Going for Indian but don't want to expand your waistline? Here's what to eat and what not to...

At an Indian Restaurant

Eat This: Tandoori chicken
Not That: Chicken Makhanwala or Butter Chicken

Because: Butter Chicken is a rich, creamy, tomato-based sauce of chicken breast pieces swimming in butter. It’s delicious, but loaded with kilojoules and fats that are known to increase your ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol) levels. The aromatic tandoori style is a lighter oven-roasted dish that still has the wonderful Indian spices, without the butter, cream or coconut milk. Have it with raita (a cucumber, yoghurt and herb side), salad or vegetable side dishes, with beans and lentils. The trick is to steer clear of curries made with coconut milk or cream.

Eat This: Chicken or Beef Tikka
Not That: Chicken Makhani

Because: The tikka is a grilled style, using less added fat during preparation. The Makhani is usually made with large amounts of ghee (clarified butter), which is not only a hazard for the waistline, it also contains loads of unhealthy saturated fats, known to increase the risk of heart disease.

Eat This: Steamed, Jasmine rice or salad, as a side
Not That: Samoosas, Naan and Poppadums, as a side

Because: Samoosas are deep-fried dough with vegetables, naan is effectively fried bread and poppadums are crisp bread dried and fried in hot fat. This fried fare may leave you feeling sluggish and will add excess fat and kilojoules to your meal, while the jasmine rice, with its lovely fragrant flavour will complement your curry without adding fat.

Fact:
Naan can be more addictive than chip and salsa before a Mexican meal. Share an order with the table and have them bring it out with the meal: you’ll need it to sop up the fragrant sauces. Better yet, share a baked bread, like chapatti instead.