Low Carb Asian Food

[Fazz]

Hi,
I am Indian and I love my cultural food. I am also Diabetic and want to go on a low carb diet in order to manage my diabetes.

I can't keep away from Indian food (not just the curries!) because my mum is constantly cooking for 8 of us and I don't like the idea of everything being changed just because I am the only Diabetic in the family.

Therefore, I have decided to start making simple meals for myself. However, it has been very difficult to find Low-Carb Indian recipes. Does anyone know of any simple low carb ones which I can use please?

Thanks. Fazz x

 

[Sanober]

I'm not much of an asian cook to be honest, hopefully someone here who is adept at asian cooking can help?

I'm still a newbie Diabetic and I'm not on low carb diet either so maybe I'm not best for what you're looking for (I'm moderating my carb intakes daily and testing with my meter but not obsessing over it until I get my formal diagnosis in 3 weeks).

With asian food generally - keep the starchy/carby portons smaller (chapatis/rice) but up the veggies/pulses in their place.

Dahl is my best friend and easy to cook. Also veg curries (courgettes, aubergines, green peppers, spinach)

I like all types of dahl, green, yellow split, mung - pulses are low GI so will fill you up and are slow release energy - also some have high protein content, which is another bonus. Plus make a batch at once, then split into plastic containers and freeze for different days in the week.

Chickpeas are also good - chickpea/spinach curry? I always use tinned chickpeas, much quicker.

Also try to cut down or replace potatoes with sweet potatoes - just be careful you're not sitting with a full big bowl of a potato based curry, have a bit of it but with something else.

Basmatic is a bit high on the GI index, easy cook brown rice is ok - wholemeal rice better, but keep portions small. I reduced mine right down at my meals and it's made a real difference.

Chapatis - these are not smart for Diabetics - refined white flour and will spike your glucose levels. Have you tested if you eat one or two or more

My mum marinates chicken (you can get loads of bottles of marinade or powder ones in the shops), she wraps it in tin foils and chucks it in the oven. Also you can buy frozen bags of green beans, mediterrean veg etc that you can just quickly boil/grill etc. Also you can make tuna pasta - but cook the tuna mixture separate and boil some pasta (or rice) separately - and keep the pasta portion small.

Instead of live fat yoghurt - I eat the Total 0% Greek Yoghurt (not used it in cooking yet though...)

Good old salad - hardly any calories and can help fill you up - you can get bags of these just watch the tomatoes (I use just one half) but test to see if it spikes your sugar. Just shove some of the curry on with a little rice.

Also salt/butter should be reduced down just for general health of your heart/blood - use olive oil if you can instead of butter/ghee (I'm STILL trying to get my mum to do this but she has refused :| )

Hope this helps.

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Hi Fazz the things to be aware of are the breads, pastries samosas etc potatoes and rice most other dishes will be pretty low carb anyway as far as I know. Test after eating some basmati rice and if your bg levels are not coming down to pre meal levels after 2 hours reduce the amount with the next meal and keep doing so until your levels are stable.

I find I can easily eat a heaped tablespoonful of basmati rice plus small amounts of potato but I am unable to enjoy the chapati's, parathas I used to eat.

Test before eating and two hours after if your bg levels are returning to close to normal at this time you should be OK , if however they are still much higher then reduce the carbs when you eat that meal again.

Chana dal is high in carbohydrate but strangely does little if anything to most peoples bg levels, again test and find your own limits.

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Basmatic is a bit high on the GI index, easy cook brown rice is ok - wholemeal rice better, but keep portions small. I reduced mine right down at my meals and it's made a real difference.

Wholemeal and brown rice are just as carby as white rice they are just higher in fibre, basmati rice has a different molecular structure which the human body finds extremely hard to break down so is usually much kinder to bg levels, but test, test and test again to find your own limits

 

[sailorj]

Thanks so much for this thread,

We love to have an indian meal and I have started to use greek yougurt in several curries with success.

I have had to watch out with adding fruit - my friends kids love to have bananna, sultanas etc added but i just avoid them when serving up. I find 1/4 nann and 1 tablespoon of rice (basmati or pilau) fine.

