Part two of this article showed the energy counts of some homemade and readymade curries and also described how I calculated the kilocalories in a homemade curry.
Before we examine the kilocalories in popular curry extras, let’s look at the energy content in some of the more common frozen (single serve) meals that can be bought from large supermarkets.
| Meal |
Kilocalories (kcal)* |
Kilojoules (kJ)* |
| Roast chicken dinner |
475 |
1,987 |
| Chicken pie |
460 |
1,925 |
| Macaroni cheese |
695 |
2,908 |
| Beef lasagne |
590 |
2,469 |
| Fish and chips |
660 |
2,761 |
* 1 kilocalorie (kcal) equals 4.184 kilojoules (kJ)
I found these details by searching through supermarket freezer cabinets. I didn’t buy any of the products so I can’t vouch for their taste.
Let’s look once again at the homemade curry table that we saw in part two of this article.
* 1 kilocalorie (kcal) equals 4.184 kilojoules (kJ)
As you can see, the readymade, frozen, meals have higher kilocalorie counts than the curries. And, in my opinion, they are nowhere as tasty as the curries. You’re also likely to make yourself some vegetables with the readymade, frozen, meals so that is going to add a few more kilocalories.
Now let’s look at some of the more popular extras that people eat when they’re dining out at a curry restaurant.
| Curry Extra |
Kilocalories (kcal)* |
Kilojoules (kJ)* |
| Plain naan bread |
354 |
1,481 |
| Plain roti |
128 |
536 |
| Plain poppadom |
49 |
205 |
| Vegetable samosa |
126 |
527 |
| 1 pint (450ml) Carlsberg |
197 |
824 |
* 1 kilocalorie (kcal) equals 4.184 kilojoules (kJ)
I’ve said previously that it’s almost impossible to know the energy content in a restaurant curry, but the above table shows the kilocalories that you expect to get if you add some of the standard extras. The same problem arises with kilocalories for the extras as for the curries when getting them from a restaurant – there’s no way of knowing the true kilocalorie count of food made in restaurants. The above details are for the products when bought from a supermarket.
So a couple of poppadoms, two samosas, a plain naan and a couple of pints of Carlsberg will add (at least) a huge 1,098 kilocalories (kcal), or 4,594 kilojoules (kJ), to your meal. There are sometimes more kilocalories in the extras than are in the actual curry that you eat and this one reason why eating curries can increase your weight. It’s not necessarily the kilocalories in a curry that are a threat to your body weight; it’s the kilocalories in all those extras that you eat and drink along with the curry.
So what conclusions can we make from the details contained in this article?
First, it’s almost impossible to know the energy content of restaurant made curries (either dine in or takeaway).
Next, you can find out the energy content of curries if you make them yourself or if you buy readymade, frozen, ones from a supermarket.
Next, there’s no need for home made curries to make you put on weight because they have usually the same energy content as readymade, frozen, supermarket curries and a lower energy content than alternative readymade, frozen, meals.
There’s no real reason why you can’t have a curry as part of your diet. But don’t forget to include fresh fruit and vegetables in a balanced diet.
Finally, the extras that you eat with curries can contain more kilocalories (or kilojoules) than the actual curry itself.
There’s no way that I’ll ever stop eating curries because they simply taste too good.
And I won’t fixate about the kilocalories (or kilojoules) in curries because I’m not greatly overweight.
But if you are trying to lose weight, at least you now know how to work out how the energy content of homemade curries. I’m not a dietician, or nutrition expert, but I can see no reason why you can’t eat a curry as part of a diet, as long as you hold back on the breads, beers and deep fried extras.
Curry Calorie Count. Part One
Curry Calorie Count. Part Two
Curry Calorie Count. Part Three