Besan chilla calories
One besan chilla (about 17 g of besan, half a teaspoon of oil) has about 80 calories, or about 60 without. Two are about 160, one stuffed with 20 g of paneer about 130. Tawa oil is the main variable: each half teaspoon adds about 20. Cafe or stall chillas, oilier, run about 200 to 290 for two.
Besan chilla is a thin savoury pancake of gram flour batter with onion, tomato, green chilli, ginger, coriander and ajwain, cooked on a tawa. In Gujarat it's pudla, and many homes stuff it with grated paneer or add vegetables to the batter.
Besan is higher in protein than wheat flour, about 22 g per 100 g in IFCT 2017. The oil on the tawa is what changes the number most.
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 besan chilla?
| Portion | Cals | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 chilla, no oil (non-stick) | 60 | 4 g | 9 g | 1 g |
| 1 chilla, ½ tsp oil | 80 | 4 g | 9 g | 3 g |
| 1 chilla, 1 tsp oil | 100 | 4 g | 9 g | 5 g |
| 2 chillas, ½ tsp oil each | 160 | 8 g | 17 g | 6 g |
| 1 chilla stuffed with 20 g paneer | 130 | 8 g | 11 g | 6 g |
How does home besan chilla compare with outside?
Chillas from a cafe or a breakfast stall are often bigger and cooked with more oil or butter, and paneer or cheese fillings are common.
No lab has measured them, so the range below allows two chillas up to 1.3 times this size, with 1 to 2 more teaspoons of oil.
| Version | Cals | Fat |
|---|---|---|
| Home | 160 | 6 g |
| Cafe or breakfast stall | 200 to 290 | 11 to 17 g |
What changes the calories in besan chilla?
- Oil on the tawa is the main variable: each half teaspoon adds about 20 calories.
- Paneer filling adds about 50 calories per 20 g, and cheese more.
- Vegetables in the batter add very little.
- Moong dal chilla is close per gram of flour: IFCT 2017 puts moong dal at 326 calories per 100 g, against 329 for besan (as chana dal).
How were these numbers worked out?
The recipe is the besan chilla in the Indian Nutrient Databank's open recipe set: 100 g of gram flour with 30 g of onion, 25 g of tomato, ginger, coriander, green chilli and spices, for 6 chillas, at IFCT 2017 values with besan taken as ground Bengal gram dal, since IFCT has no besan entry, and chilli powder from USDA. The recipe uses only three quarters of a teaspoon of oil for all six, so this page counts the tawa oil per chilla instead: 60 calories with none, 80 with half a teaspoon, 100 with a teaspoon. No cooked weight is used; each chilla is a sixth of the batter, about 17 g of besan. No analysed besan chilla exists in IFCT 2017, NIN or USDA FNDDS, so there is no cross-check. The stall range assumes chillas up to 1.3 times as big with 1 to 2 extra teaspoons of oil for two. Every dish on Slate is worked out the same way: how Slate counts calories.
| Ingredient | Raw | Values from |
|---|---|---|
| Besan (ground Bengal gram dal) | 100 g | IFCT 2017 B001 |
| Onion, big | 30 g | IFCT 2017 G017 |
| Tomato, ripe, hybrid | 25 g | IFCT 2017 D075 |
| Ginger, fresh | 6.3 g | IFCT 2017 G014 |
| Coriander leaves | 4 g | IFCT 2017 G009 |
| Chillies, green | 2 g | IFCT 2017 G008 |
| Turmeric powder | 1.9 g | IFCT 2017 G033 |
| Red chilli powder | 0.7 g | USDA FDC 171319 |
| Water about 0.6 cup | 140 g | no calories |
Sources
- ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables 2017. Bengal gram dal (B001) as besan, onion, tomato, ginger, coriander, green chilli, turmeric, oil, paneer (L003); values read from github.com/nodef/ifct2017
- Vijayakumar et al., Indian Nutrient Databank (INDB), Current Developments in Nutrition, 2024. Open-source recipe OSR100, gram flour chilla
- USDA FoodData Central, Spices, chili powder (171319). Red chilli powder
Questions people ask
How many calories are in 1 besan chilla?
About 80 with half a teaspoon of oil, and about 60 without oil.
How many calories are in 2 besan chillas?
About 160 for two, each cooked with half a teaspoon of oil.
How much protein is in a besan chilla?
About 4 g in one chilla, and about 8 g with 20 g of paneer.
Which has more calories, besan chilla or roti?
They're close. One chilla with half a teaspoon of oil is about 80 calories, and a medium roti about 95. The chilla has more protein.