The calorie tracker that finally gets your food.

Text it like a friend. Ballu knows desi food, Western food, and everything you actually eat. It learns your habits, remembers what works for you, and stops asking the same questions.

9:41Ballu5G

2 parathas and anda for breakfast

Got it — about 580 cal. Assuming medium parathas with a bit of ghee, two fried eggs. Close enough?

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The story

Built in a household. For everyone who eats like us.

Mariam is a resident physician. Between hospital shifts, prayer times, dinner, and trying to stay on top of her health, she did what most South Asian women do: gave up on calorie tracking apps. Every single one of them treated paratha like a mystery and karahi like “some kind of stew.”

Zain noticed. He’d been building a personal AI assistant called Wakeel — and Mariam quietly turned hers into a calorie tracker. She logged meals like she’d text a friend. She started losing weight.

It became obvious. Nobody had built a calorie tracker for the way we actually eat — desi food, Western food, mixed plates, whatever was on the table. So we asked her audience if they felt the same. Within 18 hours, 90% of 2,000 people said yes — they didn’t know how to count calories in desi food, and the apps weren’t helping. So we’re building it.

“Within 18 hours, 90% of 2,000 people said they couldn’t count calories in desi food.”

What it does

Three things, done well.

Knows your food

From paratha to pasta, halwa puri to oatmeal — Ballu understands the food you actually eat. The AI behind it knows how karahi, biryani, and dal are actually made, not just what's in a database.

Talks like a friend

No databases to search. No portion sizes to weigh. No dropdowns. Just text it: “4 pakoras and chai with sugar.” Ballu does the math. Photo when you want it, conversation when you don't.

Learns you

Two weeks in, Ballu knows your usual chai is sweet, your protein goals, your cheat days, your portions. It stops asking the same questions. The longer you use it, the less work it becomes.

Why Ballu

Calorie tracking, without the friction.

Most people who try to track calories quit within two weeks. The reason isn’t willpower — it’s the apps.

Logging a meal

Other apps

Search, scroll, pick, weigh, confirm

Ballu

Text it. Done.

Knows desi food

Other apps

Barely

Ballu

Fluently

Remembers your habits

Other apps

Starts fresh every day

Ballu

Gets sharper every week

Photo logging

Other apps

Required, mixed accuracy

Ballu

When you want it, not required

Tone

Other apps

Diet-app shame

Ballu

Friend-who-knows-nutrition

	Other apps	Ballu
Logging a meal	Search, scroll, pick, weigh, confirm	Text it. Done.
Knows desi food	Barely	Fluently
Remembers your habits	Starts fresh every day	Gets sharper every week
Photo logging	Required, mixed accuracy	When you want it, not required
Tone	Diet-app shame	Friend-who-knows-nutrition

We built Ballu because every other app made tracking feel like a second job. It doesn’t have to.

The team

Built by two people who eat this food every day.

Mariam is a resident physician with a healthy skepticism of every wellness app she’s ever tried. Zain is a data engineer who’s been building AI products for the last three years. We’re married and we built Ballu because we were tired of waiting for someone else to.

Built between hospital shifts, code commits, and a lot of chai.

Want it when it’s ready?

Drop your email. We’ll send one note when Ballu launches on iPhone — late May, if everything goes to plan.