Moong Dal Khichdi Calories for Weight Loss: One Bowl, 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

Khichdi is often thought of as a light meal, yet its calories are rarely given as a number. This page works one bowl of moong dal khichdi out from the raw ingredients, using India's own food composition tables, and shows which two choices move the total.

The short answer

For the home recipe below, one bowl comes to about 337 kcal and 13.4 g of protein. Use 15 g of ghee instead of 5 g and the same bowl is 427 kcal. A bigger portion scales every number.

The recipe we calculated

One bowl, as a plain home khichdi: 40 g raw split moong dal, 40 g raw rice, 30 g carrot, 30 g tomato, 1 g cumin seeds and 5 g of ghee for the tempering (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.

Ingredient (IFCT 2017 row)	Raw weight	Energy	Protein
Green gram, dal, split moong (B010)	40 g	130 kcal	9.6 g
Rice, raw, milled (A015)	40 g	143 kcal	3.2 g
Carrot, orange (F002)	30 g	10 kcal	0.3 g
Tomato, ripe, hybrid (D075)	30 g	6 kcal	0.2 g
Cumin seeds (G025)	1 g	3 kcal	0.1 g
Ghee (tempering)	5 g (1 teaspoon)	45 kcal	0 g
One bowl		337 kcal	13.4 g

Not included: onion, peas, peanuts, other spices, and anything served alongside, such as curd, pickle or papad. The rice is IFCT's generic raw milled rice.

Does this method match the guidelines' own khichdi?

The Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024 (ICMR-NIN) print a vegetable khichdi recipe for young children's complementary food on PDF page 51: 20 g raw rice, 20 g green gram dal, 10 g each of carrot, tomato and green peas, listed at 150 kcal and 7.24 g protein. Running the same ingredients through the IFCT rows gives 150 kcal and 7.26 g protein. The tables and the method agree, so the same arithmetic is used for the adult bowl above.

Choice 1: the ghee

The Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024 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. The same page puts the limit for sedentary adults at 20 g for women and 30 g for men: the single teaspoon in this khichdi is 25% of a sedentary woman's day and 17% of a sedentary man's.

Ghee per bowl	Teaspoons	Fat energy	Bowl total
0 g	0	0 kcal	292 kcal
5 g	1	45 kcal	337 kcal
10 g	2	90 kcal	382 kcal
15 g	3	135 kcal	427 kcal

Choice 2: how much dal against rice

The guidelines say a combination of cereals and pulses in the ratio of 3:1 by raw weight can meet the requirements of all essential amino acids (PDF page 75). That is a statement about protein quality, not quantity. With the same 80 g of raw dal and rice in total, the mix changes the protein a lot and the energy only a little:

Raw rice : raw dal (80 g together)	Rice / dal	Bowl energy	Bowl protein
3 : 1 (the DGI 2024 cereal to pulse ratio)	60 g / 20 g	343 kcal	10.2 g
1 : 1 (our base recipe)	40 g / 40 g	337 kcal	13.4 g
1 : 3 (dal-heavy)	20 g / 60 g	330 kcal	16.6 g

Where one bowl sits in a day

ICMR-NIN's 2020 reference figures give a sedentary 65 kg man 2,110 kcal a day and a sedentary 55 kg woman 1,660 kcal. The base bowl of 337 kcal is about 16% and 20% of those. These are reference figures, not your target.

Three ways to count a khichdi properly

Weigh the dal and the rice raw before they go into the pot, and write the numbers once. Next time the bowl is a known quantity.
Measure the ghee with a teaspoon. It is the one ingredient where a pour can easily be double the plan.
Log the recipe, not "khichdi". A generic entry hides the dal to rice ratio and the ghee, the two things that change the answer.

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.

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Frequently asked questions

How many calories are in a bowl of moong dal khichdi?

For the home recipe worked out on this page (40 g raw moong dal, 40 g raw rice, 30 g carrot, 30 g tomato, a pinch of cumin and 5 g of ghee) it is about 337 kcal and 13.4 g protein, from IFCT 2017 raw values. A bigger bowl or more ghee gives a bigger number: every extra 5 g (one teaspoon) of ghee adds 45 kcal.

Is khichdi good for weight loss?

No single food is. A khichdi is a calculable meal: with measured rice, dal and ghee it fits a calorie target like any other. The same recipe with 15 g of ghee is 427 kcal instead of 337, so the spoon matters more than the name of the dish.

Does the dal to rice ratio change the calories?

Only a little, but it changes the protein. With 80 g of raw dal and rice in total, a 3:1 rice to dal mix gives 10.2 g protein, an equal mix 13.4 g and a dal-heavy mix 16.6 g, at 343, 337 and 330 kcal.

Why are the weights raw, not cooked?

The Indian food composition tables (IFCT 2017) list raw foods. Khichdi soaks up water as it cooks, so a bowl of it is a poor unit to compare between kitchens, while the raw weight of the dal and rice you put in is not. Other spices, onion, peas and peanuts are not counted.

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 (PDF p. 42), rice raw milled A015 (p. 41), carrot orange F002 (p. 52), tomato ripe hybrid D075 (p. 48), cumin seeds G025 (p. 54), peas fresh D061 (p. 48); energy kcal = kJ ÷ 4.184, rounded half-up. Fat energy: "a gram of fat yields 9 Cal" (PDF p. 10).
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); cereals with pulses in the ratio 3:1 by raw weight (p. 75); the vegetable khichdi recipe for young children, 150 kcal and 7.24 g protein (p. 51).
ICMR-NIN, A Brief Note on Nutrient Requirements for Indians (RDA and EAR), 2020, Table 1a and 1b (PDF p. 4): reference energy 2,110 kcal (man, 65 kg) and 1,660 kcal (woman, 55 kg), sedentary.
The recipe, its quantities and the three tips are NYUS's own example, not a measured dish.