Sunday we had our favourite curry and I had the usual small amount of nann bread but tried a chipatti instead of having the rice. Could not understand why I had a deadful headache before we could finish the meal (about 10pm) so had paracetamol and went to bed. Next morning waking BG was 9.1 (usually about 6.4 and never been over 7.2), had 1.5 litres of water and 2 hours later it was 6.1. Dread to think what it was over night! So the chapatti will be avoided in future - also help to avoid the tempting sweet and fruity dips and etcs with the meals!

 

[simply_h]

Hello Fazz,

I understand your issues on the Indian food side and your mum cooking. Yum yum.

This is what I do, I eat meat every day (which is always low carb) you can use as much spice as you want, put it in the oven for 20 to 30 mins and its all cooked.

As for veg, I got by this rule, if it grows above ground, its LOW carb, ONLY onions are my execption to this rule, as you can't cook indian without onions.

Look on the internet for carb contence of indian veg (if you know what I mean), also I dont eat rice or chapatti's as they will not do you any good.

Also its best to use a blood sugar meter to monitor your levels.

Anyway good luck.

Cheer
Simply_h

 

[IanD]

I have the same problem with my Asian friends. They saw me when I was suffering with problems with my legs, limping around. They can see me now, free of problems.

They accept that I do not eat the carbs they so freely provide, & make sure that meat, veg, salad & fruit are provided for me.

As for special low carb Asian food, you can eat the meat, dhal, paneer, etc, dishes while avoiding the carb.

Test to see how you are coping.

 

[Sanober]

Basmatic is a bit high on the GI index, easy cook brown rice is ok - wholemeal rice better, but keep portions small. I reduced mine right down at my meals and it's made a real difference.

Wholemeal and brown rice are just as carby as white rice they are just higher in fibre, basmati rice has a different molecular structure which the human body finds extremely hard to break down so is usually much kinder to bg levels, but test, test and test again to find your own limits

Aaaaah - well there's food for thought :? I will grab some basmati next time and see how it goes - will probably still only need to take a small amount I suspect but will test and see, thanks Sid.

 

[srm100841]

Fazz,

Some interesting replies.

I love Asian food but find that I can't really eat any pulses, rice or breads. With stuff I cook at home then I tend to have chicken or meat in a sauce of the usual ingredients including tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger and spices. I don't go overboard with the amount of sauce because of the carb content. To go with this I usually have spiced green cabbage with chilli and coriander and mushrooms with spices. I seem to be able to eat as much as I like of these items. I also cook cauliflower and okra in spices but tend to have smaller portions. Additionally I have Tandoori chicken or prawns quite often and these suit me fine.

Eating out is a bit more of a problem since I don't know what's in the various recipes but I have found that I can eat most meats, fish and vegetables without sending my BG levels too far upward. Not everyone is the same but pulses, rice and breads of all descriptions DO raise my levels.

Have a look at the low carb forum and see what you make of it. I certainly gained much better control of my levels as a result of advice given me there. Mind, it may or may not be for you.

Steve

 

[Fazz]

Thanks for all your replies.

It's very helpful to know what alternatives are out there and the different ways people cope with certain things.

Sailorj - Why do you watch out for adding fruits? Surely plenty of fruits are good for you right?? :-s

Sanober - Thank you for your suggestions. I am already a big lover for dhal and chickpea curry so at least I can eat lots of that :-D

I have never used Greek yoghurt before. What is the taste and texture like?

Does anyone here cook with sunflower oil? Is it better for you? I heard olive oil is good, but I also realise that heating olive oil can change all its good stuff in to bad. Which may be the reason why the spanish and italians tend to 'drizzle' it over salads and that. What does everyone on here know about oils? Currently my mother uses vegetable oil. But it seems to be my enemy at the moment!

As for samosas, little indian pies (can't remember what they are called, but they are are like samosas but made in puff pastries), you reckon il be ok with baking them in the oven instead?? Might not reduce carbs but what about general health-wise?

