Help, I "Indian-Buffeted" and I don't know what to Log!

So, yeah... my fiance suggested the Indian buffet for lunch (I normally RUN, don't walk, away from anything that ends in Buffet.. but this place is awesomeeee)...

I had... two small plates of food. A piece of naan (about the size of my palm), some lemon rice (3/4 cup?), about 1/2 cup of Chicken Makhani (an evil creamy peppery curry type sauce), and a serving each of a spinach/bean dish, and something called Mushroom Mutton (it was spinach and beans).

Of course, everything tasted a _litttttle_ too delicious... so I'm sure I managed to eat a whole bunch of clarified butter (ghee), coconut milk and who knows what else. I did stick w veggies (see above), except for the small serving of chicken. What do you think? 800 cals? Anyone have any idea?

Oh how I love a good Indian buffet!! When I go, I typically allot 1,000 calories...I have no idea if it's more, but that's what I do, for what it's worth.

Thanks, kmleela!  Yeah, I was thinking it had to be somewhere around the 800 mark.  Guess I'm hitting the gym today, after all.. LOL.

You two must be very disciplined. When I go it's usually between 2000 and 3000 calories. Not a healthy/smart/responsible thing to do, but completely worth the cals on a rare occasion.

Disciplined? HA! Nope...probably disillusioned, ser25! LOL! Hmmmm...I'll give some more thought before I follow my appetite to the nearest Indian Buffet. You're probably right...it probably is so many more calories that I'm consuming. But it's just so YUMMY! 

Yeah, I don't know.  If I ate 2000 calories though I think I would have felt STUFFED, and I felt only a teeeensy bit full bc I exercised portion control.. but, yeah.. I'm not going to risk it.  I'm going to play tennis instead of head to happy hour after work just so I don't do more damage than I've already done today!

From what you describe 800 cals sounds a little low - I'd feel more honest about 1000.

I've been able to get out of the Indian buffets at 600 by: piling lots of salad greens in the center of the plate, surrounding them with 1 serving ladle each (1/4 cup) of 2 hot dishes that look good, stripping the meat from the Tandoori chicken and topping the lettuce; then mixing up the whole mess with some mint sauce and a little lime pickle if available. I keep the naan down to 1/2 a piece, and might eat a couple of tablespoons of mango ice cream or rice pudding for dessert.  Last time it was hard to stay away from eating more of that rice pudding though....

Oh for pity sake...I've got to stop checking back at this post...I have visions of Naan dancing in my head!

You guys are making me hungry for Indian food, one of my favorites. But the numbers are sobering--better wait until I feel more in control of portion sizes (and more comfortable knowing what they look like).

MMMMMMMM.....

I think the best solution to this problem is learn how to cook Indian food and make it yourself at home, measuring everything and seriously cutting back on the ghee.

Chana masala, aloo methi, daal and saag paneer are fairly easy to make and really low fat if you do it right.  Serve with some steamed rice and fat-free yogurt and it's almost as good as a restaurant. And good for you!

 

I love Indian Food.  So, when I go to an Indian Restaurant when I get home I just estimate what I ate;  i.e. 1/2 cup spinach, 1 cup baked potato, 1/2 cup white rice, 3/4 cup mixed vegetables, 2 tablespoons peanut oil, 1/4 naan, etc.  I find this to be the easiest thing to do.  It may take a few minutes to log and only be an estimate.  But, what can you do?  Your not going to find Aloo Bhajis or Sagg Aloo in the CC food log.

Oh, I was wrong.  Some Indian food, if you know what you ate, you can find here.

 

 

In restaurant indian food what accounts for the calories is all the oil and butter in the curries and nan's. It would be very difficult to figure out how much oil was in the portion u ate. So its best to put aside a 1000 calories for the whole deal. Thats wat i do. And indian food is very easy to make at home. That way you can control the amount of oil you eat.

Original Post by meagollum:

In restaurant indian food what accounts for the calories is all the oil and butter in the curries and nan's. It would be very difficult to figure out how much oil was in the portion u ate. So its best to put aside a 1000 calories for the whole deal. Thats wat i do. And indian food is very easy to make at home. That way you can control the amount of oil you eat.

 

What you have said is absolutely true.  A good tip - when I make Indian food at home, I substitute 1/2 or more of the oil or butter for unsweetened applesauce.  It doesn't change the taste of the food because of the spices.  And will cut down on the calories and fat. 

Also, when baking, you can substitute the oil or butter for unsweetened apple sauce too.

Oh wow I had the same situation...I had no idea what each dish was called and I'm pretty sure most of it was not on caloriecount.

Yes, I would say around 800 calories...last time I ate at an Indian buffet I had to record at least 1,000 calories but then I ate more than you did.

I have always said if i was allowed one more meal in my life it would be All-you-can-eat indian :))

Calorie-wise though, i think its difficult to estimate... Just one piece of Naan (looked it up is 78 cals for 1/4, so a full one being 312).

So if you had one full naan, 312 calories... Then i guess you have to estimate if everythingelse really added up to 1000 cals?

Honestly, i'd just consider the experience fun and worth it and not look back:)

I loved reading this post because I always wonder how to log for Indian food also.  I am an Indian and everyday I struggle logging my calories because it is very hard to estimate.  I agree with several others on the top that an 'Indian buffet' would be atleast 1000 cals if you eat even a small portion of many of those things from the buffet.  They put rich cream, butter and oil in most of the gravies and curries.  Rice itself is a very high calorie food.  Someone said above that I usually go through the few Indian dishes available in CC list and pick the related item.  I am almost thinking this is the reason why I am not able to loose any weight because not knowing I may be eating high cals.  I cook at home and most of the time I prepare plain vegetables with less oil and seasonings and recently switched away from white rice.  But still, I struggle to log the calories.  I would love if there is a way to log the cals accurately for all the Indian food.  I am desperate loosing some weight. 

Rockyhard - if you cook at home, you should look at the recipe analyzer - it's a wonderful tool, and you can save the recipe for when you use it next.  You enter exact amounts of ingredients and number of servings and it tells you exactly how many calories per serving.

Really?  I never knew about that tool.  I will try it today itself and see if it helps.  Thanks for the wonderful tip.