# The line of ghee on a Maharashtrian varan-bhaat > Varan-bhaat with its line of ghee, bhakri, pithla and usal on a Maharashtrian table, and why the usal katori is the one to refill. - Canonical: https://kilocare.in/learn/maharashtrian-family-dinner - Publisher: KiloCare (https://kilocare.in) - Written by: KiloCare Team - Last updated: 2026-09-30 - Citations: numbers in square brackets refer to Sources at the end; a page or table follows the number where given. ![A grandmother pours varan over rice at a Maharashtrian family dinner as her son and grandson laugh; bhakri, pithla, sprouted usal, koshimbir and lime wedges fill the table.](https://kilocare.in/images/front-door/d3.webp) Last of all comes a thin line of ghee across the varan. Under it is bhaat, plain rice, and the varan itself, yellow tur dal with no masala, which Aaji, the grandmother, has just poured from the pot at her elbow. Around the plate sit a bhakri still spotted from the tawa, pithla, a sprouted-moong usal, a spoon of koshimbir salad and a wedge of lime. ![A Maharashtrian dinner plate seen from above: a cooked vegetable, koshimbir, sprouted usal, pithla, varan over rice with a line of ghee, and a bhakri.](https://kilocare.in/images/learn/vp3.webp) On the plate: - **Bhaji**: a cooked vegetable - **Varan-bhaat**: tur dal over rice, a line of ghee - **Pithla** - **Koshimbir**: salad - **Usal**: sprouted moong - **Bhakri**: spotted from the tawa **What the pot brings** (per 100 g of each raw ingredient, not a cooked helping; "none" means none is listed) | Per 100 g raw | Energy (kcal) | Protein (g) | Carbs (g) | Fat (g) | Fibre (g) | |---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:| | Rice, milled | 356 | 7.9 | 78.2 | 0.5 | 2.8 | | Tur dal | 331 | 21.7 | 55.2 | 1.6 | 9.1 | | Jowar | 334 | 10.0 | 67.7 | 1.7 | 10.2 | | Green gram, whole | 294 | 22.5 | 46.1 | 1.1 | 17.0 | | Per 100 g raw | Iron (mg) | Folate (µg) | Zinc (mg) | Calcium (mg) | β-carotene (µg) | |---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:| | Rice, milled | 0.7 | 9 | 1.2 | 7 | none | | Tur dal | 3.9 | 108 | 2.6 | 72 | 127 | | Jowar | 4.0 | 39 | 2.0 | 28 | 8 | | Green gram, whole | 4.9 | 145 | 2.7 | 92 | 137 | Values: Indian Food Composition Tables 2017.[2, Tables 1, 2, 4 and 5] The usal is sprouted; IFCT lists only whole, unsprouted green gram, and has no row for besan. It is a Wednesday, and a fuller table than some weeknights, with 2 grains and 3 pulse dishes. The father and son sit at the far end, deep in their own conversation. The usual advice would take away the ghee line and the bhaat. Here both stay, and the usal katori, the small bowl it comes in, is the one that gets refilled. **In short** - Refill the usal, not the bhaat. - On bhakri nights, a smaller mound of bhaat. - One line of ghee on the varan, and no second pour. ## 3 pulses in 3 katoris In many homes varan is plain tur dal, and tur is dense in protein. That is the raw dal on the shelf; the varan in the ladle has been cooked in water. The usal, a curry of sprouted pulses, starts here from whole green gram, as dense in protein before it is soaked.[2, Table 1, pp. 4-5] Some cooks make it with matki, or moth beans, instead. Pithla, a soft curry of besan (ground chana dal), sits on the pulse side of the plate as well. Varan-bhaat is the pairing ICMR-NIN's 2024 guidelines describe: a meal with both pulses and grains supplies all the amino acids and is of higher quality than either alone. NIN suggests cereals and pulses at about 3 to 1 by raw weight.[1, p. 58] NIN also asks for more sprouted or fermented foods. It says germination makes food easier to digest and its micronutrients easier to absorb, and that sprouting raises certain vitamins.[1, p. 81] Then the bhakri, a flatbread of jowar (sorghum) or bajra (pearl millet). The ICMR-INDIAB survey found both commonly eaten in Maharashtra, and in 2022-23 coarse grains still made up about 12% of the cereal in rural Maharashtra households.