Overview
Fortifying a traditional South Asian diet
Important
This information is produced for adults under the care of Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals. We usually give you the information after an assessment or appointment. Your dietitian or other health professional may give you different guidance, depending on your specific medical needs.
It is important to check with a health professional before making any changes to your diet. Please contact your dietitian if you have any questions or concerns.
If you are not a patient at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals, please contact a GP or specialist health professional.
This information applies if you, your family or your carer have told us that you prefer traditional South Asian meals and snacks. It explains how to make your meals more nourishing (fortify them).
If you have any questions or concerns, please speak to your dietitian.
Your main meals
Try to make sure that each main meal contains a portion of carbohydrate, protein and vegetables. The following table has ideas for foods that give you a lot of energy from each food group:
| Carbohydrates | Protein | Vegetables |
|---|---|---|
| Chapati (with butter) | Beef or lamb curry | Bhindi (okra) curry |
| Paratha (flatbread) | Chicken curry | Saag aloo or aloo palak (spinach and potato curry) |
| Pilau rice (cooked using oil or ghee) | Fish curry | Mixed vegetables |
| Biryani | Paneer (a soft white cheese) | Courgette curry |
| Fried or curried potatoes | Eggs | Aloo gobi curry (cauliflower and potato curry) |
| Naan (flatbread) | Aloo keema (ground beef and potato curry) | Kerala curry (curry often made with coconut milk and a variety of spices) |
| Pakora (vegetables or meat fried in batter) or onion bhaji (crispy onion cakes) | Whole masoor dal (brown lentil curry) | Eggplant curry |
| Samosas | Chana or urad dal (split chickpeas or split black lentils) | Broccoli curry |
Food fortification
Food fortification is a method used to increase the calories and protein in foods without increasing the amount that you eat. This is particularly useful if you have a low appetite and feel full quickly (early satiety).
Here are some tips that you may find helpful:
Do
- add oil, butter and ghee to vegetable dishes and curries or parathas (flatbreads) during cooking
- add coconut cream to curries or use coconut milk as the base to increase calorie content
- prepare sweet dishes with cream, condensed milk, honey or sugar, crushed or ground nuts, or dried fruit
- make vegetarian dishes, such as aloo matar (potato and pea curry) or palak saag (spinach curry) by adding vegetarian sources of protein, such as paneer or tofu
- make all-in-one dishes and fortify them, such as parathas stuffed with potatoes, leftover curry or keema (a spicy dish containing minced meat), biryani made with meat or paneer, or khichdi (a one-pot dish with dal and rice)
- if you follow a vegetarian diet, include vegetarian sources of protein at every meal or as a snack (such as tinned pulses, paneer, tofu, nuts, seeds and eggs if you eat them)
- melt butter in a pan before reheating vegetable or lentil curry to improve the flavour, and add more moisture and calories
Snacks and desserts
You should aim to have 2 to 3 snacks a day and more if you cannot finish a meal.
Here are some ideas for snacks and desserts:
- Milky puddings include kheer (sweet rice pudding), kulfi (ice cream) and full-fat yoghurts. You can fortify them with cream, condensed milk, full-fat milk, tahini (a paste made from sesame seeds) and ground or crushed nuts.
- Sweet options include cake rusk (cake that has been baked twice to make it crunchy), biscuits, mishri (white sugar candy), shakar paray (wheatflour balls dipped in sugar syrup) and mithai (Indian sweets).
- Savoury options include Bombay mix, chevdo (a snack mix), gathia (deep-fried snacks made from chickpea flour), and dried or roasted nuts or chickpeas.
- Hot savoury snacks include pakora (small crispy fritters made from various vegetables), meat kebabs, spring rolls and samosas. You can fill samosas with meat, paneer or vegetables.
- Chaats are a mixture of potato pieces, crisp fried bread (dahi vada or dahi bhalla), gram flour or chickpeas, and strong salty spices. They are served with sour Indian chilli and saunth (dried ginger and tamarind sauce), fresh green coriander leaves and yoghurt for garnish. You can eat chaats with samosas or bhel puri (savoury snacks made of puffed rice and puri).
Drinks
You should aim to have 8 to 10 drinks a day. Here are some ideas:
- You can try badam milk, which is an Indian milk drink flavoured with soaked almonds, cardamom and saffron. It can be made with skimmed milk powder or ground almonds.
- You can make chai or chaa (tea) with full-fat or condensed milk.
- The yoghurt-based drink, lassi, is a good nourishing snack or drink between meals. You can fortify it with ground nuts, full-fat milk or cream.
- You can try milky drinks, such as hot chocolate, Horlicks®, Ovaltine® and milkshakes.
- Nimbu pani is a spiced drink similar to a still lemonade. It is a made with freshly squeezed lemon, black salt and sugar. This is another option to milk-based nourishing drinks and can be fortified with extra sugar and golden syrup.
- You can try fresh fruit juice or fruit smoothies, such as mango juice.
- You can add sugar or honey to drinks for extra sweetness and energy.
If you have diabetes
If you have diabetes, you need to continue choosing sugar-free drinks. However, you can have some foods that contain sugar as part of a fortified diet. Speak to your GP, nurse or diabetes team for more information.
Condiments
A condiment is something that you add to food to improve its taste or flavour. Here are some ideas:
- You can have raitas (yoghurt-based side dishes or dips) with your meals and choose full-fat yoghurt. The most common raita is made of finely chopped cucumber in yoghurt or small balls of fried gram flour served with yoghurt (boondi).
- Chutneys are usually made with vegetables, herbs or fruit. They are a relish that can be sweet and sour or spicy and sour. Chutneys tend to be made fresh and the ingredients are preserved with an acid (either citrus or vinegar). They are often eaten as dips or sauces with Indian snacks.
- You can try eating chilli pickle with your main meals. It is best to choose oil-based pickles, if possible.
Example of a fortified meal plan
Here is a sample meal plan with fortified foods:
- Breakfast: Shakar paray or cake rusks with chai
- Lunch: Chapati (with extra butter) and chicken curry (prepared with extra oil, butter or ghee)
- Mid-afternoon snack: Mithai, kheer or Bombay mix
- Dinner: Chapati (with extra butter) and saag aloo or paneer (prepared with extra oil, butter or ghee)
- Snack before bedtime: Chai and full-fat yoghurt
Resource number: 5521/VER1
Last reviewed: April 2025
Next review due: April 2028
A list of sources is available on request.
