Eating Out With Arthritis - Indian

·        Making the right choices is very important when choosing to eat Indian food. A very high proportion of people living in India suffer from arthritis and an extremely recent study sugested that "Arthritis has emerged as the most common ailment in the country and around 65% of the population will suffer from the disease by 2013". Indian cuisine has both exceptionally good and exceptionally bad elements for those choosing to follow the Arthritis Diet. 

     Here are some helpful points to follow:

 

      A great amount of ‘essential’ turmeric and ginger are used in all Indian dishes.

·     Tandoori or Tikka options (cooked in a tandoor) are great as main or starter portions as they are tasty, yet aren’t covered in cream or tomato sauces. They are simply dry portions of meat and fish that are pre-marinated and full of flavour, try Tandoori king prawns or Chicken Tikka. These dishes are often served with salad and a lemon wedge.

·         If you like a particular sauce (Rogan Josh, Tikka Massala, Korma) then a good tip is to order a side of this and have a small amount with your Tandoori dish – you will feel satisfied but won’t overdo it on the tomato/butter and cream.

·         Saag dishes are made with a thick spinach sauce but be sure that they don’t also include cream (some do and some don’t so ask your waiter for help). Do remember that most dished are cooked in either vegetable oil or ghee/butter so have all sauce-based dishes sparingly.

·         Opt for a chapatti over naan bread as this is made with wholemeal flour and has little, if any butter or ghee.

·         Any of the rice dishes are also fine but go for steamed rice if you want to avoid the oil or butter that pilau rice is cooked in.

·         Avoid onion bhaji’s or samosas for a starter as these are deep fried in vegetable oil. Some samosas are however baked in a very thin pastry similar to filo so these can be a good option but be sure to check with the waiter.