Calories by quantity and serving size
| Amount | Weight | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 plain dosa (about 60 g) | 60 g | 185 kcal | 4 g | 29.5 g | 5.5 g |
| 2 x plain dosa (about 60 g) | 120 g | 370 kcal | 8.5 g | 59 g | 10.5 g |
| 3 x plain dosa (about 60 g) | 180 g | 555 kcal | 12.5 g | 88.5 g | 16 g |
| 1 small dosa (about 40 g) | 40 g | 125 kcal | 3 g | 19.5 g | 3.5 g |
| 1 large dosa (about 90 g) | 90 g | 275 kcal | 6.5 g | 44.5 g | 8 g |
| 100 g | 100 g | 310 kcal | 7 g | 49 g | 9 g |
How cooking and toppings change the calories
| Version | Calories | Protein | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 plain dosa (about 60 g) (as above) | 185 kcal | 4 g | 5.5 g |
| 1 plain dosa with 1 tsp ghee on top | 230 kcal | 4 g | 10.5 g |
| 1 masala dosa (filled with about 100 g potato bhaji) | 305 kcal | 6 g | 10.5 g |
| 1 plain dosa with 1 katori sambar and 2 tbsp coconut chutney | 385 kcal | 11.5 g | 16 g |
Nutrition facts for 1 plain dosa (about 60 g)
| Nutrient | 1 plain dosa (about 60 g) | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 185 kcal | 310 kcal |
| Protein | 4 g | 7 g |
| Carbohydrates | 29.5 g | 49 g |
| Fat | 5.5 g | 9 g |
| Fibre | 2 g | 3 g |
| Sugars | not available | not available |
| Sodium | 5 mg | 8 mg |
| Potassium | 114 mg | 190 mg |
| Calcium | 20 mg | 33 mg |
| Iron | 0.9 mg | 1.4 mg |
Is dosa good for weight loss?
A plain dosa can fit a weight loss diet. At about 185 kcal it is a moderate breakfast, and the fermented rice and urad batter is simple food. The numbers climb with oil or ghee on the tawa, potato filling, butter or cheese, and the size of restaurant dosas.
Protein is low, 4 g per dosa, so pair it with sambar rather than only chutney, or add curd or eggs. If you have diabetes, note that ICMR-NIN's 2024 guidelines list plain dosa among the higher glycaemic index breakfasts tested (about 79), and ask your doctor or a registered dietitian how it fits your plan.
Tips to keep dosa lighter
- Ask for less oil. Restaurants often use far more oil or ghee than a home tawa. A teaspoon of ghee on top takes a plain dosa to about 230 kcal.
- Count restaurant dosas by size. A large, thin restaurant dosa uses more batter than a home one; log it as a large dosa or more.
- Pick sambar. It adds dal and vegetables for protein and fibre, while coconut chutney mainly adds fat.
- Idli is lighter. It is steamed rather than cooked with oil. Compare on the idli calories page, and see how to count calories in Indian food for portion tips.
1 dosa me kitni calorie hoti hai? Ek plain dosa (60 g, 1 chammach tel ke saath) mein lagbhag 185 kcal hoti hai, aur masala dosa mein lagbhag 305 kcal.
Dosa compared
| Food (per 100 g) | Calories | Protein | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dosa | 310 kcal | 7 g | - |
| Idli | 145 kcal | 5 g | Idli is steamed and keeps its water, so it has fewer calories per piece and per 100 g. |
| Roti | 260 kcal | 10 g | Both are mostly starch; dosa picks up oil on the tawa, while roti is cooked dry and has more fibre. |
How we calculated these numbers
Calculated from a standard home recipe (1 plain dosa, 60 g cooked) using USDA FoodData Central values for each ingredient.
Standard recipe (1 plain dosa): One ladle (about 100 g) of fermented batter, made from rice and urad dal in a 4 to 1 ratio, is spread thin on a hot tawa with 1 tsp (5 g) of oil. A CSIR-CFTRI study of dosa baking measured the batter at 65% water and the finished dosa at 35% (Venkateshmurthy and Raghavarao), so 100 g of batter holds about 39 g of rice and dal and bakes down to about 60 g of dosa including the oil. The tawa drives off water, not calories, which is why dosa has more calories per 100 g than idli. That study sprayed 8 to 10 g of oil on each dosa; this page uses 1 tsp, closer to home cooking, and shows extra ghee as a variant. Salt and fenugreek seeds are left out. USDA lists whole urad beans; dehusked urad dal has less fibre, so treat the fibre figure as an upper estimate. For comparison, USDA's survey entry 'Dosa, plain' (FDC 2708347) is 210 kcal per 100 g because it is calculated from the batter weight without the water lost on the tawa; its 80 g medium dosa, at about 170 kcal, is close to this one per piece.
- Rice, raw (in the batter): 31 g
- Urad dal (black gram), raw (in the batter): 8 g
- Oil on the tawa, 1 tsp: 5 g
Calories are rounded to the nearest 5 kcal and macros to the nearest 0.5 g. Home cooking varies, mostly in portion size and oil, so treat these as good estimates rather than exact values. The text on this page was drafted with AI assistance and checked by the Calo AI Team; every number is calculated from the data above. Read more in how we calculate.