Leicestershire Nutrition and
Dietetic Services
Cooking Tips for
Healthy Eating in the
South Asian
Community
Making lifestyle changes such as eating healthily,
increasing activity levels and stopping smoking can
help reduce your risk of developing a number of
serious health conditions such as obesity, heart
disease and diabetes, which are very common
within the South Asian community.
The following cooking tips will help to make
traditional dishes healthier.
2
COMMONLY EATEN FOODS
When making chapatti’s try to:
d
When making thepla try to:
When making papad try to:
When making poori try to:
HEALTHY COOKING TIPS
 Use less or no oil in the dough. Tip: make the chapatti
with a little boiling water and some skimmed or semi
skimmed milk instead of oil, and serve whilst warm.
 Chapatti’s can be kept hot and soft in foil.
 Avoid spreading saturated fat such as butter/ghee on
them. You could try a polyunsaturated or
monounsaturated spread such as a sunflower or olive
oil based version. Look for low fat options and
remember to use sparingly, better still try them dry.
 Use different types of flour such as number 3 as this
will increase the fibre content of your diet, or you can
now buy a blend of white and wholemeal chapatti
flour. Fibre is needed in the diet to keep your bowel
healthy.
 Make thicker theplas, as less fat will be used to cook
the same quantity.
 Cook in a non-stick chapatti pan, over a medium heat.
Make sure both sides are cooked. This can be done
with less oil using a teaspoon measure than a
tablespoon.
 Serve with natural low fat yoghurt.
 Use less salt in the dough. Try coriander or chilli to
add flavour instead.
 Cook them in the microwave - sprinkle 3-4 drops of
water, and heat as instructed on packet or
alternatively grill them.
 Instead of serving papads with a pickle why not try to
serve them with an onion and tomato mixture.
To make the mixture: cut small pieces of onion and
tomato and mix together with lemon juice, coriander
and a touch of red chilli powder.
Or serve with a low fat dip like cucumber and mint
raita (see page 5)
Try to limit your intake of these foods are they are
high in fat and can cause weight gain.
 Make the dough using wheat flour and a little hot
warm water – the dough needs to be stiffer than for
chapatti’s. Try to avoid adding salt to the dough.
 Use a monounsaturated or polyunsaturated oil to fry
the poori such as rapeseed, olive or sunflower oil.
 Shallow fry rather than deep fry each poori
 Make sure the oil is hot or the poori will not puff up.
Try gently pressing down with a slotted spoon and the
poori will puff up – turn and wait for the other side to
gently brown.
 Drain/blot on a paper towel to remove excess fat.
3
When making curries try to:
Meat
 Use vegetable based oil e.g. rapeseed, olive or
sunflower oil rather than ghee/butter when cooking.
 Avoid products labelled ‘cholesterol free’ as these are
often misleading.
 Use less oil in cooking. Even if you use vegetable,
olive, sunflower or corn oil they are all high in calories.
Tip: measure the amount of fat you add with a
tablespoon, rather than pouring the oil straight from the
container (e.g. for vaghar which is a blend of spices,
purified in hot oil and then added to the dhal) and
gradually reduce the amount you use. Try using a
maximum of 1 tablespoon of oil for a family of four.
 Try spray oils.
 Use a non-stick pan to reduce the amount of oil
needed.
 To prevent the food from sticking, use a lower heat.
This will enable you to use less oil when you start
cooking.
 Fry spices and pour off extra oil then continue cooking.
Drain off any excess oil floating on the surface of the
curry.
 Add extra vegetables or pulses (peas, beans, lentils or
dhals) or serve the curry with salad.
 Try to avoid re-frying previously cooked curries as this
will increase the fat content.
 Remember to change the oil in your oil pan frequently,
as it quickly becomes saturated with every use
(Maximum 4 uses).
 Follow the cooking methods already described to make
a curry.
 Buy lean cuts of meat and remove all visible fat before
cooking.
 Remove the skin from chicken and turkey before
cooking.
 If making keema – drain off excess fat once the meat
has been browned.
 Try tandoori-style, dry roasting, grilling or baking meats
instead of making curries.
 Good alternatives to meat are beans, peas, pulses,
lentils, soya, tofu or mycoprotein e.g. quorn or textured
vegetable protein (TVP). These are low in fat and
maybe fortified with vitamin and minerals to make them
nutritionally equivalent to meat.
4
Oily Fish
Potato
Paneer
When making dhal:
When cooking rice:
 Try to have oily fish e.g. salmon, sardines, mackerel,
trout and herring at least once a week. You can
make curries using oily fish like sardines and
mackerel. They can be made simply by heating the
spices, onions and tinned tomatoes in a pan – see
tips making a curry (see page 4) and adding the
tinned/fresh fish (it is best to use fish tinned in tomato
sauce rather than oil to keep the calories down) once
the curry base is made gently heat the oily fish to
avoid mashing up the fish.
