How many calories does one Puran Poli have?

One Puran Poli gives 195 calories. Out of which carbohydrates comprise 123 calories, proteins account for 18 calories and remaining calories come from fat which is 57 calories.  One Puran Poli provides about 10 percent of the total daily calorie requirement of a standard adult diet of 2,000 calories.

Click here to view. Puran Poli recipe. The perfect preparation of Puran Poli is considered a highly-skilled task… an art actually! unlike Maharashtrian Puran Poli which uses chana dal, the Gujarati version makes use of toovar dal.

Its unique flavour and characteristic aroma can be attributed to the special Indian spices used.

You can also try other traditional Gujarati rotis like Padvali Roti, it tastes great with Aamras and Satpadi Roti which tastes awesome as it is or can be enjoyed with any subzi.

Is Puran Poli healthy?

No, this is not healthy. Let's see why.

Let's understand the Ingredients.

What's good.

1. Whole Wheat flour : Whole wheat flour is excellent for diabetics as they will not shoot up your blood sugar levels as they are a low GI food.  Whole wheat flour is rich in Phosphorus which is a major mineral which works closely with calcium to build our bones. Vitamin B9 helps your body to produce and maintain new cells, especially increase red blood cells. See detailed 11 benefits of whole wheat flour and why it's good for you.

2. Ghee : Other than calories and fats, the only nutrients that ghee is rich in are the vitamins – all of which are fat-soluble. All the 3 vitamins (Vitamin A, Vitamin E and Vitamin K) are antioxidants which have a role in removing free radicals from the body and protecting our cell as well as help in maintaining skin health and glow. Ghee is an excellent, high-quality selection medium of cooking because of its high smoke point. As compared to most oils and butter, ghee can handle a smoke point of 230°C, 450°F, thus its less prone to oxidant and destruction of nutrients. Yes, ghee does contain cholesterol, but some amount of cholesterol is needed by the body. Cholesterol has some functions to play too. It is necessary for hormone production, brain function, cell health and lubricating the joints. It is, in reality, a high quality fat for the body and brain. Ghee is loaded with fats but that’s medium chain fatty acids (MCT) which aid in weight loss. Ghee is healthy for daibetics in small amounts and you need to check your fat intake at the same time. Learn to easily make your ghee at home which is free of preservatives. See benefits of ghee. 

3. Toor Dal (tuvar dal, arhar dal, toovar dal) : Toor dal is rich in proteins, the building block of good health. High in fiber, diabetic and heart friendly. Being an excellent source of folic acid, pregnant women must include toor dal in their daily diet. Being an excellent source of fibre it helps in preventing and relieving gastric problems like constipation. See detailed benefits of toor dal. 

What's the problem?

1. Jaggery (Gur) : When compared to sugar, which provides only empty calories, jaggery is considered to be a superior natural sweetener. Sugar is definitely one of the causes of many chronic diseases, but jaggery too needs to be consumed in moderate amounts. What you would consume is just about a tbsp (18 g) or a tsp (6 g). While those with heart diseases and weight loss can have a dessert made with this quantity of jaggery occasionally as an option to refined sugar, but diabetics need to avoid this sweetener too as it can spike blood sugar levels instantly. Read is jaggery healthy for complete details.

Can diabetics, heart patients and over weight individuals have Puran Poli  ?

No, this recipe is not good for diabetics, heart and weight loss. What you would consume is just about a tbsp of Jaggery (18 g) or a tsp (6 g). While those with heart diseases and weight loss can have a dessert made with this quantity of jaggery occasionally as an option to refined sugar, but diabetics need to avoid this sweetener too as it can spike blood sugar levels instantly. This recipe has far too much of jaggery and hence best to avoid it.

What is a healthier Indian dessert option ?

We suggest you try low fat gajjar halwa recipe which uses dates as a sweetener and low fat milk which works well for diabetics. Make oats and mixed nuts ladoo recipe which is sweetened by jaggery or oats dates and kheer. 

Oats and Mixed Nuts Ladoo ( Healthy Laddu)

Try a jowar based Indian dessert which is s a complex carb and will be absorbed slowly in the blood stream and not cause a spike in insulin. The jowar apple sheera recipe is made with the addition of cows milk and apples and sweetened with honey.

Jowar Apple Sheera, Healthy Indian Sweet

Can healthy individuals have Puran Poli ?

No, this is not healthy. At best have half or one Puran Poli as a cheat meal. 

8 Pointers to get healthy on a Indian diet

1. Eat healthy and say yes to good home cooked food. Prefer whole grains like oatmeal, quinoa, buckwheat, barley and healthy flours like bajra flour, jowar flour, quinoa flour, wheat flour etc. rather than refined ones like maida. Have healthy Indian fats like ghee, coconut, coconut oil in your diet.

2. Opt out of junk food, packaged food, deep fried foods. Prefer steamed snacks and other non-fried snacks. Check out some Healthy Indian Snacks. Remember to eat small frequent meals through the day as that will keep you always full and prevent your blood sugar from dropping. By starving your body through some diet, will not help you one bit. In fact, dieting will make you binge on 2 to 3 meals which is not good. 

3. Have 4 to 5 servings of vegetables and 2 to 3 servings of fruit is a must. Follow the logic of a vegetable in each main meal of the day and a fruit in-between meals. Check out a few Healthy Indian Soups and Healthy Indian Salads  recipes using this food group.   

4. Cut down on sugar and salt in your diet and pick honey ( very small amounts) or dates to sweeten your food. Slowly cut the sugar habit as this is not going to happen over night. Sugar  is also called white poison. It is a simple carbohydrate with zero nutritional value. On intake, sugar will cause inflammation of the body which will last for many hours. It will spike your blood sugar level and shut down the fat burning process. This also causes high blood sugar levels in your body. The development of prediabetes comes from uncontrolled eating sugar and refined food products for many years and the classic symptom is if you have excess belly fat. This leads to diabetes and further onwards to heart attack, high blood pressure, strokes, impotence and kidney damage. 

Salt and blood pressure. Apart from stress and obesity, one of the main reasons for high blood pressure is excessive sodium and salt intake. Most people find it difficult to limit the amount of salt in their cooking, thinking it will affect the taste of their favourite dishes. 

This is not true. Bajra and jowar are rich in potassium and critical for those with High Blood Pressure as it lessens the impact of sodium. Eating more Potassium Rich Foods will remove more sodium from your body through urine. So include the basic bajra roti and jowar roti in your daily diet to have with Lower Blood Pressure Subzis Recipes. 

5. Befriend a few healthy seeds and nuts like chia seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts and almonds. 

6.  Sprouts are called ‘living food’. They are high is most nutrients and easy to digest as well. Let them feature in your meals at least thrice a week. Also Read : All Benefits about Sprouts. 

7.  Exercise 45 minutes every day. No excuse. You can walk fast, run, do weights, play your favourite sport or go to the gym.

8.  Sleep early and get up early. Get your body into rhythm and it will function best. Sleep helps your body to recover.

How to burn 195 calories that come from Puran Poli?

Walking (6 kmph) = 59 mins

Running (11 kmph) = 20 mins

Cycling (30 kmph) = 26 mins       

Swimming (2 kmph) = 33 mins

Note: These values are approximate and calorie burning differs in each individual.