How many calories in dal?
120–180 kcal
One katori of home-style dal is about 120–180 calories. The lentil itself is a small part of that — the tadka is what moves the number, and it is invisible once stirred in.
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 — a single figure would be false precision.
| Serving | Calories |
|---|---|
| 1 katori, home-style with tadka (~150 ml) | 120–180 |
| 1 katori, no tadka | 90–120 |
| 1 serving, restaurant dal tadka | 180–260 |
| 1 katori, dal makhani | 280–400 |
Per one katori of home-style dal: 6–9 g protein · 18–24 g carbs · 3–8 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.
- The tadka. A tablespoon of ghee or oil is 100–120 calories, and it is usually made for the whole pot rather than per serving. How much lands in your katori depends on where in the pot you served from.
- Consistency. A thin dal is mostly water. The same katori of thick dal can carry half again as many calories.
- Which dal. Toor, moong and masoor are close to each other. Dal makhani is a different food — cream and butter roughly double it.
- Cream or malai. A restaurant finish adds 60–150 calories that never appear in a generic database entry.
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 — "dal 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
How many calories in one katori of dal?
Roughly 120–180 for typical home-style dal with tadka. Without the tadka it is nearer 90–120.
Is dal good for weight loss?
Yes, for most people. It is one of the better vegetarian protein sources at a moderate calorie cost, and it makes a plate of rice or roti considerably more filling.
How much protein is in a katori of dal?
About 6–9 g. Useful, but lower than most people assume — hitting a protein target on dal alone means eating a lot of it.
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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