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A regular cup of chai is about 75 kcal, a South Indian filter coffee about 100 and a sweet lassi about 170. Here are the approximate calories for 16 everyday Indian drinks, and how milk and sugar explain nearly all of it.
| Drink (typical cup) | kcal |
|---|---|
| Black tea or green tea, no sugar (1 cup) | ~2 |
| Black coffee, no sugar (1 cup) | ~3 |
| Chai with toned milk, no sugar (150 ml) | ~45 |
| Cutting chai (80 ml, 1 tsp sugar) | ~50 |
| Regular chai (150 ml, toned milk, 1.5 tsp sugar) | ~75 |
| Instant coffee with milk (150 ml, 1 tsp sugar) | ~80 |
| South Indian filter coffee (150 ml, 2 tsp sugar) | ~100 |
| Dhaba-style chai (150 ml, mostly buffalo milk, 2 tsp sugar) | ~130 |
| Drink (typical glass) | kcal |
|---|---|
| Chaas / salted buttermilk (250 ml) | ~40 |
| Nimbu pani with sugar (250 ml, 2 tsp sugar) | ~45 |
| Coconut water (200 ml) | ~40 |
| Sweet lassi (250 ml) | ~170 |
| Mango lassi (250 ml) | ~230 |
| Drink (typical glass) | kcal |
|---|---|
| Turmeric milk (200 ml, 1 tsp sugar) | ~135 |
| Badam milk (200 ml, sugar, a few almonds) | ~190 |
| Cold coffee, home style (250 ml, milk and 2 tsp sugar) | ~160 |
Our approximate estimates for typical home-made servings. Café and street versions often use more sugar, cream or ice cream, so the same name can hold much more.
Tea leaves and coffee powder add almost nothing. The calories come from milk (toned milk is roughly 58 kcal per 100 ml, and buffalo milk is higher) and sugar (a level teaspoon is roughly 20 kcal). That is why black tea is about 2 kcal and a milky dhaba chai with two spoons of sugar is about 130.
One regular cup (about 75 kcal) is a little more than half a medium roti (about 120 kcal). Five cups come to about 375 kcal, and about 150 kcal of that is the 7.5 teaspoons of sugar. Cutting the sugar by half in each cup saves roughly 75 kcal over the day, with the same amount of tea and milk.
Easy change: reduce sugar by a quarter teaspoon every few days instead of all at once. Most people stop noticing the difference before they reach half.
Salted chaas is mostly water with a little curd, so it is among the lightest drinks on the list (about 40 kcal a glass). A sweet lassi uses curd plus several teaspoons of sugar, and a mango lassi adds fruit pulp on top, which is why they can land at about 170 and 230 kcal. A thick Punjabi lassi with a layer of malai can go higher still.
For sugar in a whole day, see how much sugar per day.
These are approximate numbers for typical servings, not exact ones, and they are not advice about what you should drink. If you have diabetes or another health condition, how much sugar or milk suits you is a question for your doctor or dietitian, not a general table.
About 75 kcal for a regular 150 ml cup made with toned milk and one and a half teaspoons of sugar. A milky dhaba-style cup with two teaspoons of sugar is about 130 kcal.
Only about 2 kcal for a cup of black or green tea with no milk or sugar.
About 170 kcal for a 250 ml glass of sweet lassi and about 230 kcal for mango lassi. Salted chaas is only about 40 kcal.
About 20 kcal for each level teaspoon, so two spoons add about 40 kcal to a cup.
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Scan your food Track todayFigures on this page are our own approximate calculations from typical recipes and servings. They are estimates, not laboratory measurements. This article is educational information, not medical or nutrition advice.
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