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6 Min
23/01/2026
Indian food is known for its rich flavours, spices, and textures. Many traditional recipes rely on oil, ghee or butter as the base, especially during the festive season. While fats are essential for flavour and nutrition, an excess of them can lead to health issues. This article focuses on how you can transform traditional recipes by using less oil and giving them a makeover. Dive deeper to know more.
Oil is an integral part of Indian cooking; it is used as a base, for tadka, to sautee and even for deep-frying. However, high oil consumption is related to a lot of diseases like obesity and cardiovascular diseases, among others, and many Indians are getting diagnosed with these diseases.
The ideal daily usage of oil should be 4-5 teaspoons per person. But Indian cuisine surpasses that. However, there are also less-oil versions of some recipes. With the usage of spices, herbs, and other pantry staples, it is possible to make the dish equally delicious, but by using less oil. Using less oil does not mean the food will be dry or bland. However, one must use the correct techniques and balance, such as steaming food properly, roasting, and using natural thickeners instead of oil. All you have to do is consider oil as a supporting factor in the curry, rather than the main ingredient, and you will be able to cook the curries more healthily. Read the articles to know the low-oil recipes!
In Indian cooking, there is a common misconception that curries need a lot of oil to taste good. However, extra oil simply floats on top of the curry without adding any flavour to it. Instead of this floating oil, let the onions, tomatoes, and spices cook slowly to enhance the flavour. Instead of using whole masalas that often require more oil, use spice powders that easily blend into less masala. You can use low-fat yoghurt or cashew paste to make the curries creamier without putting in extra oil.
For example, a traditional chole masala typically contains a lot of oil floating on top. However, a low-fat version can be made by pressure cooking chickpeas with ginger-garlic, tomatoes, and a roasted blend of spice powders, resulting in a thick curry with minimal fat.
Fried snacks, from samosa to pakoras, are loved in Indian cuisine! However, the oil used for deep frying them contains an abundance of calories. Instead of deep-frying, you can try using an air fryer or oven with minimal oil to make samosas, pakoras, or even crispy kebabs. Instead of aloo bonda, you can stuff vegetables inside the balls and shallow-fry them in a pan, which will result in less oil usage for snacks. When making homemade snacks that require a lot of oil, opt for roasted makhana or chana instead.
Try making a baked samosa, brushed with a light coat of oil that has the same flaky crunch and flavour as the fried one. This one will have 60 per cent fewer calories than the fried one.
Indian parathas or rotis are made by brushing oil or ghee over them on the tawa. Instead, use multigrain atta, which does not require oil, and only brush it with ghee after it is cooked. You can try using a spray bottle to apply oil to parathas while cooking, instead of a spoon, which often leads to excessive oil usage. Rather than stuffing potatoes, try stuffing parathas with vegetables that rely less on oil and more on the flavours of the vegetables. Even a simple change, such as reducing oil in a paratha from 2 teaspoons to half a teaspoon, can save 80–100 calories per serving.
Indian mithais are loaded with ghee, deep-fried bases, and sugar. For lighter options, replace deep-fried bases (such as jalebi) with baked or steamed sweets, like sandesh or patishapta. Use jaggery, dates, or honey in moderation instead of refined sugar. Swap ghee-heavy sweets with milk-based or fruit-based desserts such as shrikhand or fruit kheer.
An ideal example of this is baked gulab jamuns made with reduced ghee and baked instead of fried. This version absorbs syrup beautifully, but with far less fat and tastes delicious.
Here are some cooking tips and tricks to help you reduce oil consumption.
To use less oil in cooking, add spices like cumin or garam masala, which can replace the richness typically provided by oil. You can also start making gravies by sautéing them in a splash of water and then adding oil and spices to it, thereby reducing the quantity of oil used. Some dishes cannot be made without using oil. During such times, use mustard oil, sesame oil, and groundnut oil in small amounts, as these oils have healthier fats compared to refined oils. Cook in non-stick pans or heavy-bottom kadhais to reduce the oil absorption.
Low-oil cooking is not about giving up the foods we love; rather, it is about making small, mindful adjustments that preserve the taste while improving our health. From oil-free chole to air-fried pakoras and baked mithai, Indian cuisine is easily adaptable to making such small adjustments. These recipes help us stay healthy while enjoying the beloved foods in Indian cooking.
