Kadhi chawal — 615 kcal, and where they actually are

The verdict

Kadhi without the pakoras is one of the lightest things in North Indian cooking.

Component by component

Per 1 katori kadhi with 3 pakora + 1.5 katori rice. Estimates, not yet verified against IFCT 2017.

Kadhi base, curd and besan

1 katori · ~150 g

120

Carbs10 g

Protein6 g

Fat6 g

Fibre1 g

Fermented curd, gram flour, and a lot of water. Protein without much else.

Worth eating

Pakora in the kadhi

3 pieces · ~60 g

210

Carbs15 g

Protein4 g

Fat14 g

Fibre2 g

Deep-fried, then soaked in the kadhi so they hold even more. Almost twice the calories of the kadhi they sit in.

Where the damage is

Rice

1.5 katori · ~150 g

195

Carbs42 g

Protein4 g

Fat0 g

Fibre1 g

Standard portion issue.

Tempering ghee

1 tbsp · ~10 g

Carbs0 g

Protein0 g

Fat10 g

Fibre0 g

The tadka is the flavour. Leave it.

Three ways to fix it

Ordered by what you give up.

Option 1 · Kadhi without pakoras−210

Plain kadhi with rice.

Removes a third of the meal and the entire fried component. Plain kadhi chawal is a genuinely light lunch.

Taste cost: Real, if pakoras are the point for you

Option 2 · Fewer pakoras, less rice−210

One pakora instead of three, one katori of rice instead of one and a half.

Keeps the thing you like about it while halving both problems.

Taste cost: Low

Option 3 · Bake the pakoras−130

Air-fried besan dumplings dropped into the kadhi.

They soften in the kadhi anyway, so the texture loss matters less here than it would elsewhere.

Taste cost: Moderate

← All thirty dishes