Is curry healthy?

[Anonymous]

Basmati rice has a lower glycemic index and is better for diabetics.

[Anonymous]

Basmati rice or even sona masoori rice grown in India is healthier. US grown rice has a lot of arsenic in it because the soil has a lot of heavy metal poisoning. Since rice is a type of grass and will soak in any mineral or pollutants that is in the soil. So always, rinse the rice three times, soak in water for some time, rinse and put fresh water and then cook. Also, if trying to reduce the glycemic index, you can cook in lots of water and then drain off the water like when making pasta. This will further remove starch and also remove any arsenic. To make my usuarice more amazing, I usually add a handful of peas and chopped carrots, some sliced lemon peels (white pith removed) while it is cooking. It is an easy way to improve taste and have a prettier looking dish.

For my curries - I usually add a whole lot of onion, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and green cilantro, so that I get loads of veggies in the curry. Using cumin and turmeric is also very good for your health too. I normally add a handful of chopped spinach in my chicken curries too to make it healthier.

You can add sides too. Make sides of raita (yogurt, shredded cucumber, green chilies, mint powder) and salad (grated carrots, microgreens, lemon juice) to get even more veggies and probiotics. Adding a daal gives you complete amino acids in the daal-rice combo.

[Anonymous]

White rice is the thing I'd avoid eating on a regular basis. Try cauliflower rice, or 1/2 cauliflower and 1/2 brown rice.

[Anonymous]

You can always throw in some spinach.

[Anonymous]

The white rice might be an issue-- my DH loves curry, but is staying away from refined grains. He will often pair curry with baked cauliflower or cauliflower rice.

I cook with a fair amount of olive oil and have no problems with cholesterol. It's important to use extra virgin olive oil and the correct cooking temperature.

[Anonymous]

Poster above is partially incorrect- there is arsenic in rice from India, as in rice grown all over the world including the USA.

Here’s more info about rice & arsenic and tips on choosing varieties and cooking methods that help limit consumption of arsenic: https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/01/how-much-arsenic-is-in-your-rice/index.htm

[Anonymous]

Not authentic curry. Living with a Pakistani partner so many dishes have a THICK layer of oil over the top. I feel awful cause I want to participate in authentic food from his culture but I can't bring myself to down that much oil. There is a lot of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes in his family as well. I can't help but think the diet contributes a lot to this. There are things you can do to make it healthy though so if it's important to you, I would go with that.

[Anonymous]

Are you really Indian? I've never heard another Indian person describe our food as "curries."

[Anonymous]

As others have said, it's the oil that's gonna get ya. Try those without sauce, like chicken tikka or tandoori chicken. I guess it's not quite a curry then, but still very tasty. I marinate my tandoori chicken overnight and it's full of flavor.

[Anonymous]

My favorite curry is coconut and greens. It is VERY healthy.

[Anonymous]

It really depends, OP. Are you cooking every day food where you're putting in 1-2Tbsp of ghee or oil or are you cooking heavy Punjabi food where you're putting in loads of ghee and cream?

[Anonymous]

If things are sticking sometimes a little water helps rather than more oil. I’ve done that with some recipes—start with the oil though.