How many calories are in vegetable biryani?
A plate of vegetable biryani is about 740 kcal. People order it as the lighter option and it is barely that: the chicken version is 840. What actually changes is the protein, which falls from 33 g to 15.
The plate, as served
Two servings of basmati, a ladle of vegetable curry, two teaspoons of ghee through the rice, fried onions on top and a spoon of raita.
Where the calories come from
| Nutrient | Grams | Calories | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein | 15g | 60 | 8% |
| Carbs | 109g | 436 | 60% |
| Fat | 26g | 234 | 32% |
| Fibre | 9g | 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, cooked x2A cupped handful, about 150 g cooked | 370 kcal |
| Vegetable curryA ladle, about 150 g | 145 kcal |
| Ghee x2One teaspoon, about 5 g | 90 kcal |
| Fried onions (birista)A garnish, about 20 g | 90 kcal |
| RaitaThree tablespoons, about 60 g | 45 kcal |
The same dish, several ways
This is where the calories actually move. Not the ingredient, the cooking.
- Two servings of basmati, a ladle of vegetable curry, two teaspoons of ghee through the rice, fried onions on top and a spoon of raita.As served740
- Without the raita695-45
Saves 45, and loses the one cooling thing on the plate.
- A home portion, less rice and less ghee510-230
One serving of rice instead of two, one teaspoon of ghee instead of two.
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 x2 | A cupped handful, about 150 g cookedBoiled in water and drained, no ghee or oil. | 370 |
| Vegetable curry | A ladle, about 150 gMixed vegetables in a spiced base with about two teaspoons of oil. | 145 |
| Ghee x2 | One teaspoon, about 5 gBrushed on a roti or stirred into dal. | 90 |
| Fried onions (birista) | A garnish, about 20 gSliced onion deep fried until dark and crisp. No composition table carries it. Derived from CoFID 13-501, onions fried in sunflower oil, which is 95 kcal per 100 g at 79.9 g water: drying that same solid matter to about 15 per cent water concentrates it to roughly 400, and deep frying adds oil on top, so 450 per 100 g is used here. It is a garnish, and across the whole plausible range it moves a biryani by about 100 kcal. | 90 |
| Raita | Three tablespoons, about 60 gWhole-milk yoghurt with cucumber. | 45 |
| Total | 740 | |
Sources: Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-NIN), Derived, not measured (see the note on the row). 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 390 to 1040 kcal quoted for this
How much rice came on the plate, and how much ghee went through it. The rice is the biggest single line on every version of this dish.
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 biryani?
- About 740 for a full plate, and 510 for a home portion with one serving of rice.
- Is vegetable biryani lower in calories than chicken biryani?
- By about 100, which is less than most people assume. Both plates are mostly rice and ghee, and that part does not change when the meat comes out.
- What do I lose by choosing the vegetable one?
- Protein, mostly: 15 g against 33. If the biryani is your dinner rather than a side, that is the thing to notice rather than the 100 kcal.
- How do I make a vegetable biryani more filling?
- Keep the raita and add a dal or a paneer curry beside it. Both bring protein without touching the rice, which is where the calories already are.
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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.