Healthy swaps for samosa, pakora and other fried snacks
Evening chai with samosas, pakoras in the rain, jalebi on Sunday morning. Fried snacks are part of our culture. You can keep the joy of snacking while cutting a lot of calories with a few smart swaps.
Quick answer
- One samosa has about 250 calories, and 4 pakoras about 240. That is more than a full roti-and-daal meal for some people.
- Deep fried snacks soak up oil, and oil has 9 calories per gram, more than double carbs or protein.
- Oil that is reused again and again for frying can form harmful compounds. Street food oil is often reused many times.
- Swaps like roasted chana, makhana, bhutta, fruit chaat and air-fried samosas give the same crunch for half the calories or less.
Calories in popular desi snacks
| Snack | Portion | Calories | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samosa (aloo) | 1 piece | 250 | 14 g |
| Pakora | 4 pieces, 80 g | 240 | 15 g |
| Jalebi | 2 pieces, 50 g | 220 | 8 g |
| Spring rolls (fried) | 2 rolls | 200 | 10 g |
| Nimko or Bombay mix | 1 small bowl, 50 g | 260 | 17 g |
| Potato chips | 1 small packet, 30 g | 160 | 10 g |
| Gol gappay / pani puri | 6 pieces | 200 to 250 | 8 g |
| Chicken roll paratha | 1 roll | 450 to 550 | 22 g |
A plate of 2 samosas with chutney and a sweet chai can reach 600 calories. For a woman eating 1,600 calories a day, that is more than a third of the day, in one tea break.
The problem with reused oil
Most of the calories in fried snacks come from the oil they soak up. But there is a second problem. When cooking oil is heated again and again, it breaks down and forms harmful compounds, including trans fats. Eating these regularly is linked with heart disease and high cholesterol.
India's food safety authority (FSSAI) advises that oil should not be reused for frying more than two or three times, and street vendors often reuse it for days. The WHO has called on all countries to remove industrial trans fats from food because of their link with heart disease. Pakistan and India both have rules to limit them, but home and street frying practices still matter.
At home, use fresh oil, do not let it smoke, and throw away oil that has turned dark, thick or smells strong.
10 tasty swaps that save calories
| Instead of | Try | You save |
|---|---|---|
| 2 samosas (500) | 2 air-fried or baked samosas (280) | about 220 |
| 4 pakoras (240) | Besan cheela with onions and green chilli (150) | about 90 |
| Nimko, 50 g (260) | Roasted chana, 30 g (120) | about 140 |
| Chips packet (160) | Roasted makhana (fox nuts), 25 g (90) | about 70 |
| Chips packet (160) | Bhutta (roasted corn) with lemon and masala (100) | about 60 |
| Jalebi, 2 pieces (220) | Fruit chaat, 1 bowl (120) | about 100 |
| Cream biscuits, 4 (280) | A small handful of almonds or peanuts (90) | about 190 |
| Chicken roll paratha (500) | Chicken tikka with salad and 1 roti (330) | about 170 |
| Aloo chaat with papdi (350) | Chana chaat with onion, tomato, lemon (200) | about 150 |
| Fried egg roll (300) | Boiled egg chaat with chaat masala (160) | about 140 |
Calories are approximate. You can check more snacks on our food calorie picker.
How to make fried favourites lighter at home
- Use an air fryer or the oven. Brush samosas, pakoras or kachoris lightly with oil and bake or air-fry them. They come out crisp with a fraction of the oil.
- Fill samosas with more protein and vegetables. Keema, chana or mixed vegetable fillings are more filling than plain aloo.
- Make pakoras with more vegetables, less batter. Spinach, onion, cauliflower and capsicum pakoras with a thin besan coating soak up less oil.
- Fry at the right heat. If the oil is not hot enough, food sits in it longer and soaks up more. If it smokes, it is too hot.
- Drain on paper. Put fried food on kitchen paper for a minute to remove the extra oil on the surface.
- Make them smaller. Mini samosas mean you can have two and still eat less than one big one.
Do I have to give up fried snacks completely?
No. A healthy diet is about the usual pattern, not one meal. Enjoying a samosa or a few pakoras once or twice a week, as part of a balanced diet, is fine for most healthy people. The trouble starts when fried snacks are a daily habit, and when they come on top of normal meals instead of replacing something.
A simple rule that works for many families: fried snacks on weekends, smart swaps on weekdays.
Better snacking habits
- Plan your snack. Long gaps between meals make you very hungry, and very hungry people reach for fried food. A planned snack around 5 pm stops this.
- Add protein. Roasted chana, boiled eggs, dahi or a few nuts keep you full much longer than chips or biscuits.
- Put it on a plate. Eating from a big packet or a full tray makes it very hard to stop.
- Drink water first. Thirst is often mistaken for hunger, especially in hot weather.
Common questions
How many calories are in one samosa?
One normal aloo samosa has about 250 calories and 14 g of fat. A small cocktail samosa has about 80 to 100 calories.
Are baked samosas healthy?
Baked or air-fried samosas have far less oil, so they have about 40 percent fewer calories. They are a better choice, but the pastry is still made from maida, so enjoy them in moderation.
Is roasted chana good for weight loss?
Yes. A 30 g handful has about 120 calories, 6.5 g of protein and 5 g of fibre, which keeps you full much longer than chips or biscuits.
Which cooking oil is best for frying?
Oils that handle heat well, like canola, sunflower or rice bran oil, are good for home frying. Whatever oil you use, use fresh oil and do not reuse it many times.
Sources
- World Health Organization. Trans fat, fact sheet, and the REPLACE action package. www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/trans-fat
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO) initiative and limits on total polar compounds in frying oil. www.fssai.gov.in/ruco
- Ganesan K, Sukalingam K, Xu B. Impact of consumption of repeatedly heated cooking oils on the incidence of various cancers: a critical review. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2019;59:488-505. doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2017.1379470
- Longvah T, Ananthan R, Bhaskarachary K, Venkaiah K. Indian Food Composition Tables 2017. National Institute of Nutrition, ICMR, Hyderabad.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: samosa; pakora; chickpeas, roasted; popcorn; corn, sweet, cooked. fdc.nal.usda.gov
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