Table of Content
What is Low Calorie food?
Health Benefits of Low Calorie foods
List of Low Calories Indian Dishes
Low Calorie Indian food recipes
FAQ
What is Low Calorie food?
You may have seen people describe McDonald’s fries as very unhealthy. Or seen people who are on a diet rigorously avoid cake or other snacks. This is because all of the food that we consume has calories. Some foods have more calories than others. If you consume more calories than you actually require, you will gain weight.
Gaining a lot of weight leads to obesity, which is often frowned upon. This is mostly because obesity has been known to be the cause of a lot of diseases, especially those involving the heart.
Health Benefits of Low Calorie foods
Other than this, low-calorie foods are very good for your body. Additionally, it helps slow down the aging process and protects you against many diseases. But eating a single piece of cookie in the entire is also “low calorie”. However, it isn’t healthy in the slightest. While eating low-calorie foods is good, eating healthy is equally, if not more, important. This is why we need to prioritize health as well as low-calorie foods.
India has some really fascinating and tasty low calorie foods. At Corriander Leaf, we give you a taste of traditional Indian food. It is both mesmerizing and delicious. So come visit us at Corriander Leaf.
Helps with controlling weight
Eating fewer calories than you burn is crucial to losing weight on a low-calorie diet. To maintain their weight, women need 2000 (approximately) calories per day and men need 2500 (approximately). Low-calorie diets help you lose weight by forcing your body to burn more calories than it consumes.
Helps You be Healthy
Diets are popular for weight loss. Low-calorie diets help you lose weight and improve your health. When done right, a low-calorie diet often involves eating a balanced diet every day, which is important for healthy living. Low-calorie diets include high-quality fiber, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and lean protein to make sure you get all the nutrients your body needs every day.
Enhances mood and health
Nutrients and minerals in low-calorie, balanced diets help the body function normally. These minerals also help you sleep well. Thanks to these minerals, you’ll have more energy and better sleep quality, which will help you stay healthy and boost your immune system.
Control Your Blood Sugar
Generally, most dieters avoid sugary and carbohydrate-rich foods because they turn into calories and ruin the diet. Also, avoiding sugar and carbs helps regulate blood sugar. Maintaining a healthy blood sugar level is essential for reducing the danger of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
List of Low Calorie Indian Food
Let us introduce you to some of our favorite low calorie Indian dishes. We have everything from non-vegetarian options to vegetarian (even vegan) tasty snacks! Additionally, after introducing these dishes along with Shiva Shakti, we will also see the recipes for how to make these scrumptious low calorie foods.
Upma
We are starting out with the light and fluffy Upma, full of nutrients. Chiefly, upma consists of semolina, some spices, and various veggies. You can also make upma out of oats, which increases the nutritional value even more.
Cauliflower Tikki
Indian Tikki is actually made out of potatoes! It is absolutely delicious, but its calorie content will definitely not make you happy. So we can improvise. Instead of using potatoes, we can use cauliflower, which will reduce the calories. Then, instead of deep frying it, we can choose to air fry it or pan fry it with less oil.
Chicken Tikka
We probably surprised a lot of you by including this amazing starter. You might love chicken tikka, and we have good news for you! It is tasty and low in calories, along with being full of protein.
Dal (Lentil soup)
Full of proteins and tasty flavor, dal is definitely the best. Dal is also relatively simple to prepare. You can pair it with roti, naan and rice.
Low Calorie Indian food recipes
Upma
Ingredients
- 1 cup Roasted Semolina (Rava)
- 1 onion
- Finely chopped ginger (½ teaspoon)
- 2 chillies (slice in middle)
- Oil
- Cumin (1 teaspoon)
- Vegetables (carrots, peas and french beans) optional
- Urad dal and chana dal (1 teaspoon each)
To start, we will take oil in a pan. Put in the cumin seeds (jeera) after the oil is hot. After that, add in the urad dal and chana dal. Next, you can put in the chillies and the ginger. You can add curry leaves for aroma. Finally, we’ll chop and add 1 small onion. Saute this mixture, and if you are using veggies, add them here. Cook the veggies till they turn tender. Pour in 2 cups of water and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring the water to a boil and add the rava. Properly mix in the rava until it’s not lumpy anymore. Cover this and cook for four minutes. Open the pot and stir. Finally, your Upma is ready!
Cauliflower Tikki
Ingredients
- Boiled Caulitflower
- Spices for marination
Grate the boiled cauliflower. For the marination, we will firstly add wheat flour. To this we will add chili powder, salt, cumin powder, and turmeric powder (optional). Mix this all together and make tikki shapes (circular). Refrigerate it for 30 minutes and air fry it or shallow fry it in a pan till it turns golden and crispy.
Chicken Tikka
Ingredients
- Boneless Chicken
- Spices for marination
Firstly, we begin with the marination. We take one tablespoon of curd, 2 teaspoon of chilli powder, 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon of cumin powder, chaat masala, salt, garlic ginger paste, 1 tablespoon of oil, and lemon juice in a bowl. Put the chicken in this mixture and coat it nicely. Allow this to rest for at least 30 minutes if you’re in a hurry, and at least 5 hours if you have the time. Afterward, put the chicken on the skewers and grill or bake it.
Dal
Ingredients
- Tur dal and Masoor dal (1 cup each)
- Onion and tomato finely chopped
- Green chilies
- Additional seasonings
After rinsing the lentils, put it into 2 litre pressure cooker and add in a bit of turmeric powder in 1 and and ½ cup water. For nine to ten minutes, pressure cook the lentils. In a pot, take 4 teaspoons of ghee or oil and add 1 teaspoon each of cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Then add ⅓ cup of chopped onions and sautee them. Combine the ginger-garlic paste and 12 curry leaves. Mix all the spices (chili powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, and salt). Add in 2 tomatoes. Stir till the tomatoes turn soft. In the pan, add the mashed lentils to the onion-tomato masala mixture that has been cooking. Pour 1 cup of water. Get a smooth, even consistency by thoroughly combining and stirring. lastly, add coriander leaves after stirring and simmering for two minutes.
Also read: Nutrition In Every Bite Of Indian Cuisine.
FAQ
1.What to avoid while losing weight?
Avoid exceeding your calorie limit for the day.
2.Is it good to eat low calorie foods?
Yes, eating low calorie foods has a lot of health benefits.
3.What to eat in Indian restaurants while dieting?
Dal, dosa, and paneer tikka are the best choices to eat in an Indian restaurant while trying to lose weight.