How many calories are in rajma?
A katori of home-style rajma, about 150 g, is roughly 180-220 kcal — and rajma chawal, with a cup of rice beside it, comes to 380-430. The second figure is the one worth remembering, because rajma is almost never eaten on its own.
Per portion
| Portion | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry rajma, 100 g | ~335 | 23 g | 60 g | 1 g |
| Boiled rajma, no masala, 100 g | ~125 | 9 g | 22 g | 0.5 g |
| Home rajma curry, 1 katori, about 150 g | 180-220 | 10 g | 25 g | 6 g |
| Restaurant rajma masala, 1 katori | 250-330 | 10 g | 26 g | 14 g |
| Rajma chawal: 1 katori plus 1 cup rice | 380-430 | 14 g | 68 g | 7 g |
| Dhaba rajma chawal plate, as served | 550-750 | 18 g | 95 g | 18 g |
A katori of home rajma also carries 6-7 g of fibre, and the dry beans about 15 g per 100 g — high for anything on an Indian plate.
What changes the number
Oil in the masala. An onion-tomato base at home takes one or two teaspoons, so 40-80 kcal a bowl. A dhaba version takes two or three plus a butter finish, which is 150-200.
Cream. A tablespoon is about 50 kcal, and restaurant rajma often gets one.
How much bean is in the bowl. Thirty grams of dry rajma per katori against fifty is a 65 kcal difference before any masala.
The rice. One cup of cooked rice is about 195 kcal and two cups 390. On most plates the rice carries more than half the calories, which means the rice is the lever and the rajma is not.
Tinned or dried. Drained tinned kidney beans run about 105-125 kcal per 100 g, effectively the same as home-boiled. The brine adds salt, not calories.
Where it fits in a deficit
Rajma is among the best value on an Indian plate: around 10 g of protein and 6-7 g of fibre for about 200 kcal, slow to chew and slow to digest. It holds for hours in a way that a same-calorie serving of dal does not quite manage, and it is what high-volume eating looks like in Indian food rather than in salad bowls.
The caveat is the same as for every pulse. Ten grams of protein is a strong side, not a protein serving, so rajma complements curd, eggs or chicken instead of replacing them. Where it genuinely earns its place in a calorie deficit is appetite: a 400 kcal plate of rajma chawal leaves most people finished with eating, which few 400 kcal plates do.
The rajma-chawal ratio
The standard plate is one katori of rajma to two cups of rice. That is about 600 kcal, of which 390 is rice, 14 g protein and 7 g fibre.
Reverse it — two katoris of rajma to one cup of rice — and the plate is close to the same calories with 24 g of protein, 14 g of fibre and visibly more food on it. It is the most useful change on this page and needs only the serving spoon.
One practical point that is not about calories: kidney beans must be fully cooked. Raw or undercooked red rajma contains a lectin that causes vomiting and stomach cramps, so soak the beans and boil them hard rather than warming them through slowly. Tinned beans are already cooked. If you want a lighter one-bowl version of the same idea, khichdi with a big dal share does a similar job for about 300 kcal.
Figures are typical values and vary by variety, size and preparation. General information, not medical advice.