Dal Puri is a North Indian savoury flat bread that is stuffed with lentil paste and deep fried to a golden brown colour on both sides. Different lentils are for stuffing the puri like split yellow lentil (green gram dal) or even bengal gram dal. Dal Puri is believed to be traditionally a part of Bhojpuri cuisine popular in North Eastern India, including Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar. It is also prepared and savoured by people in West Bengal and Bangladesh as well.
Method of Preparation
As per the individual choice a half cup of any lentil may be used - split yellow lentil i.e. green gram(skinless) /split green gram (with skin) or split Bengal gram dal. After the dal is cleaned and soaked for a while, it may be cooked well before it is ground to a fine paste with little water. Some seasonings and spice powders like ginger and green chilli paste, coriander and cumin powders, garam masala powder and salt are added with little oil and kneaded along with the flour into a semi-soft dough. Puris are then prepared following the normal procedure by frying till light golden brown.
Nutritional Analysis
• There are about 230 calories per serving of dal puri, the calories from fat alone being about 23.4
• Total fat content is ~2.6 g of which saturated fat content is 0.4 g, cholesterol is 0 mg.
• Sodium content is 427 mg.
• Total carbohydrate content is 42.8 g of which dietary fibre makes up 7g and sugars constitute 1.7 g.
• Protein content of the dish is 9.3 g.
• Nutrition Profile shows that estimated percentage of total calories obtained from carbohydrates is 73.9 %, from fats is 10.1 % and from proteins is 16%.
In this dish it is the deep frying of the puris that makes it unfit for consumption by persons with weight issues, elevated lipid profile and perhaps Diabetics.
Healthier Alternatives
• Use of mixed lentils can deliver a different taste while making the dish rank higher in terms of its protein quality so it becomes suitable for children, pregnant women, athletes who require high protein intake as part of their diet.
• Small amounts of soy flour and bran powder may be added to the wheat flour so as to enhance fibre value and protein content. This would increase the satiety value of the product so portion control becomes possible.
• Using finely chopped drumstick leaves mixed in the dal stuffing will increase the nutritive value tremendously.
• Likewise some sesame seeds can be incorporated as a nutritional enhancement.
• Instead of deep fat frying, oven baking with olive oil would lower the calorie and fat content and make it suitable for consumption by all.
