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Meal planning fails when it tries to be a restaurant menu for seven days. Beginners do better with a short repeatable set: two breakfasts, two lunches, three dinners that share vegetables and dals.
Start with what you already cook. Write the week in three columns — morning, afternoon, night — and reuse sauces, rice, and chopped salad. Shopping then becomes a list, not a guess.
Batch one dal and one vegetable on Sunday. Keep eggs, dahi, fruit, and roasted chana for gaps. That covers most workdays without a second career in meal prep.
Leave one free dinner. Plans that allow a family meal or delivery night last longer than perfect spreadsheets.
