Weight management is a big task for people, especially when they have to leave their favorite meals in the name of dieting. Whenever we think of weight-loss meals for dinner, only bland and boring recipes come to mind. But that is not true. India is known as the land of spices; the Indian culinary range is vaster than we think. Whether you are from the east, west, north, or south, vegetarian, non-vegetarian, or vegan, it does not matter; there are tens of thousands of recipes present that are not only healthy but tasty as well. In this blog, we will explore the culinary richness of India to make your weight-loss journey tastier.
Weight Loss Recipes For Dinner
A weight-loss diet is not limited to breakfast and lunch only. While we think about dinner recipes for an Indian dinner, only a few come to mind, and most of them are either tasteless or too hectic to cook. We choose to skip dinner to make those recipes, but you don’t have to exert your brain in thinking about dinner recipes for weight loss. Mentioned here are some easy and healthy weight loss recipes for dinner so that you don’t have to skip dinner to maintain weight.
Recipes
1. Palak Dal
Ingredients
- Masoor dal : ¼ cup
- Turmeric powder : ½ teaspoon
- Salt : As per your taste
- Spinach leaves : 12-14 leaves
- Ghee : 2 tablespoon
- Cumin seeds : 1 tablespoon
- Ginger : ½ tablespoon
- Green chillies : ½ tablespoon
- Kashmiri red chilli powder : ¼ tablespoon
Instructions
- Wash ¼ lentils with water until it is cleaned properly.
- Add the lentils to a pressure cooker with ½ tablespoon of turmeric powder, a pinch of salt, and 1.5 cups of water and pressure cook it for 10 minutes on medium heat.
- Open the lid lightly when the pressure settles and mash the cooked lentils with a spoon.
- While cooking lentils, wash and chop the spinach.
- Heat a pan and add 2 tablespoon of ghee (use oil instead of ghee if you are a vegan) in the pan
- Add 1 tablespoon of cumin seeds in the pan once the ghee or oil is hot enough.
- Add ½ teaspoon of finely chopped ginger and green chilli, when the cumin seeds start spluttering.
- Fry for a bit then add the spinach to this mixture and cook it on low heat till the spinach softens.
- Now add ¼ tablespoon of Kashmiri red chilli powder to this mix and stir it for some second before adding mashed lentils.
- Add salt as per your taste and water according to the consistency you want and cook it for some more minutes.
- Now serve it with rice or roti.
2. Green Pulao
Ingredients
- Basmati rice : 1 cup
- Mixed green vegetables : 1 cup
(Green beans, broccoli, peas, etc.)
- Onion : 1 large or 2-3 small
- Garlic : 2 cloves
- Ginger : 1 inch
- Green chillies : 2-3
- Ghee or oil : 2 tablespoon
- Cumin seeds : ½ tablespoon
- Turmeric powder : ½ teaspoon
- Garam masala : ½ teaspoon
- Salt : as per your taste
- Coriander : few leaves
Instructions
- Rinse the rice until it’s completely free from any dirt.
- Heat the oil or ghee in a large pot then add cumin seeds to it and let it sizzle.
- Add the chopped onions and stir it till it turns golden brown.
- Add minced garlic, ginger and chopped green chillies and stir it for a few seconds.
- Now add the mixed green vegetables and cook it till the vegetables soften.
- Pour rice in this mixture and cook it for some time before adding water.
- Add 2 cups of water and cover it with a lid. Let it cook for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove the lid and garnish it with coriander before serving it.
3. Chana Masala
Ingredients
- Onion : 2-3 medium sized
- Tomatoes : 1-2 medium sized
- Ginger and Garlic paste : 1-2 tablespoon
- Green chilli : 1-2
- Ghee : 1-2 tablespoon
- Bay leaf : 1
- Red chilli powder : ½ tablespoon
- Chickpeas : 1-2 cups
- Dry coriander powder : 1 tablespoon
- Turmeric powder : ½ tablespoon
- Garam masala : 1 tablespoon
- Salt : as per taste
- Cumin seeds : 1-2 tablespoon
- Cardamom : 3
- Fresh coriander leaves : few leaves
Instructions
- Soak 1-2 cups of chickpeas overnight in water.
- Pour this soaked chickpeas in a pressure cooker and pressure cook it with water and salt for 8-9 whistles.
- While cooking chickpeas, take a wok (kadhai) and add 2 tablespoon ghee, 3 cardamoms, 1 tablespoon cumin seeds and 1 bay leaf. Sauté this till the mixture turns aromatic.
- Now add chopped onions, green chilli and ginger garlic paste and stir it till onions change colour.
- Then add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, dry coriander powder, salt, and garam masala before sautéing it further.
- Now add tomato puree and cook it until the oil separates.
- Lastly add pressure-cooked chickpeas and water before covering it with a lid and let it cook for 10 minutes.
- Garnish it with fresh coriander leaves before serving it.
4. Masala Soya
Ingredients
- Soya chunks : 2 cups
- Chopped tomatoes : 2 small sized
- Bay leaf : 1
- Red chilli powder : 1 tablespoon
- Green chilli : 1-2
- Onion : 2 small sized
- Turmeric : ½ teaspoon
- Curd : ¼ cup
- Salt : As per taste
- Garlic cloves : 4
- Vegetable oil : 1-2 tablespoon
- Cinnamon stick : 1 Inch
- Garam masala powder : ½ teaspoon
- Grated ginger : 1 Inch
- Cumin seeds : ½ teaspoon
- Coriander powder : ½ teaspoon
- Kasoori methi : ½ teaspoon
Instructions
- Take soya chunks in a pot and add water to it before boiling it. When this boils completely, transfer it to cold water for 6-7 minutes. Squeeze the excess water from it and put it aside in a bowl.
- Heat oil in a pan, add chopped onions, green chilli, ginger and garlic and sauté them until the onions changes colour.
- Further add chopped tomatoes and sauté it for 5 minutes. Once the tomatoes softens switch off the stove and let it cool.
- After some time transfer this mixture to a blender jar and blend it to a thick paste.
- Take another pan and heat the oil. Then add bay leaf, cinnamon stick and cumin seeds and sauté for few seconds.
- Now add sliced onion, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt before sautéing it for a minute.
- Further add coriander powder, curd and water as per the consistency and mix well.
- Finally add the soya chunks, kasoori methi and garam masala, give it a good mix and cover it. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Garnish it with sliced green chillies and serve it hot.
Conclusion
Weight management may be a hard nut to crack, especially when food comes into the picture, but with exercise and weight control products, diet is also a very important thing. But whenever we think about weight management only tasteless and boring food comes to mind. The above-mentioned recipes are your perfect escape from this tasteless food and a route towards healthy weight loss.
