Idli and dosa are probably the most popular South Indian dishes. But how healthy are they? Idli: Idli is a steamed cake made from fermented batter of rice and black lentils. It is made in a specialized mold and served with different types of chutney made from tomato, tamarind, coconut and Sambhar, which is made by adding vegetable to red gram dal. Each plain idli has approximately 39 calories, 2 grams protein, 2 grams dietary fiber, 8 grams carbohydrates and no fat. Dosa: Dosa is a kind of a flat pancake made from fermented batter of rice and black lentils. It is made on a hot griddle (tava) greased with oil. It is also served with different types of chutney made from tomato, tamarind, coconut and sambhar, which is made by adding vegetable to red gram dal. Each plain dosa contains approximately 120 calories, 2 grams protein, 1 gram dietary fiber, 17 grams carbohydrates and 3 grams fat. Idli and Dosa are not unhealthy, but the problem is that no one restricts themselves to 1 or 2 servings. People tend to overeat idlis and dosas. Also, different varieties like masala dosa, butter idlis, fried idlis, etc are higher in calories because of higher oil content and overeating will obviously pile up the calories. They are served with different varieties of chutney, some of which are high in calories like coconut chutney. I piece of coconut (approximately 45 grams) contains 159 calories and 15 grams of fat. However there are nutritional benefits of coconut and you need to keep a check on the amount you are consuming to minimize calorie intake.