Calories in Indian Food: Roti, Dal, Rice and Paneer
General information: This article is information about food data. No dietitian or doctor has reviewed it, and it is not a substitute for their advice.
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Join the NYUS waitlistShort answer: by our portions, one medium roti (30 g of atta) is about 96 kcal, one katori of cooked rice (150 g) about 195 kcal, one katori of thick toor dal (our recipe) about 177 kcal, 50 g of paneer about 153 kcal and one boiled egg about 74 kcal. Roti, paneer and egg come from IFCT 2017 (ICMR-NIN) rows and rice from USDA FoodData Central; the arithmetic for every line is in the table and the Sources below.
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If you eat the way most Indian households actually eat — roti and sabzi, dal-chawal, idli or poha for breakfast, a chicken or paneer curry at night — generic Western calorie databases will steer you wrong. This is a practical reference for the calories and macros (protein, carbs, fat) in the foods you eat every day, measured in real kitchen portions, not abstract "100 g" blocks you'd never serve.
Calories and macros in common Indian foods
Roti, paneer and egg are straight from IFCT 2017 rows, and rice and curd are from USDA FoodData Central. IFCT has no cooked-dish rows, so dal, rajma, poha and chicken curry are worked out from IFCT rows and the recipe written in each row: they are our own examples, not measured dishes, and your recipe, oil and portion will shift them. The arithmetic is in the Sources below.
| Food | Typical serving | Grams | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roti / chapati | 1 medium, no ghee (30 g atta, about 40 g dough) | ~40 g dough | ~96 kcal | 3.2 g | 19 g | 0.5 g |
| Plain rice (cooked) | 1 katori | ~150 g | ~195 kcal | 4 g | 43 g | 0.5 g |
| Toor dal (cooked, tempered) | 1 katori, thick dal (our recipe) | ~150 g cooked (40 g dry dal + 5 g oil) | ~177 kcal | 8.7 g | 22 g | 5.6 g |
| Rajma (cooked, tempered) | 1 katori, thick (our recipe) | ~150 g cooked (40 g dry rajma + 5 g oil) | ~164 kcal | 7.8 g | 20 g | 5.7 g |
| Paneer (raw) | 50 g cube | 50 g | ~153 kcal | 9.4 g | 1.2 g | 12.4 g |
| Poha (cooked) | 1 plate (our recipe) | ~95 g raw ingredients (60 g dry flakes + 5 g oil + 30 g onion) | ~272 kcal | 4.9 g | 49 g | 5.8 g |
| Chicken curry (home style) | 1 serving (our recipe) | ~200 g of ingredients (120 g skinless thigh + 10 g oil + 40 g onion + 30 g tomato) | ~355 kcal | 22.6 g | 5 g | 27.2 g |
| Boiled egg | 1 large | ~50 g | ~74 kcal | 6.7 g | ~0 g | 5.3 g |
| Curd / dahi (whole milk) | 1 katori | ~150 g | ~90 kcal | 5 g | 7 g | 5 g |
Other recipes give other totals. With the weights stated in each guide, a toor dal tadka with 10 g of ghee is about 259.4 kcal in our dal tadka guide, a rajma masala about 256.6 kcal in our rajma masala guide, a plate of kanda poha with peanuts and 2 teaspoons of oil about 340.4 kcal in our kanda poha guide, and a chicken curry about 407.8 kcal with breast or 455.1 kcal with thigh in our chicken curry guide. These are our estimates from IFCT 2017 rows, not measured dishes.
Portions are where tracking really goes wrong
The single biggest source of error isn't picking the wrong food — it's getting the portion wrong. A "katori" in one home is 120 g; in another it's 200 g. Two rotis at a wedding are not the same as two at home. A few realistic anchors that save you from over- or under-counting:
- One medium roti is roughly 40 g of dough (30 g of atta) and about 96 kcal. If yours are bigger or brushed with ghee, count more: 40 g of atta is about 128 kcal, 45 g about 144 kcal, and a 30 g atta roti with a teaspoon (about 5 g) of ghee is about 141 kcal (IFCT 2017 A019; 9 kcal per gram of fat). Ghee gets its own myth-check in is ghee good for weight loss.
