Gulai is one of those dishes that sounds scarier than it is, calorie-wise. At 320 calories for a 200g serving with chicken and a ladle of gravy, it is not the disaster people assume. The rempah (lemongrass, turmeric, galangal and all that) barely registers at about 30 calories. The villain is the santan, which contributes roughly 110 calories just from the 80g of gravy clinging to your protein. The protein itself, at 165 calories per 100g cooked, is actually doing solid work for you. 22g of protein for 320 calories is a decent trade. Worth flagging that these are honest ballpark numbers though. There is almost no reliable lab data for home-style gulai or warung versions, so take this as a sensible estimate, not a lab result.
What actually swings the maths is the cook's hand with the santan and the protein they use. A generous pour of rich santan can quietly push a single serving from 320 to 400 calories without you noticing. Gulai ikan with tongkol or ikan patin is the leaner call, sitting around 250 calories per serving because fish is naturally lower fat than chicken thigh or beef. Gulai daging kawah, on the other hand, uses a fattier cut slow-cooked in a heavier gravy, and that lands at around 390 calories. The cooking oil adds another 15 calories from the initial frying of the rempah, which is standard for any santan-based dish. If you are eating gulai as one lauk out of a nasi campur plate, you are fine. Just go easy on the kuah lah.