Low carb Indian vegetarian breakfast and snack items

I am looking for recipes for low carb stuff - both both breakfast stuff and snacks.

Besan(chana dal flour) is very low carb, but a lot of stuff prepared with besan have other ingredients which are high carb.

Any suggestions, people?

We ate Channa masala for breakfast in Mumbai! Very tasty and good for my diabetic wife.

You can buy Khaman Dhokla ready mix [or check the receipe online]. You could also try Upma. These are the low fat options that spring to mind and now I am hungry

In terms of Healthy breakfast Idli is good, but I don't know how high it's calorie count is.

Check out Pesarettu. They make it in Andhara. It's a dosa made out of diferent flour. Google it for more details.

I think low carb diets are a load of rubbish, so maybe you should ignore me But, I will say that besan and other pulse (dal, gram, etc.) products are not low carb in the least. They have lots of carbs and some protein. They are very good for you though, and of course delicious too!

I say hop off the no carb train now! If you need to lose weight, pick stuff like idli over fried foods like poori or even restaurant dosas, have oil free churmura or bhelpoori for snacks and watch portion sizes.

But if you are determined, you could eat paneer bhurji (paneer cooked like scrambled eggs) without roti (why?! why would you do this?!) or if you are a veg who takes eggs you can eat all sorts of egg dishes.

I am not looking for low fat options, but low carb options.

All current research has shown that low fat diets are a load of rubbish and are the reason for all the increase in diabetes, heart problems & other issues in the last 20-30 years in which people have gone for low fat diets.

Actually, chana dal/besan has a very low glycemic index. So it's ideal for a low carb diet. Other pulses are moderate carb, but besan is good in a low card diet.

I am not a vegetarian by moral reasons, but because I don't enjoy eating meat, fish and eggs. I would love to have liked meat, fish and eggs so that I could go full blown on a low carb diet. Unfortunately, I can do only do meat and eggs couple of times a month, so I cannot do full blown low carbing. But since I cut down by carbs, I have lost around 15 pounds. I am still overweight (need to lose around 15 pounds more) which I am not able to do. But I don't put on any weight though I have a lot of cheese, butter, ghee and oil in my diet. I was always more than my current weight at a time when I had cut butter, chesse, ghee from my diet and used only moderate amounts of oil.

Another good thing about low carbing is that it helps blood sugar low for diabetics and thus prevents heart attacks.

Besan is around 60% carbs from what I have read.

I don't think low fat is good either. I don't believe in fad diets. Cutting down on some fat is merely a good way for people to cut calories, so it can help to some extent.

You have to think long term. I eat a diet that is moderate in all areas. I eat upma, idli, dosa, etc. for brekkie, rice-dal-veg-raita for lunch and roti-veg-raita/dal for supper most days. I eat chaat and street food when I fancy it, I love to have poori-sabzi and sweets when I travel or just whenever I feel like eating out. I eat whatever I want to the point of feeling satisfied and not at all stuffed. my weight has always been stable and my health is good. The key to balanced health and weight is to learn to eat what you love in appropriate amounts. It is not about cutting out whole food groups or "banning" yourself from eating certain things. That does not last in the long term, in my experience.

Low carbing is not just carb content - it's also about glycemic load and glycemic index.
Besan has a low glycemic index.
Here is one link - http://www.mendosa.com/chanadal.html
You can google for besan/chana dal and glycemic for more links.

Whatever works for you.

bombayboy, I apologise. I didn't mean to be pushy or rude. It's just that I feel sad inside when I come across people who feel they have to cut things out of their diet that they love in order to be healthy and happy. I meant well! I love my food you see...

But anyway clearly you are happy with your choices and I shouldn't tell you what to do. Instead I will attempt to be helpful.