Fazz x

 

[Una]

Fazz.
i am new here too, i want to thank you for this thread as i LOOOOVVVVEEE curry and thought they were bad.. I find my bloods respond well to a takeaway, ensuring i do not have Rice naan breads etc..... which is a shame but Friday after reading this I had takeaway.
(Fried garlic) tikka chicken - very onion garlic based sauce
Saag bajah my favourite
Aubagine Bajah
Bloods Sat Am 6.6 which is good for me So thank you all for the thread and advice given.
so i now have Tikka tandoori and Shashlic to choose from I am so pleased.

By the way |Greek yougart is the best! just go for low fat. it is exceedingly rich and thick and needs to be thinned for ratia etc and use a sugar substitute for sweetening, in fact make it for the rest of your family, Im sure they will not notice.( you can use skimmed milk or a little water to thin down) get it from Liddl as its as good as Total.

My favourite way to eat greek yougart is spooned out, a few nuts maybe, and either a very little Honey or even better mapel syrup- which yes is higher in carbs but you use 75% less of it due to intensity in flavour so is half that of honey, and it runs more easily so it is easier to take smaller a portion.

Una

 

[CollieBoy]

Fazz,
Fruit can be good for you but some fruits give a straight shot of carbs (esp sugars) which can spike you right up!! Try with care and test is my motto.

 

[Albert]

If I have Indian food I tend to make tanddori chicken with a nice plate of salad and lemon or lime wedges.

 

[WhitbyJet]

Fazz, as you say this is fairly new territory for you so I would suggest that you are patient with yourself and dont try to do all things at once.

My advice is that you test your bg before and after meals and keep a food diary, if you find one food makes your bg too high, then you know you need to cut down on it.
Personally for me, dhal, chickpeas, Indian breads, samosas and pakora are out, I cannot even do Basmati rice, yet my boss, who is also a type 2 diabetic can eat 2 heaped spoons of basmati and it doesnt touch her at all. Yep, this is how unfair this diabetes is, so that is why testing to find your own levels is very important.
I can eat tandoori, and meat and chicken curries, eg chicken saag,, brindal bhajee, okra, with no problem at all. Onions and garlic in sauces are fine for me too.
Have you tried making a fake pilau rice? All you do is fry spices in ghee (much healthier than vegetable oil, this can have serious transfats, they are a story of their own!), then add cooked cauliflower rice, stir through and serve.
To make cauliflower rice: Grate a cauliflower, if you can do this in the food processor, cook in the microwave on high for 6 or 7 minutes, depending on the quantity, I have given this for a whole cauliflower.
This works really well for pilau rice, other people eat cauliflower rice just with a bit of salt and butter stirred through, but I need something with a bit more taste to it. Each to their own.

Fazz, if you miss bread, try to bake the one minute microwave bread, its quick, healthy, tasty and wont make your bg spike, and its better than nothing, its lovely for mopping up sauces.

As for Greek yoghurt, its quite rich, has a fresh clean taste, dont go for low fat version if you are doing low carb; buy a 500ml tub from Lidl, I put in fresh berries or a small spoon of sugar free jam, heavenly and sinful this is!

Fruit, again its all a case of testing, most people can manage berries, so here you need to test again to find out what fruit does to you.

All the best to you.

 

[Albert]

Fazz. You don't need to use full fat yoghurt even if you are lo carbing. I always use plain runny or set lo fat yoghurt in many of my home made Indian dishes and I lo carb. I can't handle too much fat because of its effect on me!! Yet it has still enabled me to eat well and keep lo bg numbers after meals. Everybody is different I suppose and it also depends if you like fat or not.

 

[IanD]

At a church barbecue yesterday I saw Pakistanis preparing the fruit salad. What I did not see was the addition of salt & black pepper - horrible. Just what you don't need after spicy Asian food. :twisted:

 

[sailorj]

Hi Fazz,

I love Greek youghurt and use it neat with garlic, finely chopped mint leaves & cucumber - great taste and for me the right consistency. Sometimes I add 1/2 lemon juice as well.

I love the Kormas with bananas and coconut but as others have said I find it increases the Bg if I have too much fruit bearing in mind I usually have a small portion of Naan and 1tbsp of Basmati or Pilau rice. I use cream or greek yougurt in the sauce depending on what is in the fridge and both are OK we find interms of taste just a variation.

We had cauliflower rice this week and hated it as too boringly plain/bland so thanks for the spice mix ideas folks.