How many calories in besan chilla?
150–220 kcal
One medium besan chilla made from about 40 g of gram flour is roughly 150–220 calories, depending mostly on the oil in the pan. It is one of the higher-protein vegetarian breakfasts that needs no special ingredients.
Updated
By serving
Serving by serving.
Ranges rather than single numbers. Home cooking has no standard serving, and the same dish made in two kitchens genuinely differs by this much, so a single figure would be false precision.
| Serving | Calories |
|---|---|
| 1 medium chilla (~40 g besan) | 150–220 |
| 2 chillas | 300–440 |
| 1 chilla stuffed with paneer | 230–320 |
| 1 moong dal chilla | 130–190 |
Per one medium chilla: 8–10 g protein · 18–22 g carbs · 5–10 g fat
Why the range
What moves this number.
If you want a better estimate than the table gives, these are the things worth paying attention to. Everything else is noise by comparison.
- Oil. A non-stick pan and half a teaspoon versus a tawa and two teaspoons is a 60–70 calorie difference per chilla.
- Batter thickness. A thick chilla simply uses more besan. Weigh the flour once to learn your default.
- Stuffing. Grated paneer adds 60–100 calories and 5–7 g of protein.
- Vegetables. Onion, tomato and spinach add volume for almost nothing.
Logging it
You do not need this table every day.
Looking a number up works once. Doing it for every item of every meal is the reason most people stop tracking within a fortnight.
BetterCal has no database to search. Say or type the meal the way you would describe it to a person ("besan chilla and dal") and it is logged with calories and macros in one go. If your version differs from the estimate, correct it once and it remembers, so over a few weeks the numbers converge on your kitchen rather than an average of everyone else's.
Frequently asked questions
Is besan chilla good for weight loss?
Yes. It has more protein than most Indian breakfasts at similar calories, and it is filling. Use a non-stick pan and measure the oil and it is one of the easier breakfasts to fit into a deficit.
How much protein in besan chilla?
About 8–10 g per medium chilla, so two chillas with a katori of curd is roughly 20 g, a good start for a vegetarian day.
Why is this a range and not one number?
Because the honest answer is a range. Serving sizes are not standardised and cooking fat varies enormously between kitchens. A single confident figure would be more convenient and less true. See how accurate calorie estimates really are.
Do I need to weigh food to track it properly?
No. Weighing improves precision that you mostly do not need. Being consistently within 10% is enough to lose or gain weight predictably. The easiest way to track calories covers the method.
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