Calories in Mint Raita

Of the raitas, this one has the shortest recipe. The only ingredient that carries energy is 100 g of curd; the mint leaves, green chilli, cumin and salt that flavour it are used in amounts too small to count. One bowl is therefore a small katori of seasoned curd, which is about what is served beside a plate of biryani or kebabs. The mint dip that restaurants serve with tandoori starters is often a different thing, thinned with water and sharpened with green chutney, and it comes in a much smaller pot.

The energy divides into 38% carbohydrate, 33% fat and 28% protein, which is simply the profile of the curd. There is no starch here and almost no fibre, 0.4 g, because nothing bulky has been added. The carbohydrate, 8 g, is the sugar found naturally in milk. At 81 kcal this is the lightest of the four raitas in the recipe set, a little under lauki raita at 86 kcal and cucumber raita at 90 kcal, though all of them sit within a narrow band.

A bowl of mint raita uses up about 4% of a sedentary man's daily energy requirement and 5% of a woman's. It works as a cooling side with spiced food and adds 5.9 g of protein, and some calcium, to the meal. Because it has no vegetables to speak of, it does not add fibre; a kachumber or sliced cucumber on the same plate covers that. Three bowls come to 243 kcal and 17.7 g of protein, which shows how far curd can go as a modest protein source across a day.

Mint raita is salted, and the tandoori and biryani dishes it accompanies are well salted themselves. Curd is also a dairy food, so part of the 3.1 g of fat in this serving is saturated, a small amount but one that adds up over several bowls. People following advice on salt or fat for blood pressure or cholesterol should stick to what their doctor or dietitian has recommended.