If you are a butter chicken enthusiast and have also recently jumped ship to the keto diet (like I did a few months ago), you might be tempted to order a big plate of butter chicken the next time you are getting dinner with your family. Well, to be fair, it IS the best go-to Indian dish that perfectly fits the high-fat, low-carb lifestyle bracket. It’s full of cream and butter AND it has got chicken as well? Now who is not gonna love that?

It may look like the golden jackpot for those doing keto but the spicy truth is something else. Most restaurant made butter chicken is actually NOT keto friendly.

I am an Indian and I have been following keto pretty diligently the last couple of months. But if there’s one thing I have learnt, it is to completely skip that tempting bowl of restaurant-style butter chicken because chances are it is going to be a big roadblock in your keto diet. The reason is pretty simple and based on a complete lie. Many, or rather, most restaurants add sugar to their butter chicken in order to balance out the tangy taste of tomatoes and create that rich, slightly sweet flavoured gravy that everyone is in love with. It may not taste ‘sweet’ or ‘sugary’ in the traditional sense, but even a few teaspoons of sugar can quickly derail all your keto progress. And mind you, much more than that goes into the making of restaurant style butter chicken.

On top of this, the creamy gravy you love is made with cashew paste or thickening agents like cornstarch or flour in some variations. This adds more to the hidden carbs in your plate.

So what’s a keto-loving foodie supposed to do?

One smart move would be to take a step away from butter chicken and order chicken tikka masala for the table. It is pretty close to the former when it comes to taste, it is bold, spicy, satisfying minus the sweetness and the sugar.

Another one would be to go light on the gravy, because it is hiding a lot of carbs. Instead focus more on the juicy chicken pieces and get the protein in. They’re often marinated in yogurt and spices and hence are keto safe.