Last checked: 10 October 2026 · Sources listed at the end
Most Indian meals already contain the right building blocks: a grain, a dal or curry, a sabzi and curd. The problem is usually proportion. A typical plate is mostly rice or roti, with a small spoon of dal and very little vegetable. This notebook shows how to fix that, step by step, using the ICMR-NIN “My Plate for the Day” as a guide.
1. Fill half the plate with vegetables and fruit
ICMR-NIN’s plate puts vegetables, green leafy vegetables, roots and fruit at roughly half of what you eat in a day, and suggests around 400 g of vegetables a day. In practice:
- Two katoris of sabzi at lunch and dinner, not one.
- Add a plain salad (cucumber, onion, tomato, carrot) to any meal.
- Count leafy greens (palak, methi, sarson) several times a week.
- Potato counts as a starch, not as a vegetable serving.
2. Make the grain a quarter, not the whole plate
Roti, rice, millets (ragi, jowar, bajra) and poha give you energy, and you don’t need to cut them out. Keep them to about a quarter of the plate. Mix in whole grains and millets where you can. For example, swap one of two rotis for a bajra roti, or eat brown or hand-pounded rice some days.
3. Put protein at every meal
This is where most Indian diets fall short. Include at least one of these each meal:
| Vegetarian | Non-vegetarian |
|---|---|
| Dal, rajma, chole, sprouts | Eggs |
| Paneer, tofu | Chicken |
| Curd, milk, buttermilk | Fish |
| Soya chunks, peanuts | Lean mutton (occasionally) |
To find your own daily target, use the protein calculator.
4. Add dairy or a calcium source
ICMR-NIN suggests about 250–300 ml of milk or curd a day (a glass of milk plus a katori of curd covers it). If you avoid dairy, ragi, sesame (til) and green leafy vegetables also add calcium.
5. Watch the three “hidden” extras: oil, salt and sugar
- Salt: the 2024 guidelines say to keep added salt to 5 g a day at most (about one level teaspoon), and to use iodised salt. Pickles, papad, namkeen and instant noodles add a lot.
- Sugar: keep added sugar low. Chai with two spoons of sugar, three times a day, adds up quickly.
- Oil and ghee: measure them. Pour with a spoon, not straight from the bottle. Save deep-fried food (pakora, puri, samosa) for occasional treats.
6. Check your plate in five seconds
Before you eat, ask:
- [ ] Is about half the plate vegetables or fruit?
- [ ] Is there a protein source (dal, paneer, curd, egg, chicken, fish)?
- [ ] Is the grain about a quarter?
- [ ] Is anything deep-fried? If so, is it a small portion?
Mistakes to avoid
- Treating dal as the only protein. A thin katori of dal gives fewer grams than people think, so add curd, paneer, sprouts or eggs as well.
- Skipping breakfast, then overeating at night.
- Assuming “healthy” packaged foods are low in sugar or salt. Read the label.
- Cutting out roti and rice completely. It’s hard to sustain and not necessary.
- Buying protein powders before fixing meals. The 2024 guidelines advise against relying on protein supplements to build body mass.
Keep planning
Sources
- ICMR-NIN, Dietary Guidelines for Indians (2024), including “My Plate for the Day”. nin.res.in
- ICMR-NIN, My Plate for the Day (PDF)
General information only, not medical advice.