 Or you could try other curry dishes made with fish
like ‘tikka fish.’
 Follow the cooking methods already described to
make a curry.
 Slice the potatoes into thick ‘wedges.’
 Cook the potatoes with their skins on, as the skin
contains fibre.
 Follow the cooking methods already described to
make a curry.
 Paneer is high in fat hence should be eaten
occasionally. It can be made with semi skimmed or
skimmed milk which will reduce the fat content.
 Replace recipes that call for paneer with firm tofu. No
one will notice the difference!
 Follow the cooking methods already described to
make a curry.
 If making dhal with yoghurt or cream replace with a
low fat yoghurt instead.
 Choose peas, beans, lentils and dhals more often as
these are naturally low in fat and high in fibre. They
are also a good source of protein.
 When boiling rice try not to add oil, ghee or salt.
 Try to avoid adding butter/margarine to the cooked
rice.
 Choose boiled rice more often than fried rice and
avoid re-frying previously cooked rice.
 Try brown rice occasionally or a mixture of brown
and white rice.
 Add boiled vegetables such as carrots, sweetcorn
and peas to the rice.
5
When making raita try to use:
When making mixed bhajias:
When making samosa/kachori:
 Use natural low fat plain yoghurt.
 If you make homemade yoghurt try using semi
skimmed or skimmed milk. Many people think that
low fat milks will not curdle properly, however this is
not true! The lower fat milk curdles just as well. To
help, add skimmed milk powder to the milk after
boiling as this will help the milk curdle (use
approximately 1 tablespoon skimmed milk powder to
make a large bowl of yoghurt).
 To increase your fruit and vegetable intake try to add
extra grated/chopped vegetables and fruits to raitas.
 Avoid adding salt. Try freshly chopped mint or
ground cumin to taste.
Try to limit your intake of these foods are they are
high in fat and can cause weight gain.
 Make a thick paste with the gram flour and all the
other ingredients (potatoes, onion, cabbage, lemon
juice, chopped coriander, yoghurt, crushed chillies
turmeric, black pepper, cumin seeds, and carom
seeds). Add a little water if required.
 Spoon the mixture into a non-stick frying pan and
cook until brown, turning as necessary.
 Try to shallow fry using a monounsaturated or
polyunsaturated fat if possible for e.g. sunflower,
rapeseed or olive oil rather than ghee.
Try to limit your intake of these foods are they are
high in fat and can cause weight gain.
 Avoid deep-frying samosas. Try baking or grilling
them instead, brush on a little oil. Turn once to
ensure both sides are lightly browned.
 Try adding extra vegetables to fillings rather than
meat.
 Use less butter/ghee in the pastry and use a
polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fat for example
sunflower, corn, olive or rapeseed based spreads
and oils.
 Try frozen filo pastry as this can be a low fat option.
Cook in the oven for a crunchy samosa.
6
When making kheer try to:
When making carrot halva try to:
Drinks
 Use semi skimmed milk.
 Use a maximum of 1 tablespoon sugar/artificial
sweetener (for 4 servings) or add carrot, vanilla or
rose essence for flavouring.
 Cook in a non-stick pan on a low heat to prevent
sticking.
 Add a tablespoon of dried fruit e.g. sultanas at the
end as this will help increase fibre in the diet.
 Use semi skimmed milk instead of full fat milk or
cream.
 Use a maximum of 1 tablespoon low fat margarine
(for six servings) instead of ghee/butter.
 Cook in a non-stick pan on a low heat to prevent
sticking.
 Use a maximum of 1 tablespoon of sugar/artificial
sweetener if required.
It is important to drink at least 8 glasses of fluid per
day!
 You could try to drink more water or unsweetened
diluted fruit juice.
 Lassi can be made in several different ways. In
Punjab, people drink sweet lassi and fruit-flavoured
lassi. In Gujarat and the South, it’s savoury with salt,
cumin and mint.
 When making your own lassi try to use semi
skimmed or skimmed milk and use less salt or sugar.
Salt
 Reduce the amount of salt you use when cooking i.e.
curry, rice, salad, and lassi.
 Avoid adding salt at the table.
 Use different flavours as an alternative to salt, e.g.
black pepper, fresh herbs, mixed spices, chilli, garlic,
lemon juice or balsamic vinegar.
 Cut down on foods such as cheese, sev, chevda,
pooris, pakoras, salted nuts, pickles, crisps.
For further information please contact:
Leicestershire Nutrition and Dietetic Service
Units 11/12 Warren Park Way
Enderby
Leicester
LE19 4SA
Developed by Leicestershire Nutrition and Dietetic Services – Reviewed February 2014
Crown Copyright – Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
Access our website at www.lnds.nhs.uk
7