Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: George on March 26, 2011, 10:10 AM
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I mean should they eat too many. I'd class 'too many' as anything like once a week, given how unhealthy they need to be to taste very good. Once or twice a year might be OK, as a treat.
This lad eats too many Chinese takeaways by the look of it. Sad.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3483987/Tragic-three-year-old-Chinese-toddler-Lu-Hao-weighs-nearly-ten-stone.html (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3483987/Tragic-three-year-old-Chinese-toddler-Lu-Hao-weighs-nearly-ten-stone.html)
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I think you'd have to look at the child's diet as a whole rather than simply to ask how much of one food type they can consume. In other words the answer to your question might be "depends what else they eat".
If curries are the fatty part of an otherwise balanced diet, great. If curries are for contrast in a diet of fish&chips, chinese, pizza, etc. Not so great.
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I mean should they eat too many. I'd class 'too many' as anything like once a week, given how unhealthy they need to be to taste very good. Once or twice a year might be OK, as a treat.
I would start by asking "Is there any evidence that BIR curries are any more unhealthy than Indian home-made curries ?". If they are significantly so, then an element of moderation might be desirable; if not, then I would look at the nutritional status of the average Indian child and ask "Is this status satisfactory ?", and if so, then I would stop worrying. This pre-supposes, of course, that the metabolism of British and Indian children is very similar; I have seen no evidence to the contrary of this.
** Phil.
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I would start by asking "Is there any evidence that BIR curries are any more unhealthy than Indian home-made curries ?".
I believe the evidence is here at this forum with the 'best' recipes so far gleaned. For example, the Taz base strikes me as having a lot of potential if the aim is to replicate a tasty BIR curry. It also fits with the amount of oil you can see swimming around in many/most BIR curries. How can Taz levels of oil be good for anyone, especially for a child? Another ingredient found in unhealthy amounts in most restaurant food, including BIRs no doubt, is salt.
I'm continuing with my quest to improve on my previous best attempt with chicken korma. One avenue I went down was to cut back a lot on the oil (down to about 1 tbls per serving for everything on the plate) given that roast beef gravy and most other sauces down't have much oil. But the korma just didn't come out as well. I don't understand why so much oil is needed to get a good tasting curry.
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George,
Take a look at the following datasheet: COFIDS (http://tna.europarchive.org/20110116113217/http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/spreadsheets/cofids.xls) You might be surprised at some of the data contained within it. Look at the Proximates tab, all values are per 100g as served.
The amount of oil in a dish is just a small percentage of the finished dish. Look at the difference between the results of chicken curry and battered cod, both from takeaways:
Fat(g)/100g
Chicken Curry = 9.8
Battered Cod = 15.4
So the curry (which in this case was 50 samples, 10 each of Korma, Tikka Masala, Dhansak, Jalfrezi and Dopiaza. Meat and sauce only.) is actually healthier than fish and chips. ;)
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So the curry (which in this case was 50 samples, 10 each of Korma, Tikka Masala, Dhansak, Jalfrezi and Dopiaza. Meat and sauce only.) is actually healthier than fish and chips. ;)
I just had a quick look at the spreadsheet and it appears to cover 'recipes' and branded products like from a supermarket. These will have much, much lower quantities of oil and salt than restaurant (BIR) dishes (unless I'm very mistaken).
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I would start by asking "Is there any evidence that BIR curries are any more unhealthy than Indian home-made curries ?".
I believe the evidence is here at this forum with the 'best' recipes so far gleaned. For example, the Taz base strikes me as having a lot of potential if the aim is to replicate a tasty BIR curry. It also fits with the amount of oil you can see swimming around in many/most BIR curries. How can Taz levels of oil be good for anyone, especially for a child? Another ingredient found in unhealthy amounts in most restaurant food, including BIRs no doubt, is salt.
But that is a very different question, George. I asked (as you have accurately cited above) not whether BIR food was unhealthy per se, but whether it was significantly any less healthy than home-cooked food as prepared in India, and this point you have not addressed. My underlying thesis is that if there is no significant evidence of dietary-related health issues in India, and if BIR food is no less healthy than home-cooked food as prepared in India, then we have no need to worry about how often a British child eats BIR food.
I would also dispute your suggestion that restaurant food is over-salted. I am afraid that, post Tony Blair, I find that most ready-prepared food is now seriously undersalted and I almost invariably find it necessary to add further salt at the table (the odd occasion on which further salt has not proved necessary is so rare, in my experience, that when it does occur it is invariably a topic of conversation).
** Phil.
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I just had a quick look at the spreadsheet and it appears to cover 'recipes' and branded products like from a supermarket. These will have much, much lower quantities of oil and salt than restaurant (BIR) dishes (unless I'm very mistaken).
You can be forgiven for being mistaken, it is a complicated sheet that requires more than a quick look. There is also a manual on the FSA site to accompany the datasheet, if you find it useful.
The results for Chicken Curry are as previously mentioned 10 samples each made up as above, from 10 different outlets i.e. restaurants and TAs.
