Are chilled potatoes healthier than boiled ones?

Potatoes are extremely versatile and generally never disappoint when it comes to taste and functionality. French fries? check. Dum aloo? check. Mashed potatoes? check. This vegetable comes in all shapes and sizes to cater to your tongue!

But with potatoes’ popularity comes a narrative of extra calories and the horrified screams of weight watchers. If you are as health conscious as we are, trying this trick where you cook with chilled potatoes can apparently cause less damage to your health.

In conversation with a clinical expert, we find out the benefits of cooking with chilled potatoes rather than boiling them.

“Cooking and cooling of potato leads to formation of ‘resistant starch’. This type of starch goes undigested from the small intestines to large intestines, making it a great prebiotic which feeds the good bacteria in the gut and in turn helping to improve the gut microbiota,” said Reshma Nakte, clinical nutritionist and weight loss expert, Mumbai.

“Most carbohydrates in our diet are starches found in grains, potatoes, etc. But some types can skip digestion from your intestines, these are called resistant starch.

There are 4 types of resistant starches (RS):

RS1 (Physically Inaccessible Starch): Found in whole or partially milled grains and seeds where the starch is physically inaccessible to digestion.

RS2 (Resistant Granules): Found in raw potatoes, unripe bananas, and some legumes.

RS3 (Retrograded Starch): Formed when starchy foods are cooked and then cooled, such as potatoes, rice, and pasta.

RS4 (Chemically Modified Starch): Starches that have been chemically altered to resist digestion.

Cooking and cooling of potato leads to formation of “resistant starch. (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)

What’s the best way of cooking chilled potatoes?

“This hack can be used for all the busy people who want to enjoy their potatoes and other starches with less negative effects. Boil the potatoes and cool them before using it in any of your recipes such as parathas or vegetables. Even cooked and cooled rice will have a comparatively lesser glycemic index to steaming hot rice,” said Nakte.

How can you maintain starch resistance?

Nakte suggested first cooking the starch as per your choice by boiling, steaming, grilling or sauteing. This will gelatinize the starch preparing it for further retrogradation after cooling. This can be followed by cooling the potatoes for 3 to 4 hours or 8 to 12 hours in the fridge.

How long can you store such potatoes?

Nakte said that these potatoes can be stored for 3-4 days in the refrigerator or deep freeze them to increase their shelf life for a month.

“Gentle reheating can also be done before consumption. However, prolonged exposure to heat or high temperature cooking can breakdown the resistant starch,” she added.

“Boiling potatoes, mashing them and keeping them in fridge for next day can be used in making sandwiches, vegetable preparations, pastas, and parathas to name a few,” she said.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.