The classic Indian meal: roti and sabzi. Two rotis with a bowl of sabzi ranges from 270 calories (roti + palak) to 570 calories (roti + dum aloo with ghee). Same meal format, 300-calorie gap. This is the complete guide to every roti-sabzi combination and exactly what each one costs your calorie budget. This is … Read more
Potato is India’s most consumed vegetable. And at 97 calories per 100g, it is also one of the most calorie-dense vegetables. A bowl of jeera aloo: 180 cal. Dum aloo in restaurant gravy: 350 cal. Aloo fry: 280 cal. The potato itself is moderate. What you do to it determines whether it is a diet … Read more
Capsicum is 20 calories per 100g raw. That makes shimla mirch sabzi one of the lightest things you can put on an Indian plate. At 100 calories per bowl, it costs less than a single roti (72 cal) in calorie terms. Crunchy, colourful, and genuinely low-calorie. The only vegetable where you can eat a large … Read more
Aloo matar is the quintessential weeknight sabzi. Potato and peas in a tomato-onion gravy. At 190 calories per bowl, it sits between the lighter sabzis like palak (120 cal) and heavier ones like matar paneer (250 cal). Not a weight loss star, but not a diet breaker either. The portion and the oil decide everything. … Read more
Matar paneer is one of the most popular North Indian curries. At 250 calories per bowl at home, it is moderate. At a restaurant: 350-400 calories because of extra cream, butter, and oil. The difference between home and restaurant matar paneer is not taste. It is 100-150 invisible calories of fat. This is the complete … Read more
Cabbage sabzi and beans sabzi are the underrated heroes of Indian home cooking. At 100-120 calories per bowl with 4-5g protein and 5g fibre, they are lighter than most sabzis, higher in fibre, and cheap enough to eat daily. South Indian poriyal and thoran preparations are particularly light because they use coconut and minimal oil. … Read more
Tinda (round gourd), tori (ridge gourd), and karela (bitter gourd) are the three vegetables Indian kids grow up hating. They are also three of the lowest-calorie sabzis you can cook. Tinda: 90 cal per bowl. Tori: 80 cal. Karela: 100 cal. Combined, they are the weight loss trio that nobody wants to eat but everybody … Read more
Lauki is the most hated vegetable in Indian households and possibly the best one for weight loss. At 90 calories per bowl, it is the lightest sabzi you can cook. Lighter than bhindi (150 cal), lighter than aloo gobi (180 cal), lighter than everything. Your mother was right about lauki. She just never told you … Read more
Mix veg is the catch-all Indian sabzi. Whatever is in the fridge goes in the pot. At 160 calories per bowl, it is moderate. But the calorie count depends entirely on which vegetables dominate. A mix heavy on beans, carrots, and capsicum: 130 cal. A mix heavy on potato and paneer cubes: 220 cal. Same … Read more
Palak sabzi is one of the lightest curries in Indian cooking. At 120 calories per bowl with 5g protein and 4g fibre, it is what weight loss looks like in an Indian kitchen. Compare that to palak paneer at 240 calories. Same spinach base, double the calories because of paneer and cream. The palak was … Read more