One teaspoon of mukhwas after a meal is 15-20 calories. Harmless. But the restaurant mukhwas bowl is designed for grabbing handfuls. 2-3 handfuls (30g): 100 calories. The sugar-coated varieties (tutti-frutti mukhwas, sugar saunf) push to 120 cal per 30g. It is the ‘free’ thing at the restaurant exit that nobody counts, consumed right after a … Read more

Tamarind chutney is the soul of Indian chaat. Two tablespoons: 42 calories. Sounds small until you realise that every plate of pani puri, bhel puri, chaat, and samosa is drowned in it. A typical chaat plate uses 4-6 tablespoons: 84-126 calories from the chutney alone. The sev is blamed. The chutney escapes notice. Tamarind Chutney … Read more

A bowl of clear tomato soup is 50 calories. Sweet corn soup: 100. Hot and sour: 80. Manchow soup: 120. Cream of mushroom: 180. Soup ranges from genuinely light to surprisingly heavy depending on the base. Clear broths are diet-friendly. Cream-based and Chinese-restaurant soups are calorie traps disguised as starters. Soup is genuinely one of … Read more

A bowl of Indian kachumber salad (onion, cucumber, tomato, lemon) is 25-35 calories. It is the closest thing to a free food in Indian meals. For comparison: 1 papad is 50-90 cal. 1 tbsp pickle is 28 cal. A whole bowl of salad costs less than a single papad or a spoonful of pickle. Yet … Read more

One roasted papad is 50 calories. One fried papad: 90 calories. Most Indians eat 1-2 papads per meal without counting them. Two fried papads per meal, twice a day: 360 extra calories daily. That is 10,800 calories per month. 1.4 kg of potential fat. From papad. The side dish that nobody believes has calories. Papad … Read more

Green chutney is the lightest condiment in Indian cooking. Two tablespoons: 12-15 calories. Made from mint, coriander, green chilli, and lemon, it is essentially blended herbs with zero oil in the basic version. Compare that to 2 tbsp coconut chutney (35 cal) or pickle (28 cal). If you need flavour without calories, green chutney is … Read more