A popular north Indian dish that's slowly but surely growing in popularity across the country is Dum Aloo, and for good reason. Starchy and creamy potatoes cooked in a tangy onion, tomato, and cashew gravy, served with either rice or chappati/naan or roti, packs a lot of flavour. But have you ever tried to calculate how many calories each serving of Dum Aloo contains? We'll break down the recipe and dish for you to get to the bottom of this.
Ingredients: As always, we analyze the ingredients before drawing conclusions and our observations. The main ingredient in the dish here, as the name suggests, is potato, which is not just a starchy carbohydrate that sits high on the glycemic scale. The other ingredients used here are tomatoes, onions, cashew, cream, and a mixture of spices making up the major part of the gravy.
Carbohydrates: Each serving of Dum Aloo contains 26 grams of Carbohydrates or 162 Kcal, and most if not all of the carbohydrates come from potatoes. To put that into perspective, that makes up close to 36% of the calories that the dish contains. Not only are potatoes extremely starchy, but they sit high on the glycemic index, which will cause a spike in your blood glucose levels. If you are unable to decide which carbohydrates are good for you then click here to read more.
Fats: Fats are an essential macronutrient, but not all fats are good for you. Each serving of Dum Aloo contains 18 grams of fats or 162 Kcal. Most of the fats come from the refined oil that's utilized to prepare the dish. While some of it comes from cashew and cream, the amount is negligible. In fact, fats alone in this dish make up 56% of the total calories. Now that number alone should give you an estimate of how heavy this dish is in terms of calories and on the belly.
Protein: As has been the trend with unhealthy dishes, the most important macronutrient protein is the lowest here. Each dish contains a mere 6 grams of protein or 24 Kcal. To put that into perspective, that's just 8% of the total calories that the dish contains. Moreover, the protein that this dish contains is an incomplete protein, which means that it lacks one or more amino acids.
As always, we are committed to providing you with a healthier option. If you're looking to prepare a healthier version of this dish, then you can reduce the amount of vegetable oil, reducing the number of potatoes, whilst adding a healthy source of protein such as peas, paneer, or tofu to make it more macro friendly and healthier.
So there you have it, another popular dish covered for you. Keep following us for more information.
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