[3, Extended Data Table 1][4, Table 3.8R, p. 34] **Fibre per 100 g, raw** - Bajra: 11.5 g - Jowar: 10.2 g - Rice, milled: 2.8 g All 3 are the raw grain.[2, Table 1, p. 3] The koshimbir is often dressed with lime or curd, often crushed peanuts, and a tadka of spices in hot oil. It fits NIN's picture of a healthy meal: fresh non-starchy vegetables at every meal, plain curd alongside.[1, p. 1] ## Bhaat by the ladle, pulses by the katori **White rice alone, Maharashtra median: 43%; NIN ceiling, all cereals: 45%.** Share of the day's energy, adults in Maharashtra (ICMR-INDIAB, 2008 to 2010).[3, Extended Data Table 3] The ceiling covers every cereal and millet together.[1, p. 5] In that sample, rice by itself came close to the ceiling for every grain in the day. Wheat counts too: by quantity, it was the larger share of household cereal in Maharashtra in 2022-23.[4, Tables 3.8R and 3.8U, pp. 34-5] Whichever grain leads in a given home, a bhakri beside a full mound of bhaat tends to push the share further up. Bhakri in place of bhaat does not settle it. ICMR-INDIAB modelled that kind of change, 50 g of refined cereal (mostly white rice) out and 50 g of millet or whole wheat flour in, with no less cereal overall. It found no lower odds of **abdominal obesity**, extra fat carried around the waist.[3, Extended Data Table 7] The survey measured people once, so it shows associations, not cause. The pulses are there, but smaller: 3 of them, often in katoris, while the rice comes by the ladle. The line of ghee is the fat everyone sees. NIN suggests keeping ghee or butter to 1 to 2 teaspoons a day, or avoiding it where possible.[1, p. 54] A line across the varan can sit inside that. The oil in the pithla and usal tadka is harder to see, and it draws on the same daily allowance. **A day's allowance, in teaspoons** (1 teaspoon is a level teaspoon, about 5 g of oil, ghee or salt) - Cooking oil and ghee, sedentary woman: about 20 g - Cooking oil and ghee, sedentary man: about 30 g - Of that, ghee or butter: 1 to 2 teaspoons, or none (The line of ghee on the varan counts here) - Salt: about 5 g NIN's figures for sedentary adults, for the whole day. It counts 20 to 50 g of cooking fat as 4 to 10 teaspoons, and 5 g of salt as 1 teaspoon.[1, pp. 54, 74] ## Refill the usal, hold the second pour 1. **Refill the usal, not the bhaat.** Aaji's varan-bhaat stays exactly as it is. Against NIN's recommended 14% to 15% of energy from pulses, eggs and flesh foods, Indian diets get 6% to 9% from pulses, meat, poultry and fish.[1, p. iv] A second katori of usal adds pulses without taking anything off the plate. 2. **On bhakri nights, a smaller mound of bhaat.** Either grain can be the base and the other a side. The varan still has rice to soak into, and the bhakri still gets torn into the pithla. Both stay on the table. 3. **1 line of ghee, and no second.** The first line goes on as it always has. If there is a second helping of bhaat, it goes without another pour, and the oil for the tadkas goes into the kadhai, the deep iron pan, by the spoonful. **Same dish, two ways** ![Two views of the same steel plate: on the left a ladle bringing a second mound of rice; on the right the ladle refilling the katori of sprouted-moong usal, a bhakri on the plate.](https://kilocare.in/images/learn/tw3.webp) - The usual way: The second helping is another ladle of bhaat - This way: The second helping is a katori of usal How to do it: 1. Keep the first serving of varan-bhaat exactly as it is. 2. When someone wants more, refill the usal katori instead of the rice. 3. On bhakri nights, make the mound of bhaat smaller. Why: NIN recommends 14% to 15% of energy from pulses, eggs and flesh foods; Indian diets get 6% to 9%.[1, p. iv] ## A plate with the koshimbir doubled NIN's My Plate gives about half the day's food to vegetables, fruits, greens, roots and tubers, with cereals and millets next, then pulses, flesh foods, eggs, nuts and milk or curd.