Healthiest Dishes at Indian Restaurants

What’s the healthiest thing you can order at an Indian restaurant?

Tandoori Chicken Dalwala

Healthy Indian Food Ordering Tips: The key to finding healthy dishes on the menu at an Indian restaurant is to look for entrées that use flavorful spices, herbs, and vegetables and limit those with lots of cream or butter (Makhni or Ghee), cheese (Paneer), or oil (fried foods). A lot of the healthiest appetizers at Diva Indian Bistro, a local restaurant near Tufts University, are listed on the menu as “side orders.” Raita and Papadum are less caloric than samosas and pakoras. For dessert, try ending your meal with Masala Tea. The tea, made with Darjeeling tea, boiled milk and spices, has a chai-like flavor but was less sweet. It was a tasty, warm way to end the meal.

Healthy Starters

Tandoori Roti is a less-caloric, whole-wheat version of Naan. One order comes with two servings of the warm, soft, flatbread. Raita is a cool mixture of yogurt, shredded cucumbers, potato and mint. The combination work harmoniously. You can easily share one order of the Roti and Raita with a friend and enjoy dipping the bread in the yogurt sauce. Save the rest of your Raita to help cool your palate in between bites of a spicy entrée later.

Raita is a cool complement to spicy dishes and a delicious dip for Tandoori Roti (flatbread).

Entrée Picks

The Tandoori cooking style (baked in a clay oven) tends to use less oil or butter than other dishes so this is a good word to look for on the menu for various meat or seafood entrées.  Diva has a section on the menu called “Tandoori Specialties” with many healthy picks. Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Vindaloo, Tandoori Salmon Tikka, and vegetarian dishes such as Aloo Gobhi, and Baingan Bharta are also great choices.

The photo featured here is of Diva Indian Bistro’s Tandoori Chicken Dalwala, my recent pick for a serious of healthy restaurant reviews for Tufts Dining Services. Check out Tufts Dining’s new facebook page to learn about more reviews and food happenings around campus.

Diva offers a 10% off discount with your Tufts ID. I’ve also seen them featured on Groupon a couple of times recently.

Reference: American Heart Association