Calories in Rice: White, Brown, Jeera Rice, Pulao and Khichdi

Updated 11 November 2026 · By the Thali Lens team

Rice is measured badly more often than any other Indian food. A "plate" can mean one katori or three. Start with the katori, a small steel bowl of about 150 ml, and the numbers become easy.

Approximate values per katori (about 150 g cooked)
Dish	Calories (kcal)	Carbs (g)
Steamed white rice	195	43
Brown rice	170	36
Jeera rice	210	40
Vegetable pulao	230	38
Lemon rice	230	38
Curd rice	200	30
Dal khichdi	190	30

Raw to cooked

Rice roughly triples in weight when it cooks. About 50 to 55 g of raw rice becomes one katori of cooked rice. So one cup of raw rice, around 200 g, gives close to four katoris. This helps when you cook for a family and want to know how much each person is getting.

Katori against restaurant plate

A restaurant serving of plain rice is usually 250 to 300 g. That is about 325 to 390 kcal before any dal or curry. If you eat out often, assume the plate holds two katoris.

White or brown

The calorie difference is small. Brown rice keeps the bran, so it has more fibre and takes longer to chew and digest. If you do not like brown rice, you lose very little by eating white rice with plenty of dal and vegetables.

Where the extra calories hide

Plain rice has almost no fat. Jeera rice, pulao and lemon rice add oil or ghee, usually one to two teaspoons per serving, plus peanuts or cashews in some recipes. Curd rice and khichdi are lower in calories per katori because curd, dal and water take up part of the bowl.

Quick tips

Serve rice with a katori, not a ladle, so the portion is the same every day.
Eat dal, sabzi and salad along with rice from the first bite. You feel full sooner.
Khichdi with curd is a complete light meal with both carbohydrate and protein.

Related guides

Values are typical estimates for home-style cooking and common serving sizes. Recipes and portions differ, so real values can be higher or lower. This page is general information, not medical advice.