Calories in Puran Poli

The figure is for a standard recipe that makes 4 polis from 100 g of atta, 40 g of Bengal gram (chana dal), 60 g of jaggery and 1 tablespoon of ghee. Each poli therefore has 25 g of flour, 10 g of dal, 15 g of jaggery and about three-quarters of a teaspoon of ghee. This is a small poli made with whole wheat flour. Festival puran polis are often larger, many are made with maida, and the puran is frequently sweeter than this. Known as holige or obbattu further south, the dish varies by household, and so does its count.

Carbohydrate supplies 70% of the energy, fat 20% and protein 11%. The carbohydrate has three sources: the flour, the dal and the jaggery, and the jaggery accounts for most of the 13.2 g of sugars in a single poli. The chana dal is what sets puran poli apart from most sweets: it brings the protein to 5.1 g and, with the atta, the fibre to 4.4 g, and it adds some iron. The ghee in the recipe is restrained, so most of the fat in a real serving is whatever is poured on at the table.

Puran poli is a festival food, eaten at Holi, Gudi Padwa and Ganesh Chaturthi, usually after or alongside a full meal. One is about 9% of a sedentary man's daily energy requirement and 12% of a woman's; two make 392 kcal and three make 588 kcal, before ghee or milk. It is better placed as the sweet part of the meal than as an extra after dessert. Because it has dal in it, it is more filling than most sweets, and with milk or a thin katachi amti it can stand in for part of the meal.

The sugars are the figure to watch: 13.2 g in one small poli, most of it from the jaggery, and more in a sweeter or larger one. Jaggery is still sugar as far as the body's handling of it goes, whatever its other qualities. For most people a poli or two at a festival is simply part of the celebration. Anyone with diabetes, or who has been asked to limit sugar during pregnancy, should follow the guidance of their doctor or dietitian on whether and how much to have.