Calories in Kesar Milk

The recipe starts with 1200 ml of milk, sweetens it with 100 g of sugar, and adds saffron and 8 g of almonds. It makes 5 portions; the source does not say how large the glass is, so the figure is for one of those, which works out to 240 ml of milk, 20 g of sugar and 1.5 g of almond. That is a full glass of sweet milk. Kesar doodh at a sweet shop is usually milk that has been simmered until it thickens, which concentrates everything, and it may be served with malai on top. A home glass with a teaspoon of sugar is much lighter than either.

Saffron contributes colour and aroma and no energy to speak of, so kesar milk is nutritionally a glass of sweetened milk. Carbohydrate supplies 48% of the energy, fat 39% and protein 12%. The carbohydrate, 33.2 g, is the 20 g of added sugar and the milk's own sugar. The fat, 12 g, and the 8.3 g of protein are the milk's. It is the heaviest of the 14 drinks in its group, simply because it has the most milk and a generous amount of sugar.

One portion is about 13% of a sedentary man's daily energy requirement and 16% of a woman's, which makes it closer to a small meal than a bedtime drink. For that it gives 8.3 g of protein and the calcium of a full glass of milk, a good return. It is commonly taken at night after dinner, when the day's eating is already done, and two glasses come to 536 kcal. Where it fits depends on the purpose: for someone trying to gain weight it is useful; for most adults a smaller cup with less sugar gives the same comfort.

A portion carries 32.9 g of sugars, 20 g of it added, and 12 g of milk fat. As an occasional festive drink that is of little consequence; as a nightly glass it is one of the larger single items in the day. Whether warm milk at night helps sleep is outside what the data shows. People managing diabetes or cholesterol should ask their doctor or dietitian about sweetened full-fat milk.