- One katori of cooked rice is about 150 g. A restaurant "full plate" can be 2–3 katoris — easily 400–600 kcal of rice alone.
- Dal and curry calories swing mostly on oil and cream. A light home tadka is far leaner than a restaurant gravy with butter and malai — and since a teaspoon of any oil or ghee (about 5 g of fat) is about 45 kcal, see which cooking oil is best for weight loss for how much matters more than which.
- Frying changes everything. Per 100 g, a potato is about 87 kcal boiled in its skin (USDA FDC 170438) and about 265 kcal as home-prepared hash browns (FDC 170036), the difference being largely the cooking fat.
- Sugar is sugar regardless of name — jaggery is close to white sugar in calories, about 354 kcal per 100 g (IFCT 2017 I001) against 387 kcal for granulated sugar (USDA FDC 169655), see jaggery vs sugar for weight loss for the honest math.
Trying to decide between the two staples on your plate? See our evidence-based breakdown of roti vs rice for weight loss — calories, fibre, glycemic index and portion traps compared. If rice is your staple, our brown rice vs white rice for weight loss guide covers the calorie gap, the fibre edge and the arsenic trade-off. And if breakfast is your weak spot, see which Indian breakfast is best for weight loss — idli, dosa, poha, upma and paratha compared, plus the protein gap that leaves you hungry by 11. Curious about bajra, jowar and ragi instead of rice or wheat? See our millets vs rice & wheat for weight loss comparison — the real fibre and glycemic-index edge, and where the millet hype overreaches.
Hitting your protein target on an Indian plate
Indian vegetarian eating tends to be carb-forward, so protein is usually the macro people fall short on. The good news: it's very fixable without changing your cuisine. Build each meal around a protein anchor and the numbers add up fast.
- Dal and legumes give about 8 to 9 g protein per katori of a thick dal or rajma (40 g dry: toor dal 8.7 g, rajma 7.8 g, IFCT 2017), less if the dal is thin. Two katoris across the day is real protein.
- Paneer, curd and milk are easy dairy wins; 100 g paneer is ~19 g protein (IFCT 2017, L003: 18.86 g).
- Eggs, chicken and fish are the most protein-dense per calorie — the chicken curry in the table (120 g skinless thigh) carries about 23 g (IFCT 2017 N002: 18.18 g per 100 g).
- Pair grains with legumes (dal-chawal, rajma-roti) so the amino acid profile is more complete across the meal.
For a deeper plate-by-plate breakdown, see our high-protein Indian foods guide, and if you're new to the whole idea of protein, carb and fat targets, start with the macro tracking beginners guide.
Why logging in kitchen units beats generic entries
Most calorie apps were built around Western foods, so when you search "dal" or "sabzi" you get a vague generic entry — or you're forced to weigh everything in grams, which nobody sustains. The result is a log that's either wrong or abandoned within a week.
The fix is logging the way you actually serve food: "1 katori dal", "2 rotis", "1 plate poha". When the units match your kitchen, you log in seconds and the numbers stay honest because you're not mentally converting a 250 g database entry into the half-bowl you ate. For a plate, our photo calorie counter guide shows what a photo can and cannot see; for a pack, our barcode scanner guide shows how to log it in seconds.
Related reading: Calories in Bhindi, Lauki, Palak, Cabbage (per 100 g), Calories in Boiled Bhindi, Gobi, Palak and Baingan, Calories in Green Peas, Beans and Drumstick and Calories in 1 Potato, Brinjal, Bhindi, Karela, Lauki.
