lightly sautéed”, so I had to hope it might not be.
Oh, wait, you said pescatarian, right? So I suppose the above is out. In that case, the prawn angarey might be good, but I’m not exactly sure what that is. If it’s cooked on a skewer in a tandoor, it should be relatively ok caloriewise. Channa Masala might be okay, too, depending on how much oil or ghee they put into it. It shouldn’t be too much.
Palak paneer (greens or spinach cooked to a stew-like texture with cubed white cheese). You can avoid the paneer chunks if necessary, and dark green leafies have practically no calories (47 per cup cooked) so even if there is a bit of added fat, it’s still not very diet damaging. And I’m not aware of ANY eating plan that frowns on the green leafies. 
And the Tandoori shrimp. yum!
The thing that makes Indian food so fattening is the abundent use of ghee (clarified butter), cream and coconut milk. ALL dishes in sauces will be highly fattening as a result.
You should stick to boiled rice rather than pilau. Avoid all breads as they’re fried. Best bet would be to choose tandoori options, as these are marinated and baked in a tandoor oven rather than being fried in fattening sauces.
Obviously, anything like samosas and pakora are out because they’re deep fried.
Thanks so much everyone! My son-in-law will be visiting 1/5 and I promised to take him to Rasoi. We are so often in the minority and asked to defend our food choices that I thought it would be nice for things to go our way, instead! Keep the suggestions coming, especially those of you who are familiar with St. Louis!
It might also be worth asking if you can have your dishes made with less oil/ghee/fat of other description. It might take a bit longer to arrive, but I can’t think of any restaurant worth its salt (hah!) that wouldn’t be willing to change things slightly for a customer.
Thanks for your suggestion, but my husband is already horrified by my “high maintenance” orders: dressing on the side, plain baked potato, no sauce/sauce on the side." I feel that, as long as we’re paying for it and it’s available (even if it’s not on the menu) that they should be able to pull it off (especially just substituting veggies for meat.)
I would get the lobster dosa and the tandoori vegetables. Dosa is a regional specialty - many Indian restaurants wouldn’t have this. The pancake is made from rice, and has no fat (no ghee or vegetable oil). So there would be carbs, but not many calories. And the tandoori vegetables would be marinated, but not swimming in fat, as most other dishes would be.
Wow, lobster dosa sounds fabulous! Too bad most Indian resturaunts in the US are northern cuisine. There’s a wonderful vegetarian Indian resturaunt in the DC area that I only managed to eat at a couple of times when I lived there, but man was it good! My uncle was visiting from the UK and still raves about it! They had incredible dosas, which I’d never seen before. No lobster, of course, but it sure would be good!