← Articles
← Articles
One teaspoon is 5 ml, one tablespoon is 15 ml, one cup is about 240 ml, a glass is about 200 ml and a katori is about 150 ml. Here are the Indian kitchen measures in ml, plus roughly how many grams a spoon or a cup of common ingredients weighs.
| Measure | About (ml) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon (tsp) | 5 | Level, not heaped |
| 1 tablespoon (tbsp) | 15 | 3 teaspoons |
| 1 small tea cup | 100 to 150 | Varies a lot with the cup |
| 1 katori (cooked dal or sabzi) | 150 | Small katori about 100, large about 200 |
| 1 glass | 200 | Steel glasses are often 200 to 250 |
| 1 measuring cup | 240 to 250 | Recipes use 240 or 250 |
| 1 fluid ounce (oz) | 30 | The same as a small peg |
| 1 litre | 1,000 | About 4 measuring cups |
Our approximate figures. Katori, glass and cup sizes differ from home to home: pour water into yours once from a measuring jug and note the ml.
A spoon or a cup holds different weights of different ingredients, because some are light and some are dense. These are rough guides for common Indian ingredients.
| Ingredient | 1 tsp (g) | 1 tbsp (g) | 1 cup, 240 ml (g) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 5 | 13 | 200 |
| Salt (table) | 5 to 6 | 17 | 290 |
| Oil | 5 | 14 | 220 |
| Ghee | 5 | 13 | 215 |
| Atta (wheat flour) | 3 | 8 | 125 |
| Besan | 2 | 6 | 100 |
| Rice, raw | 4 | 12 | 200 |
| Dal, raw | 4 | 12 | 200 |
| Rolled oats | 1.5 | 5 | 90 |
| Milk or water | 5 | 15 | 240 |
Rounded estimates for levelled spoons and cups. Grain size, how tightly it is packed and brand change the weight; flour packed down can weigh 20 per cent more.
Most of the calories in home cooking come from a few spoons. A teaspoon of oil or ghee is about 5 g and roughly 45 kcal, so a tablespoon is about 135 kcal, which is about a roti. A teaspoon of sugar is about 5 g and 20 kcal. Measuring these once with a real spoon explains a lot of the difference between two plates that look alike.
A katori of cooked dal is about 150 g, and a katori of raw rice is about 40 g before cooking, so the same katori means different things for raw and cooked food. Check which one a recipe means.
Take a photo and Nutrisnap shows an approximate calorie range. It is an AI guess, for fun.
Scan your food Track todayThese are rounded estimates for typical home measures, not exact ones. For baking or any recipe where the amount matters, weigh the ingredient on a kitchen scale instead.
About 150 ml for a standard katori of cooked dal or sabzi. Small ones are about 100 ml and large ones about 200 ml.
About 200 ml, though many steel glasses hold 200 to 250 ml.
A measuring cup is about 240 to 250 ml. A tea cup is smaller, usually 100 to 150 ml.
15 ml, which is 3 teaspoons of 5 ml each.
About 13 g. A teaspoon is about 5 g.
Figures on this page are our own approximate calculations from typical values and portions. They are estimates, not laboratory measurements. This article is educational information, not medical or nutrition advice.
← All articles