Calories and protein in a katori of sambar, with and without oil
Also called sambhar, lentil and vegetable stew.
The short answer
1 katori, about 150 g, normal oil
80 kcal
3.5 g protein
Fat 2.5 g · carbs 13 g · fibre 3.5 g · Vegan
Portion: a 150 ml steel katori, filled level. Calculated from USDA FoodData Central
Sambar is mostly vegetables and water, so a katori is lighter than most dals. Two or three katoris poured over rice or idli is common, so count the ladles.
With and without oil
The same 1 katori, changing only the tempering. Normal is about 1.5 g in this portion. A little halves the recipe’s fat and a lot doubles it, so in a portion of the same weight a lot comes out a little under double. These are the four levels the app asks about, with the same numbers.
| Oil | Added | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | 0 g | 65 kcal | 3.5 g |
| A little | 1 g | 70 kcal | 3.5 g |
| Normal | 1.5 g | 80 kcal | 3.5 g |
| A lot | 3 g | 90 kcal | 3.5 g |
What moves the number
- Toor dalabout 40 kcal
- Oil (the tempering)about 15 kcal
- Tamarindabout 5 kcal
The recipe behind these numbers
Raw ingredient weights in one 1 katori, scaled from the batch recipe in the Homekcal app’s dish table, with normal oil. Water, salt and spices add almost no energy but are listed so the recipe is complete. If your version has more of something, the numbers move with it.
| Ingredient | Weight | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toor dalUSDA: Pigeon peas (red gram), mature seeds, raw | 12 g | 40 | 2.5 g |
| WaterUSDA: Beverages, water, tap, drinking | 118 g | 0 | 0 g |
| Drumstick podsUSDA: Drumstick pods, raw | 8 g | 5 | 0 g |
| EggplantUSDA: Eggplant, raw | 8 g | 0 | 0 g |
| OnionUSDA: Onions, raw | 8 g | 5 | 0 g |
| TomatoUSDA: Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average | 10 g | 0 | 0 g |
| PumpkinUSDA: Pumpkin, raw | 8 g | 0 | 0 g |
| TamarindUSDA: Tamarinds, raw | 2 g | 5 | 0 g |
| Coriander powderUSDA: Spices, coriander seed | 1 g | 5 | 0 g |
| Chilli powderUSDA: Spices, pepper, red or cayenne | 0.5 g | 0 | 0 g |
| TurmericUSDA: Spices, turmeric, ground | 0 g | 0 | 0 g |
| Mustard seedsUSDA: Spices, mustard seed, ground | 0.5 g | 0 | 0 g |
| SaltUSDA: Salt, table | 1 g | 0 | 0 g |
| OilUSDA: Oil, canolaThe tempering | 1.5 g | 15 | 0 g |
What we could not match
Stand ins and assumptions in this recipe that a person still has to check.
- Sambar powder is approximated as coriander and chilli powder; vegetables vary by household.
How this was worked out
This is the same dish the Homekcal app logs, from the same table. Each raw ingredient’s weight is multiplied by its per-100 g values in USDA FoodData Central, the batch is added up and divided by the cooked weight it makes. Calories are rounded to the nearest 10 and grams to the nearest gram, because a standard recipe is not your recipe. These are calculated values, not weighed or lab tested meals, and home versions vary a lot.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2026. fdc.nal.usda.gov. Public domain (CC0).
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