MacroArcCalories in Indian Food: A Chart of 37 Everyday Dishes
Most calorie charts online are built around Western food. Here are the numbers for what Indian households actually eat: roti, rice, dal, sabzi, paneer, biryani and chai, per typical serving.
Every value below comes from the Indian Nutrient Databank (INDB), which builds standard Indian recipes on top of ICMR-NIN's Indian Food Composition Tables. It is the same catalogue the MacroArc app uses. Recipes, oil and portion sizes vary from kitchen to kitchen, so treat these as good starting points, not exact numbers for your plate. The last column, calories per 100 g, helps you scale to your own portion.
Quick answers: one roti (about 36 g) has about 73 kcal. A 300 g plate of boiled rice has about 352 kcal. A bowl of moong dal has about 138 kcal, and a bowl of matar paneer about 374 kcal.
Calories in roti, paratha, dosa and other breakfasts
| Dish | Serving | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat | kcal per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chapati / roti | 1 roti (36 g) | 73 kcal | 2.1 g | 12.8 g | 1.3 g | 202 |
| Plain paratha | 1 paratha (56 g) | 166 kcal | 2.8 g | 17.1 g | 9.4 g | 297 |
| Aloo paratha | 1 paratha (93 g) | 191 kcal | 3.5 g | 22.3 g | 9.5 g | 206 |
| Naan | 1 naan (53 g) | 152 kcal | 4.3 g | 27.5 g | 2.7 g | 287 |
| Idli | 1 idli (25 g) | 34 kcal | 1.2 g | 7.1 g | 0.1 g | 138 |
| Masala dosa | 1 dosa (210 g) | 345 kcal | 6.9 g | 41.0 g | 16.4 g | 164 |
| Vegetable poha | 1 bowl (98 g) | 177 kcal | 4.8 g | 21.1 g | 7.9 g | 180 |
| Rava upma | 1 bowl (106 g) | 157 kcal | 3.5 g | 17.3 g | 8.0 g | 148 |
| Moong dal chilla (stuffed) | 1 chilla (227 g) | 352 kcal | 15.9 g | 44.2 g | 11.6 g | 155 |
A plain roti is one of the lightest staples on an Indian plate at about 73 kcal. A plain paratha has more than twice that, about 166 kcal, mostly from the ghee or oil it's cooked in. Swapping two parathas for two rotis saves you roughly 190 kcal a day without changing anything else.
Calories in rice, pulao and biryani
| Dish | Serving | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat | kcal per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boiled rice | 1 plate (300 g) | 352 kcal | 7.8 g | 77.2 g | 0.6 g | 117 |
| Plain pulao | 1 plate (308 g) | 432 kcal | 7.2 g | 67.2 g | 14.2 g | 140 |
| Jeera rice | 1 plate (271 g) | 366 kcal | 6.7 g | 63.9 g | 8.6 g | 135 |
| Curd rice | 1 plate (216 g) | 423 kcal | 12.4 g | 71.2 g | 9.3 g | 196 |
| Vegetable biryani | 1 plate (302 g) | 526 kcal | 9.5 g | 56.0 g | 28.7 g | 174 |
| Mutton biryani | 1 plate (208 g) | 396 kcal | 15.3 g | 46.7 g | 16.1 g | 191 |
Plain boiled rice is about 117 kcal per 100 g. Pulao, jeera rice and biryani add oil, ghee, nuts or meat, which is why a plate of vegetable biryani reaches about 526 kcal. Portion size matters more than the type of rice: a heaped restaurant plate can easily be twice the serving shown here.