How NYUS handles this
NYUS is built India-first for exactly this problem. It includes 8,900+ Indian and global foods, almost all with macros from food-composition data — roti, dal, idli, dosa, biryani, paneer dishes, regional staples — and lets you log in familiar serving units — per roti, per cup, per piece — instead of forcing grams. Macro tracking then rolls your day up into calories, protein, carbs and fat against your target, and a weekly check-in uses what you log to adjust your calories, macros and step goal once enough is logged.
You can start with the full experience (no credit card to start): a 30-day free trial, then plans from ₹499 for one month, paid once with no auto-renewal. See how NYUS tracks Indian food or read more about the NYUS AI fitness coach.
The honest takeaway
You don't need to memorise a single number. You need a workable mental model: most rotis (30 g of atta) are around 96 kcal, a katori of rice is around 195, a katori of thick dal is around 177 (our recipe, in the Sources), and protein comes from your dal, dairy, eggs and meat — not your grains. Get portions roughly right, log in your own kitchen units, and tracking Indian food stops being a chore and starts being accurate.
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Join the NYUS waitlistFrequently asked questions
How many calories are in a plate of poha, a katori of dal tadka or a chicken curry?
It depends on the recipe. In the table on this page a poha plate (60 g of dry flakes, 5 g of oil and 30 g of onion) is about 272 kcal and a katori of thick toor dal about 177 kcal. With the weights stated in our worked guides, kanda poha with peanuts and 2 teaspoons of oil is about 340.4 kcal, a toor dal tadka with 10 g of ghee about 259.4 kcal, and a chicken curry about 407.8 kcal (breast) or 455.1 kcal (thigh). All of these are our estimates from IFCT 2017 rows, not measured dishes.
How many calories and how much protein are in 50 g of paneer or one boiled egg?
IFCT 2017 gives paneer (row L003) 305 kcal and 18.86 g protein per 100 g, so 50 g is about 153 kcal and 9.4 g protein; boiled egg (row M004) is 148 kcal and 13.43 g protein per 100 g, so one 50 g egg is about 74 kcal and 6.7 g protein. The 50 g weights are ours.
Where do the calories in this table come from?
The roti, paneer and boiled egg lines come from ICMR-NIN IFCT 2017 Table 1 rows A019 (atta, 320 kcal per 100 g), L003 (paneer, 305 kcal) and M004 (egg, 148 kcal), and the rice line from USDA FoodData Central FDC 168878 (130 kcal per 100 g cooked). Dal, rajma, poha and chicken curry are our own worked examples from IFCT rows and stated recipes, not measured dishes, so your recipe, oil and portion will change them.
How many calories are in one roti?
A medium home-made roti or chapati (about 40 g of dough, made from about 30 g of atta, no ghee) is roughly 96 calories, with around 3.2 g protein, 19 g carbs and 0.5 g fat. Bigger rotis or ones brushed with ghee run higher: 40 g of atta is about 128 calories, and a 30 g atta roti with a teaspoon of ghee is about 141.
How much protein is in one katori of dal?
A katori of thick toor dal (about 150 g cooked, our recipe of 40 g dry dal and 5 g oil) works out at about 8.7 g of protein and about 177 calories from IFCT 2017 rows; a thinner dal has less. Rajma made the same way is about 7.8 g and 164 calories. Either is a reliable everyday protein source on an Indian plate.
How many calories are in a katori of rice?
One katori of plain cooked rice is about 150 g and roughly 195 calories, made up almost entirely of carbohydrate (around 43 g) with very little fat. Restaurant portions are often two to three katoris, so the calories add up quickly.
Why should I log Indian food in kitchen units instead of grams?
Logging in familiar serving units (per roti, per cup, per piece) matches how you actually serve food, so it's fast and stays accurate — you're not converting a 250 g database entry into the half-bowl you really ate. NYUS has 8,900+ Indian and global foods and logs everyday Indian foods in these kitchen units, which is why everyday tracking sticks.
Is NYUS free to use for tracking Indian food?
You start with a 30-day free trial, then plans from ₹499 for one month, paid once with no auto-renewal, and no credit card to begin, with access to the full app — 8,900+ Indian and global foods, almost all with macros from food-composition data, workout and diet plans and the AI coach.
