Making Healthy Choices in an Indian Restaurant or Indian Takeaway

A good Indian probably one of my favourite takeaways to get and after I went for a family meal to one of my local ones last night I realised that it was a perfect destination for a 'how to make healthy choices' post! I used to be a massive Korma lover which is loaded with calories because of the cream, then I moved onto Tikka Masala which is almost as calorific but since doing Slimming World I've experimented a lot more with what I've been having as a main meal. You'll probably be quite pleasantly surprised by what you can get whilst staying well within your Syns for the day...

Starters:

I love poppadoms so I always have one (5 Syns) with the cucumber and onion mix (free) that most places do, you can also have some of the other dips but they're obviously synned; Mango Chutney is 2 Syns per tbsp, Raita Dip is 1 Syn per tbsp and Lime Pickle is 1.5 Syns per tbsp. You could also have a Chicken Tikka starter which is pieces of chicken marinated in tikka spices served with salad, I would maybe count a couple of Syns for any oil that might be on it but that is probably what you should go for if you're trying to keep Syns as low as possible. 

Things to stay away from are Onion Bhajis and Samosas for obvious reasons; they're deep fried and they're flour based which increases the calorie/syn content. I also wouldn't go for a kebab that wasn't 'proper' meat, by that I mean things like Sheek kebabs as you have no idea of the fat content of the meat. 

Mains:

If you think you have to have a dry dish to stay within Syns then you'd be wrong; if curry is your thing then you can have a guilt free Lamb/Chicken Rogan Josh (average portion 550g 10 syns) or a Chicken Dhansak (average portion 550g 10.5 syns) with boiled rice (free). If you are wanting a close to syn free option then Chicken Shashlik is a nice choice (chicken tikka pieces with cooked tomatoes, onions and peppers) or a Chicken Tikka Main (just don't have any of the curry sauce that comes with it). 

Things to avoid would be naan breads, cream based dishes and obviously chips.

Dessert:

Indian restaurants aren't exactly famous for their desserts are they (aside from the cool little ice creams which come shaped like a penguin or a bird) so I won't say much on this front other than fill up on your starter and main!

Making Healthy Choices in Wetherspoon

Ok so Wetherspoon might not be what you'd call a 'trendy' place to eat, it's not often that you see bloggers posting about it but there's one in most towns and cities and it's fine for a bit of cheap tea or a nibble while you're having a drink. I go there quite often because I know there are good choices to be had and I don't have to spend a fortune if I don't fancy cooking. 

Starters

Not something I'd bother with in Wetherspoon because don't get me wrong I love nachos but they're essentially a pile of crisps topped with extra calories. You could go for the buffalo wings but the sauces and whatever sticky hot sauce is on them is also loaded with calories so you're pretty much knackered I'm afraid!

Mains

This is where Wetherspoon really excel because there are so many healthy options (that aren't salads!). The key is to ask for substitutes; they will always swap chips for a jacket potato if you ask them when you order. My personal favourite at Wethers is the Chicken and Pepper skewers which come with rice for an extra £1 odd and a pot of peri peri sauce on the side; they're gorgeous and really well presented. They do some really nice (reasonably priced) steaks which are perfect; of course for you steak connoisseurs out there it's not the best steak you've ever tasted but for under £6 for a steak, jacket potato, peas, mushroom and a drink you can't really complain! If fish is your thing then they do a lovely piece of salmon and you could even push the boat out and get a BBQ chicken melt with a jacket potato. They obviously do salads as well but that kind of seems like the obvious 'healthy' choice but you'd be surprised how many calories are in their chicken caesar salad which clocks up over 400 calories with the creamy dressing a croutons. The freedom salad is ok though because although it's almost 500 calories; they're all good calories and the saturated fat content is much lower than the Caesar salad. 

Other good ideas for mains:

10oz Gammon Steak

Superfood Pasta

Sweet Chilli Egg Noodles

All in all there's plenty of choice for main meals at Wethers, I'm never stuck for what to have and although it's obviously not a gourmet meal it's cheap as chips (or a jacket potato, in this case!)

Desserts

It's been a while since I've eaten a pudding at Wethers but if I was to eat one I'd probably go for the tropical fruit and ice cream; not the most adventurous of choices but if everyone in your party is having one then it'd be rude not to wouldn't it?! 

Drinks

I wouldn't normally include drinks in these posts but because Wetherspoon is essentially a pub there's obviously the alcohol temptation there and with lots of the meals you get a drink so it's important to know what to choose if you're trying to be good. First of all step away from the J2Os, they are very syrupy and sugary and they are definitely not your friend if you're trying to be healthy; as far as soft drinks are concerned always stick to Diet Pepsi or slimline tonic/bitter lemon. They also do Monster Absolutely Zero which is a sugar free energy drink and of course they do coffee and tea if you're into hot drinks. Alcoholic drinks are a little more tricky but as a general rule I personally don't drink draft beers, lagers or ciders very often at all, I tend to stick to sprits and diet mixers (Martini is a good one, so is Vodka, Bacardi and Gin although for obvious reasons don't be going mental). I do love wine but my trouble is I don't have a stop button so I stay away from that but if you think you can stop at one glass then crack on!

Side note: How gorgeous is the crockery in Wetherspoon now?! Love the blue patterned plates!