Calories in dal, rajma, chole and paneer dishes
| Dish | Serving | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat | kcal per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moong dal (dhuli) | 1 bowl (277 g) | 138 kcal | 7.4 g | 16.4 g | 4.7 g | 50 |
| Masoor dal (whole) | 1 bowl (342 g) | 185 kcal | 7.8 g | 18.4 g | 8.6 g | 54 |
| Dal makhani | 1 bowl (353 g) | 262 kcal | 11.7 g | 28.1 g | 10.8 g | 74 |
| Rajma curry | 1 bowl (120 g) | 172 kcal | 7.1 g | 19.6 g | 6.9 g | 144 |
| Chole (white chickpea curry) | 1 bowl (120 g) | 196 kcal | 7.3 g | 24.0 g | 8.2 g | 163 |
| Sambar | 1 bowl (257 g) | 249 kcal | 8.6 g | 27.2 g | 11.3 g | 97 |
| Matar paneer | 1 bowl (277 g) | 374 kcal | 18.3 g | 25.8 g | 21.5 g | 135 |
| Palak paneer | 1 bowl (296 g) | 230 kcal | 11.9 g | 13.1 g | 14.1 g | 78 |
| Kadhai paneer | 1 bowl (318 g) | 344 kcal | 13.8 g | 23.4 g | 21.7 g | 108 |
| Aloo gobhi | 1 bowl (176 g) | 187 kcal | 3.3 g | 10.5 g | 14.3 g | 106 |
| Bhindi fry | 1 bowl (166 g) | 184 kcal | 3.0 g | 7.5 g | 15.4 g | 111 |
Thin, home-style dals such as moong (about 50 kcal per 100 g) are light. Creamy dal makhani and paneer curries carry more fat, from butter, cream and paneer itself. Paneer dishes are also among the best vegetarian sources of protein: a bowl of matar paneer gives about 18.3 g.
Calories in eggs, chicken and fish dishes
| Dish | Serving | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat | kcal per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egg bhurji | 1 egg (70 g) | 109 kcal | 7.2 g | 0.9 g | 8.5 g | 156 |
| Egg curry | 1 bowl (152 g) | 178 kcal | 8.2 g | 6.1 g | 13.4 g | 117 |
| Chicken curry | 1 bowl (248 g) | 320 kcal | 29.2 g | 8.4 g | 18.8 g | 129 |
| Butter chicken | 1 serving (275 g) | 377 kcal | 30.1 g | 10.3 g | 23.9 g | 137 |
| Tandoori chicken | 100 g (100 g) | 145 kcal | 16.3 g | 2.3 g | 7.9 g | 145 |
| Fish curry | 1 bowl (254 g) | 282 kcal | 22.3 g | 9.6 g | 17.0 g | 111 |
Tandoori chicken is the leanest option here at about 145 kcal and 16.3 g of protein per 100 g. Curries made with a lot of oil, butter or cream, like butter chicken, add fat quickly.
Calories in chai, lassi and sweets
| Dish | Serving | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat | kcal per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chai with milk and sugar | 1 cup (211 g) | 34 kcal | 0.8 g | 5.4 g | 1.1 g | 16 |
| Salted lassi / chaas-style | 1 tall glass (423 g) | 80 kcal | 5.7 g | 7.9 g | 3.0 g | 19 |
| Gajar halwa | 1 bowl (168 g) | 290 kcal | 5.2 g | 31.1 g | 16.3 g | 172 |
| Suji halwa | 1 bowl (160 g) | 360 kcal | 3.5 g | 39.4 g | 21.4 g | 225 |
| Besan ladoo | 1 ladoo (35 g) | 168 kcal | 3.1 g | 22.1 g | 8.0 g | 480 |
A cup of chai is only about 34 kcal, but four or five cups a day add up. Sweets are dense: a single besan ladoo is about 168 kcal, more than two plain rotis.
How to use this chart
- Check your portion. If your katori of dal is bigger or smaller than the serving shown, scale with the kcal-per-100-g column.
- Watch the oil. One teaspoon of oil or ghee is about 45 kcal. Extra tadka, butter on rotis and fried sides are where most hidden calories come from.
- Log consistently. Tracking every meal with roughly right numbers beats tracking a few meals perfectly. Read how to count calories in Indian food for a simple routine.
Rather not look things up? In MacroArc you can photograph your plate or type “2 roti, dal, aloo gobhi”, and it fills in these numbers for you.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories are in one roti?
A typical home-made roti or chapati (about 36 g) has about 73 kcal, with about 2 g of protein. A roti brushed with ghee has more.
How many calories are in a plate of rice?
A 300 g plate of plain boiled rice has about 350 kcal. Pulao, jeera rice and biryani have more because of the added oil, ghee and other ingredients.
Which Indian foods are lowest in calories?
Thin dals, plain rotis, idli, salads, raita made with low-fat curd and dry vegetable sabzis cooked with little oil are among the lighter choices. Fried snacks, rich curries and sweets are the most calorie-dense.
This article is general information, not medical advice. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant or are managing your weight for health reasons, talk to a doctor or registered dietitian.