Sources
- Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (IFCT 2017), ICMR-NIN, Table 1 (PDF): atta A019 (PDF p. 42: 1340 kJ = 320 kcal, 10.57 g protein, 64.17 g carbohydrate, 1.53 g fat per 100 g; 30 g = 96 kcal, 3.2 g protein, 19 g carbohydrate, 0.5 g fat), boiled egg M004 (PDF p. 58: 618 kJ = 148 kcal, 13.43 g protein, 10.54 g fat per 100 g; 50 g = 74 kcal, 6.7 g protein, 5.3 g fat) and paneer L003 (PDF p. 57: 1278 kJ = 305 kcal, 18.86 g protein, 2.41 g carbohydrate and 24.78 g fat per 100 g; 50 g = 153 kcal, 9.4 g protein, 1.2 g carbohydrate, 12.4 g fat). kcal = kJ / 4.184.
- IFCT 2017, Table 1, rows used for the worked dishes, per 100 g raw (energy = kJ / 4.184): red gram dal B021 (PDF p. 43: 1384 kJ, 21.70 g protein, 55.23 g carbohydrate, 1.56 g fat), rajmah brown B019 (p. 43: 1245 kJ, 19.50 g, 48.83 g, 1.68 g), rice flakes A011 (p. 41: 1480 kJ, 7.44 g, 76.75 g, 1.14 g), onion big G017 (p. 54: 201 kJ, 1.50 g, 9.56 g, 0.24 g), tomato ripe hybrid D075 (p. 48: 79 kJ, 0.76 g, 3.20 g, 0.25 g), chicken thigh skinless N002 (p. 58: 836 kJ, 18.18 g protein, 14.23 g fat; the poultry table has no carbohydrate column, so none is counted) and jaggery, cane I001 (p. 56: 1480 kJ = 354 kcal).
- Fat energy: "a gram of fat yields 9 Cal" (IFCT 2017, PDF p. 10). A teaspoon of oil or ghee is about 5 g (4 to 10 teaspoons for 20 to 50 g of visible fat a day, DGI 2024 PDF p. 71), so about 45 kcal; oil is counted as pure fat.
- The worked dishes, kcal / protein / carbohydrate / fat, rounded half-up. Dal: 40 g dry toor dal + 5 g oil = 177 / 8.7 / 22.1 / 5.6. Rajma: 40 g dry rajma + 5 g oil = 164 / 7.8 / 19.5 / 5.7. Poha: 60 g dry rice flakes + 5 g oil + 30 g onion = 272 / 4.9 / 48.9 / 5.8. Chicken curry: 120 g skinless thigh + 10 g oil + 40 g onion + 30 g tomato = 355 / 22.6 / 4.8 / 27.2 (the same quantities as the gravy of our chicken biryani plate). The weights, the 150 g cooked katori and the recipes are our assumptions, not measured dishes; a thinner dal or less oil gives lower numbers.
- USDA FoodData Central: FDC 168878 (rice, white, long-grain, regular, enriched, cooked: 130 kcal, 2.69 g protein, 28.2 g carbohydrate, 0.28 g fat per 100 g; 150 g = 195 kcal, 4.0 g, 42.3 g, 0.4 g), FDC 171284 (yogurt, plain, whole milk: 61 kcal, 3.47 g, 4.66 g, 3.25 g per 100 g; 150 g = 92 kcal, 5.2 g, 7.0 g, 4.9 g), FDC 170438 (potatoes, boiled, cooked in skin, flesh, without salt: 87 kcal), FDC 170036 (potatoes, hash brown, home-prepared: 265 kcal) and FDC 169655 (sugars, granulated: 387 kcal), all per 100 g.
- Idli and plain dosa are not in the table: there is no IFCT or USDA row for them and no recipe we could source, so we give no figure here; a dosa with its batter and tawa oil counted is worked out from stated weights in our dosa guide.