Here are a few more examples:
Fat(g) / Salt(mg ) / Sugar(g) / Chol(mg) all per 100g
19-129 Doner Meat from 20 Outlets = 31.4 / 860 / Nil / 94
19-322 Chicken Curry 5 assorted from 10 outlets = 9.8 / 356 / 1.2 / 37
19-321 Chicken Chow Mein from 10 Outlets = 7.2 / 466 / 0.3 / 13.4
16-023 Cod, Battered from 24 Outlets = 15.4 / 160 / Tr / Nil
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I would also dispute your suggestion that restaurant food is over-salted. I am afraid that, post Tony Blair, I find that most ready-prepared food is now seriously undersalted and I almost invariably find it necessary to add further salt at the table (the odd occasion on which further salt has not proved necessary is so rare, in my experience, that when it does occur it is invariably a topic of conversation).
I guess it's all a question of taste. My own experience is the opposite - I find the bulk of pre-prepared foods too salty and often my enjoyment of food is reduced as a result. But then I'm sure taste buds adapt to salt as they do to capsaisin and the less you consume the better you are at detecting the taste. When I cook I add very little or no salt, which would account for my being more sensitive to it in pre-prepared foods.
Talking of capsaisin, I'm having to add more and more chilli powder to my curries and still haven't produced one as hot as I'd like. I'll be up to a whole TBS of hot chilli powder next time as I'm already past the 2 tsp level and still not hot enough. I guess frequent use of the Tabasco habanero sauce on my chips has dulled my palate to this taste!
Getting back to the OP, I see no reason kids shouldn't eat BIR food from time to time if they enjoy it. In my experience they don't tend to as they find the flavours too strong, but that's just the ones I know.
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Getting back to the OP, I see no reason kids shouldn't eat BIR food from time to time if they enjoy it. In my experience they don't tend to as they find the flavours too strong, but that's just the ones I know.
I think that one thing in favour of allowing (or even encouraging) children to eat BIR-style cuisine is that it is, if well chosen, a good balanced meal with protein, carbohydrate, fat, meat, pulses, vegetables and so on (and better still if washed down with a mango lassi). IMVHO, it's probably a somewhat healthier option than a "Big Mac & fries", "Fish and chips", or a "Doner kebab in pitta"
** Phil.
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Natterjak, if your after a hot curry powder try this stuff Chilli Powder (http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/acatalog/Indian-Food-Rajah-Chilli-Powder.html) Cutting a long story short, I bought some from Tesco and ended up binning it. It is quite simply, lethal!
Salt is definitely something of preference and like you NJ, I tend to add little salt. I certainly know when something is over salted. I guess it will depend on the restaurant as to how much salt is added. The two restaurants I frequent do not over salt however, two other outlets near me do. One of which served me a Sag Aloo with so much salt in it, I almost gagged. Needless to say i've never been back.
Like any diet, as long as everything is in moderation and part of balanced and healthy lifestyle, I can't see anything wrong with a BIR curry being served to children once a week.
This poor child is certainly not getting a balanced and healthy lifestyle. His parents should be ashamed. :-\
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This poor child is certainly not getting a balanced and healthy lifestyle. His parents should be ashamed. :-\
Yes, he seems to have faded away to nothing ! Did you forget a link ... ?!
** Phil.
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...snip
This poor child is certainly not getting a balanced and healthy lifestyle. His parents should be ashamed. :-\
Is that really you Axe (Malc) - It's just that you sounded like someone else ;)
Phil -> Pie Boy (From George's link in the original post) ->
(http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01277/Lu-Hao1_682_1277169a.jpg)
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Phil -> Pie Boy (From George's link in the original post) ->
Oh, that little chap -- I see. Yes, forced to agree : severely undernourished and urgently needs building up if he is to avoid the long-term effects of malnutrition ... !
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Nice picture,
A next generation Sumo Wrestler. ;D
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The Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1368790/Lu-Hao-Chinese-toddler-3-weighs-staggering-132lbs-hes-growing.html) paints a slightly different picture, but either way, that poor lad doesn't have much of a future if he's not treated. I can't imagine what strain his heart must be under.
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Natterjak, if your after a hot curry powder try this stuff Chilli Powder (http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/acatalog/Indian-Food-Rajah-Chilli-Powder.html) Cutting a long story short, I bought some from Tesco and ended up binning it. It is quite simply, lethal!
Thanks for the recommendation Axe, I'll get some and start small again with my measures. From what you say it will deliver the kick I'm after. My current chilli powder is Tesco own brand hot chilli powder and is possibly towards the mild end of the scale despite the name.
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in lots of cultures obesity is a symbol of wealth. That kid obviously wants for nothing ;D
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hi nj that chilli powder shown is just the same as the packets you can get but rajah do sell an extra hot chilli powder as well, and if that's not hot enough for you ASDA are selling Dave's insanity chilli sauce made with the naga jolokia( ghost pepper) with added chilli extract for 3gbp instead of 4.98gbp bargain labelled not to be used as a condiment LOL! have used it to make a chicken naga as you eat it you get a full face flush as the heat rises. but still yummy imo ;D
regards
gary
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Natterjak, if your after a hot curry powder try this stuff Chilli Powder (http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/acatalog/Indian-Food-Rajah-Chilli-Powder.html) Cutting a long story short, I bought some from Tesco and ended up binning it. It is quite simply, lethal!