The following make excellent breakfasts and snacks:

How about besan ka cheela/pudla? Besan is mixed with spices (can vary, but I like a little ajwain, turmeric, chilli powder, salt, fresh coriander - plus hing is very necessary in anything with besan) and maybe grated veggies (is lauki, nenua, torai, etc. low carb? They seem watery so may be better than things like carrot which I would guess maybe carby? Tomato is also great) and water. Oh and some chopped fresh coriander, makes it very tasty, Make a batter and cook on a tawa. It is great cooked in mustard oil, but you can also use ghee, another oil or maybe a non-stick tawa.

Another pulse based pancake is made with lobia (black eyed beans) or moong dal/sabut moong. Soak whichever you choose overnight, then grind in the mixie with ginger, chillies, salt maybe onion and/or garlic if you like. Add chopped coriander to batter and cook on tawa. Again, can add grated veggies to batter if you like. Can use oil or not as your diet allows.

Variation in the flavouring of these is to be encouraged Why not try a mixture of dals and beans soaked overnight?

Pesarattu is similar, made with sabut moong or moong dal as you please. Some people, including myself, add a very small amount of rice (for one cup - 250ml - of moong I use two tablespoons rice) but you could leave this if you wish. Soak overnight and grind with cumin, ginger and chillies. Cook on a tawa, sprinkly finely chopped onion and chillies on the top. Flip and cook other side briefly (careful as otherwise onion may burn - this is better when made with at least a little oil or ghee).

Moving on to non-pancake dishes, you can soak kala chana and pressure cook it and then make sundal out of it. This can be seasoned in a few different ways, but a simple starting point is to add grated fresh coconut to the cooked chana, then do a tadka of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, hing, chillies and curry leaves. Also try this with other whole beans, sprouted beans and peanuts. Very tasty!

Another idea might be to act as if you were making upma, but use cooked kala chana instead of rawa or any other grain. I know it sounds weird but people make upma with sabudana, dalia and so on, so why not with a legume instead? Could also use sprouted kala chana.

Do you know about khandvi? These are "noodles" made of a batter of seasoned besan and buttermilk (should be a little sour). It is cooked until very thick, then spread in a thin layer on a thali or two. Don't worry if yours are not spread super thin, this is not a competition! When it cools it is cut into strips which are rolled up into little scrolls. These are sprinkled with chopped fresh coriander, fresh grated coconut and then given a tadka of mustard seeds (sometimes also cumin and sesame), hing and curry leaves. A fantastic snack. Have also eaten something similar where the mixture is set in a thicker layer and cut into diamonds.

As someone above said, dhokla is also very tasty and light. Some people make it very very sweet with a lot of sugar, but you don't have to and actually I think it tastes better this way.

Dahi ke kebab? Bound with very little flour as compared to the hung dahi, and you could use besan flour rather than wheat anyway. Actually this is one of my favourite snacks/starters.

I hope this is a little helpful to you. Also, as I said before, don't forget paneer. It's a versatile dairy product!

Grated carrots and white radish, tomatoes, cucumber etc. Fresh cheese is low-carb too. The lactose is all in the whey.

You might want to have a look at this:

Carbohydrate Counting for Traditional Indian & Pakistani Foods
www.nufs.sjsu.edu/pdf/CarbCountSAsians.pdf

I love my food, too, but am diabetic and some Indian meals send my blood sugar into the stratosphere... so I, too, am always looking for low-carb meals when I'm there.

For some of us, this is a necessity, and we don't need your platitudes about moderate diet; it's not giving us the necessary information.

Um....wow. How friendly. I gave the OP some advice on some breakfast and snack ideas that may meet his requirements, and I apologized. No need to be so rude.

well speak to to your dietician this way, he/she would be thrilled to speak with you in this manner as you would be paying them, not here though

That post is uncalled for DeMock, how one goes about his/her life is a personal thing, that includes diet. And wonderwomanusa is right about the diet control being a compulsion for many, not a choice.

OP asked a simple question, all this talk about the worthiness of diet plan etc is loose talk!