Moong Dal Chilla vs Besan Chilla Calories: One Chilla, Worked Out From the Raw Ingredients

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.

By NYUS Inc. · October 2026

Chilla is often thought of as a high-protein breakfast, yet it is rarely given as a number. This page works one moong dal chilla and one besan chilla out from the raw ingredients, with India's own food composition tables, and shows what the oil and the count change.

The short answer

For the home recipe below, one moong dal chilla comes to about 183 kcal and 9.9 g of protein, and a besan chilla to 184 kcal and 9.0 g. The dal changes the energy by 1 kcal; the teaspoon of oil is 45 of those kcal, and two chillas are 366 kcal.

The recipe we calculated

One chilla, as a plain home chilla: 40 g raw split moong dal (soaked and ground), 10 g onion, 5 g coriander leaves, 3 g green chilli and 5 g of oil for the pan (one teaspoon). Each ingredient is a row of the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (IFCT 2017) from ICMR-NIN, raw and per 100 g, scaled to the weight above. Fat is counted at 9 kcal per gram, the factor IFCT itself uses (PDF page 10).

Ingredient (IFCT 2017 row)	Raw weight	Energy	Protein
Green gram, dal, split moong (B010)	40 g	130 kcal	9.6 g
Onion, big (G017)	10 g	5 kcal	0.2 g
Coriander leaves (G009)	5 g	2 kcal	0.2 g
Chillies, green, all varieties (G008)	3 g	1 kcal	0.1 g
Oil for the pan	5 g (1 teaspoon)	45 kcal	0 g
One moong chilla		183 kcal	9.9 g

Not included: salt, spices, any stuffing, and chutney or curd on the side. Water in the batter adds no energy.

Moong chilla or besan chilla?

Besan is ground Bengal gram dal, and IFCT 2017 has no row for besan itself, so we use the Bengal gram dal row (B001, PDF page 42) as a stand-in. A packet of besan may show a different energy per 100 g, because labels use different energy factors; this comparison uses one table for both.

Same recipe, 40 g raw dal	IFCT dal row	Energy per chilla	Protein per chilla
Moong dal chilla	B010: 1363 kJ, 23.88 g protein per 100 g	183 kcal	9.9 g
Besan chilla (Bengal gram dal)	B001: 1377 kJ, 21.55 g protein per 100 g	184 kcal	9.0 g

The energy gap is 1 kcal, and moong gives 0.9 g more protein. Neither is "lighter".

Choice 1: the oil

The Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024 (ICMR-NIN) give 20 to 50 g a day as the limit for visible fat, all the oil and ghee you add, and equate that to 4 to 10 teaspoons (PDF page 71), so a teaspoon is about 5 g, or 45 kcal. For sedentary adults the limit is 20 g for women and 30 g for men: one teaspoon in the chilla is 25% of a sedentary woman's day and 17% of a sedentary man's.

Oil per chilla	Teaspoons	Moong chilla
0 g	0	138 kcal
5 g	1	183 kcal
10 g	2	228 kcal

Choice 2: how many chillas

Everything scales with the count. Table 1.6 of the guidelines (PDF page 28) has 60 g of raw pulses and beans a day for a sedentary 55 kg woman and 85 g for a sedentary 65 kg man, at their reference energy.

Moong chillas	Raw dal	Energy	Protein
1	40 g	183 kcal	9.9 g
2	80 g	366 kcal	19.9 g
3	120 g	549 kcal	29.8 g

Two chillas use 80 g of raw dal, more than the 60 g reference for the woman and 94% of the man's 85 g. Their 19.9 g of protein is 44% of the 45.7 g that ICMR-NIN's 2020 recommended allowance gives a 55 kg woman and 37% of the 54.0 g for a 65 kg man (2020 brief note, PDF page 5). This is arithmetic, not a target.

Three ways to count a chilla properly

Weigh the dal raw before it is soaked, and write the number once. Next time the chilla is a known quantity.
Measure the oil with a teaspoon. If you use a non-stick pan or a spray, weigh what you use.
Log the recipe, not "chilla". A generic entry hides the dal weight and the oil, the two things that change the answer. Our dal chawal guide and breakfast guide have more.

This is general information about food data, not a diet plan or medical advice. If you have diabetes, a kidney condition, or take medicines, ask your doctor or a registered dietitian how a meal like this fits your own plan.

Count it in NYUS

Your chillas, chutney and the rest of the day add up against one target when you log them. NYUS is an AI diet and workout coach with 8,900+ foods with calories and macros.

Try NYUS

An AI diet and workout coach built around Indian food. 30 days free, no card needed. No ads, no data sold.

Join the NYUS waitlist

Frequently asked questions

How many calories are in one moong dal chilla?

For the home recipe worked out on this page (40 g raw moong dal, 10 g onion, 5 g coriander, 3 g green chilli and 5 g of oil), about 183 kcal and 9.9 g protein. Two chillas are 366 kcal and 19.9 g protein.

Is besan chilla different from moong chilla in calories?

In energy, hardly. With the same recipe, using 40 g of Bengal gram dal, the dal that besan is ground from, gives 184 kcal and 9.0 g protein against 183 kcal and 9.9 g for moong. IFCT 2017 has no row for besan itself, so this is our approximation, and the oil matters far more than the choice of dal.

How does the oil change a chilla?

A teaspoon (about 5 g) of oil is 45 kcal. The same chilla with no oil is 138 kcal, with 5 g it is 183 kcal and with 10 g it is 228 kcal. The Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024 limit visible fat to 20 g a day for a sedentary woman and 30 g for a sedentary man (PDF p. 71).

How many chillas can I eat in a day?

There is no official number of chillas. For scale, two chillas use 80 g of raw dal, while the guidelines' reference day has 60 g of raw pulses for a sedentary 55 kg woman and 85 g for a sedentary 65 kg man (Table 1.6, PDF p. 28), so two chillas use more than the woman's allowance and most of the man's in one meal.

Sources (read 22 October 2026)

Longvah T. et al., Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (IFCT 2017), ICMR-NIN, Table 1, per 100 g raw: green gram dal B010 and Bengal gram dal B001 (PDF p. 42), onion big G017 (p. 54), coriander leaves G009 and green chillies all varieties G008 (p. 53); energy kcal = kJ ÷ 4.184, rounded half-up. Fat energy: "a gram of fat yields 9 Cal" (PDF p. 10). Besan has no row; Bengal gram dal stands in for it.
ICMR-NIN, Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024: visible fat limited to 20-50 g (4-10 teaspoons) a day, 20 g for sedentary women and 30 g for sedentary men (PDF p. 71); Table 1.6 (PDF p. 28): raw pulses and beans 60 g a day for a sedentary 55 kg woman and 85 g for a sedentary 65 kg man.
ICMR-NIN, A Brief Note on Nutrient Requirements for Indians (RDA and EAR), 2020, Table 2a (PDF p. 5): protein RDA 0.83 g per kg per day, 45.7 g for the 55 kg woman and 54.0 g for the 65 kg man.
The recipe, its quantities, the share-of-RDA arithmetic and the three tips are NYUS's own examples, not measured dishes or targets.