If you have ever tried to log a plate of chicken karahi with two rotis in a calorie app, you know the problem. The app offers you "Chicken Karahi (Restaurant XYZ, 1 cup)" with a number somebody typed in years ago, and you have no idea whether your plate looks anything like that cup.
The good news: you do not need lab-level accuracy to lose weight. You need numbers that are consistently close, so that when you eat a little less, the trend goes down. Here is the system we use.
1. Count the roti and rice first
Carbs are the easiest part of a desi plate to measure, and they are usually the biggest chunk of calories.
| Item | Typical size | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Roti / chapati | 1 medium (40 g) | ~120 kcal |
| Paratha | 1 medium (80 g) | ~270 kcal |
| Naan | 1 plain (90 g) | ~260 kcal |
| Boiled rice | 1 cup cooked (160 g) | ~210 kcal |
| Chicken biryani | 1 plate (300 g) | ~500 kcal |
Count how many rotis you actually eat. Most people under-count by one.
2. Treat salan as "oil plus protein"
A curry's calories come mostly from the oil or ghee it was cooked in, not the meat or vegetables. A home-style serving of chicken salan with a modest amount of oil lands around 250–300 kcal; the same dish from a restaurant, swimming in oil, can be double that.
Two rules of thumb:
- If you can see a layer of oil on top, add 100 kcal to whatever you logged.
- If you mop up the gravy with roti, count the gravy. If you leave most of it, don't.
3. Don't forget the invisible calories
- Chai with milk and sugar: about 90–120 kcal per cup. Three cups a day is a roti and a half.
- Raita: 60–80 kcal per small bowl, more if it's made with full-fat yogurt.
- Achaar and chutney: small amounts, but the oil in achaar adds up.
- Cooking oil at home: one tablespoon is 120 kcal. A family pot of salan with a quarter cup of oil is 480 kcal of oil before anything else goes in.
4. Use a photo instead of a search bar
This is why we built FoodMate AI. Searching "karahi" in a database gives you someone else's karahi. Taking a photo gives you your plate: the app identifies each item, estimates the portion from what it sees, and you can correct anything that looks off before saving. It is faster than searching and, more importantly, it is consistent from day to day.
5. Aim for a trend, not a perfect number
Log the same way every day for two weeks and watch your weight. If it is not moving, cut 200 kcal — one roti, or the oil on top of the salan — and watch again. That feedback loop matters far more than whether your biryani was 480 or 520 kcal.
Want the numbers for a specific dish? Our food calorie database covers the most common Pakistani and everyday foods, per serving and per 100 g.