Calories in Dal Dhokli

Dal dhokli is the Gujarati and Rajasthani one-pot meal in which strips of spiced wheat dough are simmered in a sweet and sour toor dal. The recipe behind the figure makes 4 portions from 88 g of raw toor dal, 65 g of atta, 43 g of peanuts, 1 tablespoon of oil and a little sugar. The source leaves the bowl undefined, so the serving here is one of those 4 portions: 22 g of dal, 16 g of atta and 11 g of peanuts. As a full meal that is a small helping, and many people would eat two.

Half of the energy, 50%, comes from carbohydrate, 32% from fat and 17% from protein. The carbohydrate has two sources, the dal and the wheat dhokli, which is why this bowl stands in for dal and roti at once. The fat, 8.3 g, comes from the peanuts as well as the oil, of which each portion has less than a teaspoon. Protein reaches 10 g because dal, wheat and peanuts all add to it. The portion ranks 15 out of 20 among the dals and pulse curries in this set, but the others are eaten with rice or roti and this one already contains its grain.

One portion of dal dhokli is about 11% of a sedentary man's daily energy requirement and 14% of a woman's. Because it already contains its cereal, it needs no roti or rice, and two portions, at 462 kcal and 20 g of protein, make a reasonable lunch or dinner. Pulse and wheat in the same bowl give a more complete protein than either alone, and one portion has 6.3 g of fibre. What it lacks is a vegetable, so a salad, a kachumber or a plain sabzi fills the gap better than a third portion.

Dal dhokli contains wheat, so it is not suitable for anyone with coeliac disease or a wheat allergy; they should be guided by their doctor or dietitian. It also contains peanuts, a common allergen. The usual portion problem is the second bowl plus ghee, which together turn a moderate dish into a heavy one.