Baingan bharta calories
A 200 ml katori of home baingan bharta has about 130 calories. A textbook bowl, made from 200 g of brinjal with a tablespoon of oil, is about 210. Oil or ghee is the biggest part, about 40 to 45 calories a teaspoon. Dhaba bharta, with more oil and ghee on top, runs about 130 to 205.
Baingan bharta is a large brinjal roasted over a flame until the skin chars, then peeled, mashed and cooked with onion, tomato, green chilli and ginger. Punjabi bharta is cooked in oil or ghee, Bihari chokha is mixed with mustard oil raw, and Gujarati ringan no olo and Maharashtrian bharit are close cousins.
Brinjal is one of the lightest vegetables, about 25 calories per 100 g. Over half of this bowl's calories come from the oil.
Typical values for a home kitchen, for the portion named next to each number. Other sites often show bigger numbers because they count a bigger serving or a restaurant recipe. Your own katori, roti and oil change the number; Slate adjusts for them.
How many calories are in baingan bharta?
| Portion | Cals | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 katori (150 ml) about 150 g | 100 | 2 g | 7 g | 7 g |
| 1 katori (200 ml) about 200 g | 130 | 3 g | 9 g | 9 g |
| 1 katori (250 ml) about 250 g | 165 | 3 g | 11 g | 11 g |
| 1 bowl (200 g brinjal) about 324 g | 210 | 4 g | 14 g | 15 g |
| 100 g about 100 g | 65 | 1 g | 4 g | 5 g |
How does home baingan bharta compare with outside?
Dhaba bharta is often cooked in more oil and finished with ghee or butter on top, and a roasted bharta that's cooked down further holds more in each katori.
No lab has measured it, so the range below allows up to twice this recipe's fat.
| Version | Cals | Fat |
|---|---|---|
| Home | 130 | 9 g |
| Dhaba or restaurant | 130 to 205 | 9 to 17 g |
What changes the calories in baingan bharta?
- Oil or ghee is the biggest part. Each teaspoon adds about 40 to 45 calories to the pot.
- Roasting drives water out of the brinjal, so a well-roasted bharta packs more into a katori than this recipe suggests.
- Bihari chokha uses a spoon of raw mustard oil instead of frying; the calories per teaspoon are the same.
- Peas in matar baingan bharta add a little, about 40 calories per 50 g.
How were these numbers worked out?
The recipe is the brinjal bharta in The Art & Science of Cooking (via the Indian Nutrient Databank): 200 g of roasted brinjal with 50 g each of onion and tomato, green chilli, ginger and spices, cooked in a tablespoon of oil, counted as eaten, at IFCT 2017 values with chilli powder from USDA; brinjal is IFCT's average across varieties, about 25 calories per 100 g. The ingredients added together weigh about 324 g, with nothing allowed for water lost in roasting, so the pot is 65 calories per 100 g and a 200 ml katori at 1 g per ml is 130, on the low side for a dry bharta. ICMR-NIN's general figure for a cup of dry vegetable, 150 calories, is 15% above, so the page shows a range. No dhaba bharta has been analysed; dhabas often finish it with ghee or butter, so the range runs to twice this recipe's fat. Every dish on Slate is worked out the same way: how Slate counts calories.
| Ingredient | Raw | Values from |
|---|---|---|
| Brinjal (baingan), all varieties Roasted and peeled | 200 g | IFCT 2017 D031 |
| Tomato, ripe, hybrid | 50 g | IFCT 2017 D075 |
| Onion, big | 50 g | IFCT 2017 G017 |
| Chillies, green | 3.3 g | IFCT 2017 G008 |
| Ginger, fresh | 5 g | IFCT 2017 G014 |
| Coriander leaves | 1 g | IFCT 2017 G009 |
| Red chilli powder | 0.7 g | USDA FDC 171319 |
| Groundnut oil 1 tablespoon | 13.6 g | IFCT 2017 T005 |
ICMR-NIN's general figure for a cup of dry vegetable dish is 150 calories, a little above this page's 130. A drier, well-roasted bharta, or one with more oil, comes closer to that, so a 200 ml katori is usually between 130 and 150.
Sources
- ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables 2017. Brinjal (D031), tomato, onion, green chilli, ginger, coriander, oil, peas; values read from github.com/nodef/ifct2017
- Vijayakumar et al., Indian Nutrient Databank (INDB), Current Developments in Nutrition, 2024. The Art & Science of Cooking recipe ASC177, brinjal bharta
- ICMR-NIN, Dietary Guidelines for Indians: A Manual (2011). Annexure 8: vegetable dry 150 kcal and with gravy 170 kcal per cup; cup = 200 ml
- USDA FoodData Central, Spices, chili powder (171319). Red chilli powder
Questions people ask
How many calories are in 1 katori of baingan bharta?
About 130 in a 200 ml katori, and up to about 150 for a drier bharta.
How many calories are in 100 g of baingan bharta?
About 65 for this recipe.
How much protein is in baingan bharta?
About 3 g in a 200 ml katori. Brinjal has little protein.
How many calories are in baingan bharta without oil?
Much less. Without the tablespoon of oil, the whole 324 g bowl is about 90 calories.