Calories & Macros in Common Indian Foods
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
Values below are for typical home-cooked portions using standard cooking methods (a normal amount of oil, not deep-fried, not dry). Treat them as honest, rounded averages — your kitchen's recipe, oil quantity and portion size will shift them a little.
| Food | Typical serving | Grams | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roti / chapati | 1 medium, no ghee | ~40 g | ~110 kcal | 3 g | 20 g | 2 g |
| Plain rice (cooked) | 1 katori | ~150 g | ~195 kcal | 4 g | 43 g | 0.5 g |
| Toor / moong dal (cooked, tempered) | 1 katori | ~150 g | ~150 kcal | 9 g | 20 g | 4 g |
| Rajma (cooked, gravy) | 1 katori | ~150 g | ~170 kcal | 9 g | 24 g | 4 g |
| Paneer (raw) | 50 g cube | 50 g | ~145 kcal | 9 g | 2 g | 11 g |
| Idli | 2 pieces | ~120 g | ~120 kcal | 4 g | 26 g | 0.5 g |
| Plain dosa | 1 medium | ~80 g | ~135 kcal | 3 g | 23 g | 4 g |
| Poha (cooked) | 1 plate | ~200 g | ~250 kcal | 4 g | 40 g | 8 g |
| Chicken curry (home style) | 1 katori, ~3 pieces | ~180 g | ~230 kcal | 22 g | 6 g | 13 g |
| Boiled egg | 1 large | ~50 g | ~78 kcal | 6 g | 0.5 g | 5 g |
| Curd / dahi (whole milk) | 1 katori | ~150 g | ~90 kcal | 5 g | 7 g | 5 g |
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 and about 110 kcal. If yours are large or brushed with ghee, count 130–150 kcal each.
- 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.
- Frying changes everything. The same potato is ~90 kcal boiled and 250+ kcal as fries or in a deep-fried snack.
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 ~9 g protein per katori — and rajma, chana and lobia are similar. Two katoris across the day is real protein.
- Paneer, curd and milk are easy dairy wins; 100 g paneer is ~18 g protein.
- Eggs, chicken and fish are the most protein-dense per calorie — one chicken curry serving can carry 20 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.
How NYUS handles this
NYUS is built India-first for exactly this problem. It includes 800+ Indian foods with proper macros — roti, dal, idli, dosa, biryani, paneer dishes, regional staples — and lets you log in familiar kitchen units (katori, piece, plate, glass) instead of forcing grams. Macro tracking then rolls your day up into calories, protein, carbs and fat against your target, and an AI coach reads your real log to keep your plan adaptive — nudging protein up or portions down as your week actually unfolds.
You can start free (no credit card to start), and there's a free forever tier for the basics, with a 30-day free trial of the full experience. See how NYUS tracks Indian food for free 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 are around 110 kcal, a katori of rice is around 195, a katori of dal is around 150, 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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Get NYUS on Google PlayFrequently asked questions
How many calories are in one roti?
A medium home-made roti or chapati (about 40 g of dough, no ghee) is roughly 110 calories, with around 3 g protein, 20 g carbs and 2 g fat. Larger rotis or ones brushed with ghee run higher, closer to 130–150 calories each.
How much protein is in one katori of dal?
A standard katori (about 150 g cooked) of toor or moong dal has roughly 9 g of protein, along with about 150 calories. Legume-based dishes like rajma and chana are similar, making dal 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 katori, piece, plate or glass 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 supports 800+ Indian foods logged in these kitchen units, which is why everyday tracking sticks.
Is NYUS free to use for tracking Indian food?
You can start free with no credit card, and there's a free forever tier covering the basics. The full experience — 800+ Indian foods with macros, adaptive plans and the AI coach — comes with a 30-day free trial before it becomes paid.