Home raita with plain curd and cucumber: 60 calories per bowl. Restaurant raita with cream, boondi, and extra salt: 150 calories. Boondi raita: 120 calories because the fried boondi adds 40-60 calories of oil. The curd is light. What goes into it determines whether raita is a diet food or a calorie trap. Raita is … Read more
One tablespoon of Indian pickle is 25-30 calories. That sounds harmless. But most Indians eat 2-3 tablespoons per meal, twice a day. That is 100-180 invisible calories daily from pickle alone. 3,000-5,400 calories per month. Nearly half a kilogram of fat per month from something nobody counts. Pickle is the most overlooked calorie source in … Read more
A bowl of plain fruit salad is 80 calories. A bowl of fruit chaat with chaat masala and lemon: 85 calories. A bowl of fruit custard: 280 calories. A bowl of fruit cream: 350 calories. The same fruits go from 80 cal to 350 cal depending on what you drown them in. The fruit was … Read more
A handful of mixed dry fruits (30g) is 150 calories. Two handfuls: 300. A small festive box (200g): 1,000 calories. Dry fruits are the ultimate calorie-dense snack disguised as a health food. Almonds (575 cal/100g), cashews (553 cal/100g), raisins (299 cal/100g), dates (282 cal/100g). Combined in a mix, they average 500 cal/100g. Healthy? Yes. Low … Read more
Amla has 20x the vitamin C of an orange. At 44 calories per 100g, it is one of the lightest and most nutrient-dense fruits in existence. Two amla (50g): 22 calories with more vitamin C than 3 oranges. The catch: raw amla is aggressively sour. So Indians invented amla murabba (sugar-soaked), amla candy (sugar-coated), and … Read more
Fresh coconut meat is 354 calories per 100g. That is more calorie-dense than rice (130 cal/100g), more than roti (240 cal/100g), more than most foods people consider heavy. A 50g portion (roughly half a small coconut’s meat): 177 calories. Coconut water is light (19 cal/100ml). Coconut meat is not. Coconut Fresh is one of those … Read more
Jamun is 60 calories per 100g. Not the lightest fruit, not the heaviest. But jamun’s real value is not in calories. It is one of the few fruits clinically studied for blood sugar management. The low glycemic index, jamboline compound in seeds, and moderate sugar make it the go-to fruit for diabetic Indians. Taste aside, … Read more
Fresh anjeer: 74 cal per 100g. Dried anjeer: 249 cal per 100g. That is a 3.4x calorie increase from the same fruit. Most Indians eat dried figs (soaked overnight) as a health food. Three dried figs soaked in water: 75 calories. Six: 150 calories. The ‘health food’ label makes people eat unlimited dried figs without … Read more
Sitaphal is one of the sweetest fruits in India. At 94 cal per 100g of flesh, it is heavier than most fruits. One medium sitaphal (120g flesh) is 113 calories. The natural sugar content (20g/100g) is higher than mango (14g). But it comes with 3.5g fibre and excellent iron content. Sweet, calorie-dense, but genuinely nutritious. … Read more
One glass of mosambi juice is what most people order when they think they are being healthy. The fruit itself: 43 cal per 100g. A glass of fresh mosambi juice (200ml): 90 cal without sugar, 150 cal with sugar. The juice stall adds 2-3 spoons of sugar to every glass. That is 60 extra calories … Read more