 |
| Spices |
.
Please read through before you go to an Indian restaurant buffet on the weekend!! Indians love to eat traditional Indian dishes. India is a country with diverse languages, dialect, cultures and cuisines. All the cuisines are mouth watering and have their own distinct taste.One cannot even dare to compare one to the other. As a Gujarati lady I love my staple meals with sweets with ghee – high in fat content and savory snacks…….. But, do we know the calorie content of that food?
Here is a quick cheat sheet to get an idea so we can cut back on fried and sweet dishes. Personally I believe all food is good in if we can control the portions and frequency to consume that particular dishes or food preparations.Our basic meal components are vegetables.–Dals /lentils/legumes — curries beans base. Rice,roti,dosa,paratha–grain based meals with some carbohydrates.
Basic calorie counts are:
Puri–150 calories whole wheat
Rotis— 85 calories of 6″ diameter fat content -0.5 gms whole wheat flour
Dal urad /split matepa beans–154 calories per one bowl fat content –6gms
Rajama/chana–153 calories per 150 gms fat content -5gms
mixed vegetables 142 calories per 150 gms . Fat content- 15 gms based on oil
Plain dosa – 125 calories meduim dosa . fat content 3gms
Idlis -132 calories for 2 pc. Fat content: 3 gms
yougurt rice-190 calories per 100 gms. Fat content- 7gms
 |
| Typical Gujarati Thali |
coconut rice 368 calories per 100 gms fat content 15 gms
Fried rice-120 calories
Brown bread 1pc-70 calories
Naan bread 1pc-317 calories
Sweets:
Jalebi: 100 gm-1 pc 380 calories
Gulab Jamun 2pc -280 calories
Rasgullas 2pc- 110 calories
Sandesh 2pc- 60 calories
Gajar/ carrot halwa-150 gm-260 calories
Barfi 1pc-103 calories
Ras malai 2pc-250 calories
Snacks:
Potatowada 2small pc -170 calories
Indian tea with 2tsp skim milk and 2tsp sugar 200 calories
sweet lassi -150 calories
Milkshake -185 calories
coconut chutney-64 calories
Papad- 142 calories
one Traditional Samosa– 252 calories
Steamed one piece Dhokla– 150 calories
hand full of Chivda- 201 calories
4 pieces of Chakli/ Muruku- 140 Calories
2 pieces Pakora– 90 calories
1 piece of Chana dal vada– 100 pieces
1 piece of Aloo tikki- 275 calories
1 plate of Papri chat with 6 pieces- 712 calories
100 gms of Bhel Puri– 176 calories
This is just the estimate of numbers. Calorie counts in Indian food may differ with the type oil used and other ingredients like cream in north Indian dishes. Staple foods such as roti, rice, beans, vegetables are very healthy and does not depend on processing. Indian meal is low fat and low in calories. It consist of carbohydrates, natural proteins and healthy starch which is required for the human body.
Healthy Substitutes
Bake in oven instead of frying
Substitute with agave nectar for regular cane sugar
Controlling portions is also a good way to cut down calories.
steamed, boiled, stir fried, sauteed ,pressure-cooked rice can be an excellent.
Salt intake can be reduced watch for sodium content like papad
Use of fresh herbs and spices to flavor the dishes instead of oil and sugar
Use of whole grains
For tampering use healthy oil like 1tsp instead of 3tsp
 |
| Traditional way of grinding |