Healthy low calorie Indian snacks

12/01/2016

The New Year is usually brings the brief inspiration to start dieting and exercising to lose weight and become healthier. Usually this sense of inspiration to lose weight ends quickly, and people are back to eating high calorie food.

However, these delicious low calorie Indian foods can help keep you on track with your diet, whilst not having to compromise on taste.

Dhokla

Originating in Gujarat, this snack has become famous across the country. Dhokla is a steamed snack made up of ingredients of yogurt, semolina, batter of Bengal gram flour, lime juice and baking powder. The snack is then garnished with curry leaves and coriander and is served with chutney. As the snack is steamed and not fried the oil content is low.

Upma

Traditionally made of semolina, it is roasted and then cooked with vegetables such as onions, carrots, capsicum, dals (lentils), roasted peanuts and spices. It is a popular snack in South India which, replacing semolina with oats creates a low calorie intake.

Bhel

A spicy and delicious snack which is a great choice for weight watchers, a mixture of puffed rice, tomatoes, finely cut onions, cucumber, raw mango and spices. It is then topped with sev (the only fried ingredient) but this is purely for extra flavour and can be missed out if you want.

Chicken Tikka

If you are looking for a healthy snack, but not a fan of vegetables or vegetarian cuisine, chicken Tikka is a great option, although it requires an overnight marinating with curd, ginger garlic paste and curd. This snack can then be grilled whenever you want to eat it, although it does have some fats it is high in protein and will keep you fuller for longer.

Ragi Dosa

A variant of the popular southern Indian dosa, which is much loved everywhere, the ragi dosa is made from ragi (finger millet) and not from the traditional rice. The batter is a mixture of ragi flour, yogurt, spices, rice flour and water, with also an option to add onions and coriander to enhance taste. It is then cooked in a pan and served with sambhar or chutney.

At Royal Nawaab London we are proud to serve our customers with the highest quality of traditional and authentic Indian and Pakistani food.