[1, pp. iv, 6] NIN draws that plate for a whole day; this dinner borrows its proportions. Vegetables are the smallest part of this dinner. For the person managing their weight, the koshimbir becomes a full katori, with a quick bhaji (a cooked vegetable) of whatever is in season if there is one. The other half holds 1 bhakri or a small mound of bhaat with its ghee line, and more usal, varan and pithla than usual. The lime goes over the dal. **The plate:** about half the koshimbir, a full katori, and a bhaji if there is one; most of the rest 1 bhakri or a small mound of bhaat with its ghee line; the rest more usal, varan and pithla than usual. **Scan your plate.** Photograph your plate to see its calories, protein, carbohydrate, fat and fibre. Each food is matched to the Indian Food Composition Tables where they list it. Portions are estimated from the photo, and you check both before anything is saved. Try the free beta: /dashboard/nutrition ## Aaji's ladle Aaji cooks, and her ladle sets the portions. The grandson watches what the adults take. The father may have been through diets that asked him to eat apart from everyone, and each one ended back at this table. Refilling the usal instead of the bhaat leaves Aaji's recipes alone; she cooks the same dishes she always has. Tomorrow the ghee line still goes on the varan. The usal katori just comes back fuller. If anyone at the table has diabetes, high blood pressure or kidney disease, their own doctor or dietitian may set different targets from the general guidelines here. Anyone who takes medicine for diabetes should check with their doctor before eating less rice or bhakri at dinner. To have a doctor look at the whole picture, including the food your family shares, you can [book a consultation](https://kilocare.in/onboarding). > Prescription required. Consult your doctor. Results may vary. ## Frequently asked questions **Is bhakri better than rice for someone managing their weight?** Jowar and bajra carry more fibre than milled rice, but a bhakri still counts towards the same cereal share as rice. The size of the cereal portion is the part worth changing. **Does the ghee on varan-bhaat have to go?** Not necessarily. The national dietary guidelines ask for ghee and butter to be kept small and counted along with cooking oil. A measured line on the varan can fit inside that when the tadka oil is measured too. **Does the whole family have to eat differently?** No. The swaps change which katori gets refilled and how the oil goes into the kadhai, and everyone eats the same dishes. If anyone at the table has diabetes, high blood pressure or kidney disease, their own doctor or dietitian may set different targets from the general guidelines here. ## Sources 1. ICMR-NIN Expert Committee. Dietary Guidelines for Indians - 2024. Hyderabad: ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition; 2024. Available from: https://nin.res.in/dietaryguidelines/pdfjs/locale/DGI_2024.pdf 2. Longvah T, Ananthan R, Bhaskarachary K, Venkaiah K. Indian Food Composition Tables 2017. Hyderabad: National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research; 2017. Available from: https://www.nin.res.in/ebooks/IFCT2017.pdf 3. Anjana RM, Sudha V, Abirami K, Gayathri R, Manasa VS, et al. Dietary profiles and associated metabolic risk factors in India from the ICMR-INDIAB survey-21. Nat Med. 2025;31(11):3813-24. doi:10.1038/s41591-025-03949-4. PMID: 41028544. Available from: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03949-4 4. National Sample Survey Office. Survey on Household Consumption Expenditure: 2022-23. New Delhi: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; 2024. NSS Report No. 591. Available from: https://www.mospi.gov.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/Report_591_HCES_2022-23New.pdf --- To talk to a KiloCare doctor about weight care in India, start at https://kilocare.in/onboarding.