If you are trying to eat a little healthier this year, you need to know how to make healthy food choices when you go out to eat as well as when you cook at home. If you enjoy Indian food or if you are going to Indian food for the first time, here are five tips to keep in mind that will help you make healthy food choices when ordering food at an Indian restaurant:

#1 Keep The Carb Count Low

Kind of like when you go out to a steak house or an Italian restaurant, you don't want to overload on carbs before you get to your main meal. At Indian restaurants, they usually serve a variety of different types of bread, which often come with their own dipping sauce as well. When choosing bread for your dinner, go with one that is on the thinner side, such as roti, which is thin, crispy and whole-wheat. Stay away from fluffier bread. If you are not sure about the make-up of the bread, let your server know you want a thinner bread instead of a fluffier one.

#2 Go with A Light Appetizer

You are going to have a lot of appetizer choices to choose from. Indian appetizers, like most appetizer lists, include items that are deep-fried and heavy. Avoid these heavy appetizers, such as samosas. Instead, sample a flavorful soup or salad as an appetizer. Don't worry about getting stuck in the same food rut that you always get in when you go out to eat; your soup and salad choices are going to look different than they do at a restaurant that caters more towards American-style cuisine. Choose a soup or salad with an interesting and tantalizing flavor profile to keep your appetizer playful and healthy at the same time.

#3 Minimize The Rice

With Indian dishes, you are sure to get some rice on the side. You get a variety of different food family style and then put it on your own plate. Be careful with the amount of rice that you put on your plate. A serving side of rice is about the size of a fist. When you dish up food, just put a serving side of rice on your plate, and fill up the rest of it with meat, sauce, and vegetables. Rice can fill you up quickly, and you want to make sure that you have enough room to enjoy the other flavors and foods that are served with your meal.

#4 Choose Grilled Meat

Keep your meat nice and lean by going with grilled meats. Avoid anything that is battered or especially say fried. Instead, choose tandoori or grilled meats. This will allow the flavor of the meat to shine through instead of adding extra calories with extra batter.

The key to eating healthy when you go out for Indian food is to keep in mind the healthy tips that you usually stick to and apply it to the cuisines choices that you have. If you are not familiar with any of the food terms, be sure to ask. This is the best way to ensure that you eat foods that are healthy and prepared exactly how you want. 

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