How many calories are in a bowl of pulao?
A bowl of vegetable pulao is about 365 kcal. Most of what moves that figure is the fat the rice was cooked in rather than the rice itself, so the same bowl swings by 200 depending on whose kitchen it came from.
The plate, as served
A serving of basmati cooked with a tablespoon of oil, with mixed vegetables through it.
Where the calories come from
| Nutrient | Grams | Calories | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein | 7g | 28 | 8% |
| Carbs | 50g | 200 | 56% |
| Fat | 14g | 126 | 36% |
| Fibre | 5g | counted within carbs | |
The ring is sized by calories, not grams: protein and carbs are 4 kcal a gram, fat is 9. Drawn by grams, fat would look like a sliver of what it actually contributes.
What is on the plate
| Basmati rice, cookedA cupped handful, about 150 g cooked | 185 kcal |
| Cooking oilOne tablespoon, about 14 g | 125 kcal |
| Mixed vegetables, boiledA serving, about 120 g | 55 kcal |
The same dish, several ways
This is where the calories actually move. Not the ingredient, the cooking.
- With a chicken curry beside it610+245
This is where the protein arrives: 28 g against the plain bowl’s 7.
- Restaurant portion, cooked in ghee560+195
Twice the rice and three teaspoons of ghee. The rice is what moved, not the ghee.
- With raita and a papadum450+85
How it is usually eaten rather than how it is usually pictured.
- A serving of basmati cooked with a tablespoon of oil, with mixed vegetables through it.As served365
Where each number comes from
Composition tables list ingredients, not dinners. There is no row anywhere for this plate, so it is built from its parts, and the preparation assumed for each part is written next to it, because that assumption is usually worth more calories than the ingredient.
| Component | Portion and preparation | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Basmati rice, cooked | A cupped handful, about 150 g cookedBoiled in water and drained, no ghee or oil. | 185 |
| Cooking oil | One tablespoon, about 14 gAny vegetable oil. The most commonly uncounted thing in home cooking. | 125 |
| Mixed vegetables, boiled | A serving, about 120 gBoiled or steamed, no butter. | 55 |
| Total | 365 | |
Sources: Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-NIN), USDA FoodData Central. Every figure is an estimate with a range around it, and is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal rather than pretending to a precision that does not exist.
Why you will see 250 to 700 kcal quoted for this
Portion size and cooking fat, in that order. A home bowl and a restaurant one are 195 kcal apart before anything is served alongside.
Which is why this page shows the sum instead of asserting a total. Build the plate you actually eat and the number is yours rather than an average of strangers.
Build your own plateCommon questions
- How many calories are in vegetable pulao?
- About 365 for a home-sized bowl cooked with a tablespoon of oil. A restaurant portion cooked in ghee is nearer 560, and most of that gap is the extra rice rather than the ghee.
- Is pulao lighter than biryani?
- Usually, yes. Pulao is cooked in one pot with less fat and no separate meat masala, so a vegetable pulao sits well below a meat biryani of the same volume.
- Does pulao have enough protein?
- On its own, no. A plain bowl is 7 g. Put a chicken curry beside it and the same meal carries 28 g, which is the change worth making if pulao is your dinner rather than your side.
- What is the lightest way to eat pulao?
- Keep the vegetables, halve the rice, and add a protein rather than a second helping. The vegetables are 55 kcal and the rice is 185, so cutting the wrong one costs you the fibre and saves almost nothing.
Point the camera at anything.
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Other plates
North Indian and Punjabi is one of twelve cuisines you can pick when you start. The coach works in any of them, and in none of them exclusively.