Calories in Aloo Bonda

The figure comes from ICMR-NIN's list of approximate calorific values, where 2 bondas are put at about 200 kcal. No weight is given for the bonda. In kitchens and at stalls the potato ball can be the size of a lemon or the size of a small orange, and the Mumbai batata vada made for vada pav is usually on the large side. The 100 kcal is for the bonda by itself: no pav, no dry garlic chutney, no fried chilli. Half a bonda is about 50 kcal and three bondas are about 300 kcal.

An aloo bonda is a ball of mashed potato, cooked with onion, green peas and a tadka, dipped in besan batter and deep-fried. The potato centre is already cooked and fairly moist, so it takes up little oil itself. The batter is where the frying oil goes: it forms a shell around the ball, and the thicker and more porous that shell, the more oil it holds. Potato and besan supply starch, the besan adds a little protein, and the oil, being the most concentrated source of calories, supplies a share out of proportion to its weight.

One aloo bonda is about 5% of a sedentary man's daily energy requirement and 6% of a woman's. Two with tea are about 200 kcal. In this set of 10 fried snacks it is seventh lightest, between a piece of fish fry at 95 kcal and a sabudana vada at 105 kcal. As a meal it is thin: potato in a besan shell has little protein and few vegetables. When a vada pav is lunch, adding a glass of chaas or a bowl of sprouts does more good than adding a second one.

The 100 kcal is approximate and covers the bonda alone. The combination most people actually eat, a large vada in a pav with chutneys and a fried chilli, is a bigger item than the guideline describes, and it is mostly starch and fat. Stall oil is often reused through the day. People managing diabetes or blood pressure should take advice from their doctor or dietitian about how often such snacks fit.