Thanks for putting me onto the rajah brand chilli powder Axe. Definitely hotter than the telco stuff and I guess I really must like hot curries because I'm up to nearly a TBS of rajah chilli in each curry I cook now!!
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I mean should they eat too many. I'd class 'too many' as anything like once a week, given how unhealthy they need to be to taste very good. Once or twice a year might be OK, as a treat.
There aint many FAT Indians!
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I mean should they eat too many. I'd class 'too many' as anything like once a week, given how unhealthy they need to be to taste very good. Once or twice a year might be OK, as a treat.
There aint many FAT Indians!
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There aint many FAT Indians!
Your comment is totally irrelevant. Very few Indians eat BIR food! They use completely different recipes, which are almost certainly a lot more healthy.
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Hi George,
There aint many FAT Indians!
Your comment is totally irrelevant. Very few Indians eat BIR food! They use completely different recipes, which are almost certainly a lot more healthy.
I'm not so sure that the comment is irrelevant!
Many of the traditional cookbooks that I have, all start with a foreword from the author. Each of them offer some anecdotal reference to the 'alarming' amount of oils used in the dishes found on the subcontinent, and that these quantities have been reduced to suit the British palette!
Ray :)
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Sorry to bring back this topic, especially after all that time, but the discussion seemed quite interesting.
In India, cases of obesity, diabetes and atherosclerotic heart disease did increase shockingly over the last decades. It's certainly true, some regional cuisines do use, you could say, excessive amounts of oil (just think of the kashmiri cuisine, where almost anything gets fried first) or the typical indian street food, which today is an integral part of their culture, but uses similiar amounts of oil and gets often also fried. Or the typical indian desserts, which consist of high amounts of sugar, or get fried in hot ghee. But there are quite a few studies which suggest, that the western-lifestyle, and that means for example, the replacement of traditional oils (mustard oil, groundnut [peanut] oil, coconut oil) with refined vegetable oils, or the consumption of less vegetables and more meat, does play an important role, too. I think mustard oil is still banned in some parts of the world, e.g. the EU (for consumption), but newest findings suggest that it's really healthy, especially for your heart, more than any other oil. (funny, isn't it?) Indian docs often blame the excessive usage of ghee, and would be happy if more people would use some oil instead sometimes.
I do believe, that traditional, home-cooked curries are in fact healthier than most of the indian takeaway dishes. Just take "Rajma Chawal" (kidneybeans and rice), an all-time favorite of the punjabi people, which has a biological value above 100, plenty of protein, vitamins, minerals, but almost no fat or cholesterol. Kidneybeans can reduce the risks of a heart attack and rice could help you to lose weight. It depends, of course, on how much and which oil the cook adds, or if there's any cream that he or she adds, but it's definitely healthier than the typical BIR-curries. Most of the indian households, but this is already changing, use, for religious or financial reasons, lentils, greens or generally vegetables instead of mass-produced meat, which I think has positive effects also. But after all, it depends on how you define "healthy". On the other hand, I don't think that BIR-curries are unhealthy per se, and I do believe that it's just fine for kids to eat. With a balanced and well thought diet plan in mind, I think it's absolutely fine for anyone, to eat BIR-curries even regularly.
Personally, I lost about 20kg just by eating traditional, vegetarian, indian food. And that includes stuff like Paneer Pakora, Dal Makhani, Rajma, Pav Bhaji, Samosas, Aloo Mattar, Masala Dosa and many, many other things. In fact, I would say that I have never eaten that good in my life before, and still lost weight by doing it. So it's a pretty fun and damn tasty way to do it. And I guess that would even work with meat (not on a missionary service here ;P), while still enjoying some restaurant-style curries every now and then. Will check out a new curry-house at tuesday, so at least I do it that way (:
Greetings!
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Personally, I lost about 20kg just by eating traditional, vegetarian, indian food. And that includes stuff like Paneer Pakora, Dal Makhani, Rajma, Pav Bhaji, Samosas, Aloo Mattar, Masala Dosa and many, many other things. In fact, I would say that I have never eaten that good in my life before, and still lost weight by doing it. So it's a pretty fun and damn tasty way to do it. And I guess that would even work with meat (not on a missionary service here ;P), while still enjoying some restaurant-style curries every now and then. Will check out a new curry-house at tuesday, so at least I do it that way (:
India is probably the only place in the world that I could be a vegetarian, and Masala dosa are surely the very pinnacle of Indian vegetarian cuisine.
** Phil.
** Phil.
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I'm quite happy to see my 7.5 year old boy tuck into a butter chicken from our local TA and eating nan breads and pilau rice.
I can think of a lot worse things he could be eating!
Like this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/shortcuts/2013/mar/04/potato-parties-worst-kids-food-fad (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/shortcuts/2013/mar/04/potato-parties-worst-kids-food-fad)
Paul