When Dr Hafisa Salim Daber, a Kozhikode-based doctor with more than 130K followers on Instagram, posts a reel, her audience listens. Known for her advice on health and wellness, in her latest video, she
shares an “official breakfast scorecard.” Instead of celebrating South India’s breakfast icons for their taste or nostalgia, she rates six dishes strictly through a nutritional lens, using calories, glycaemic index (GI), protein, fat and fibre as her markers.
Her caption sets the tone. “I’ve rated six of the most popular South Indian breakfasts — from Idli to Porotta — based on their glycaemic index, protein, fat, and fibre content. Which one do you think topped the list? You might be surprised which dish scored a shocking 0/10 for everyday health!”
Watch the clip here:
Puttu: 8/10
Dr Hafisa begins with puttu, a Kerala staple made from steamed rice flour and grated coconut. She gives it a commendable 8/10. A 150-gram serving contains roughly 180 to 220 calories and a GI of 50 to 65, placing it in the moderate range. Paired with chickpea curry or an egg, she says, it forms a balanced, slow-digesting meal that keeps energy levels steady through the morning.
Idli And Dosa: 9/10
The reel then turns to two dishes that define South Indian breakfast culture: idli and dosa. Dr Hafisa classifies them separately, but both score high, with idli earning 9/10.
Her justification is straightforward. Both are fermented foods, rich in natural probiotics, which promote gut health and aid digestion. A 150-gram portion of idli contains only 80 to 90 calories, making it one of the lightest options on the list.
A dosa of the same weight carries around 150 calories, but it shares the same benefits of fermentation, offering probiotics and modest protein. Both idli and dosa sit at a GI of 60 to 70, slightly higher than puttu but still within the moderate range.
The fermentation of rice and urad dal, she says, gives these dishes a nutritional edge.
Upma: 6/10
Moving to upma, Dr Hafisa rates it 6/10. Made from durum wheat (semolina), upma has a fair nutrient profile but falls into the moderate calorie and moderate GI brackets. A 150-gram bowl contains 200 to 300 kilocalories, with a GI between 55 and 65. She adds that upma can be significantly improved by adding more vegetables and using good fats, such as a small amount of ghee, to improve flavour and satiety.
Appam With Egg Curry: 7/10
Her next choice is appam with egg curry, which she gives a 7/10. A 150-gram serving carries around 210 to 250 kilocalories and a GI of 65 to 70. Appam, being fermented, is good for the gut, but it is low in protein, meaning the egg does most of the nutritional heavy lifting. Overall, she views the dish as reasonably balanced but not exceptional.
Puri With Sabzi: 4/10
Next up is puri and sabzi, a nostalgic favourite but not the strongest contender nutritionally. She gives it a 4 out of 10. Her reasoning is blunt. Puris are deep-fried, usually made with maida, and have low fibre and almost no protein. This makes them calorie-dense, harder to digest and less supportive of sustained energy, and they are not very healthy, she says. The accompanying sabzi adds some nutrients, but not enough to offset the imbalance. She suggests adding more vegetables, such as carrots, but maintains that the dish remains a less healthy start to the day.
Parotta With Beef: 0/10
She ends her list with a crowd favourite, parotta with beef, but the score she gives it is far from generous. This combination gets a 0 out of 10, making it the lowest-rated dish in her entire lineup. She calls it bad breakfast food.
A serving of two parottas with a little beef (about 150 grams of total weight) comes to around 375 to 420 kilocalories, sometimes going up to 400 to 500 calories depending on how it’s prepared. The glycemic index ranges from 70 to 80, placing it firmly in the high-GI category. Her verdict is simple. Parottas are high in carbohydrates, rich in saturated fats and extremely low in fibre. The beef adds flavour but doesn’t balance the nutrient profile enough to qualify it as a healthy breakfast.
Despite the range of scores, her message is not about restriction. She signs off with a reminder to enjoy your favourites, but to manage cravings wisely and practise moderation.
