A crispy exterior and a tangy vegetable and noodle filling served piping hot! Now what’s not to like about the popular veggie spring roll? This popular Indian dish comes packed with vegetables and is easy on the pocket. This popular Indian dish is not just famous on the streets but is served in restaurants as well. Ideal for those who are short on time and want to grab a quick bite while on the run, the classic veg spring roll springs to their aid quite literally! Sadly, you will not find the nutritional information or the macronutrients of this popular snack/meal on any of the labels or menu cards. But don’t you worry, we’ve got you covered in today’s blog.

Ingredients: The dish is prepared with a roti or chapati roll that’s made using refined wheat flour, a pinch of sugar and refined oil to give it that elasticity. The roti are then half fried and stuffed with a mixture of vegetables and, in some cases, noodles as well, and deep fried in refined vegetable or palm oil to give them a golden brown texture and crispiness.

Carbohydrates: A single vegetable spring roll contains 16 grams of carbohydrates, or 64 kcal, most of which comes from the refined flour used to prepare the roti. While this dish does contain 3 grams of fibre that comes from the vegetables, do keep in mind that the vegetables are overcooked to the point where they’ve lost most of their vitamins and minerals. Getting back to the refined flour, as you’re aware that refined flour can and will spike your blood sugar levels and, over time, can lead to weight gain, besides killing the good bacteria that resides in your gut.

Fats: Since this dish is prepared by deep-frying the rolls in oil, which in all likelihood has been used multiple times, this is not just unhealthy, but is outright dangerous, as oils that have been heated beyond their smoking points and are heated multiple times can prove to be highly carcinogenic. Each spring roll contains 7.9 grams of fat, or 71.1 kcal, and since gram for gram, fat is the most calorically dense food, you are looking at a one-weight-gaining snack.

Protein: It should come as no surprise that protein is the most important macronutrient at only 2.6 grams, or 10.4 kcal. And what’s more, whatever little protein that you do get from this snack or meal is incomplete, which means that it lacks one or more essential amino acids.

So what’s the healthier option? As always, we at HYP suggest that you prepare your own meals, and the same is true with spring rolls. You can stuff it with paneer, chicken, or eggs, shallow fry it, or bake it. Instead of opting for a refined wheat flour roti, you can go for a whole wheat one. Better still, you can opt for a papad in which you can stuff the filling and bake in the oven for a few minutes to give you that crispy exterior.

There will always be unhealthy dishes, and we at HYP are committed to giving you healthier options. Do keep following us as we’ll be covering many more interesting topics in the next few days.