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Poppadom calories: 1 poppadom, 2 poppadoms and 100 g

Also called papad, papadum, pappadam and poppadum.

By Shivam Verma Updated 39 sources linked below

One fried poppadom, 16 g, has about 76 calories, 3.0 g of protein and 4.2 g of fat, or 477 per 100 g; two are 153. Roasted over a flame with no oil, one is 41. A takeaway starter of two poppadoms with mango chutney and raita comes to 216.

Plain poppadoms piled in a napkin-lined basket on a restaurant table, with a small bowl of green chutney in front
Poppadoms with green chutney. Photo: VeBee's World on Pexels.

76calories

Protein

3.0 g

Carbs

7.1 g

Fat

4.2 g

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About poppadom

A poppadom is a thin wafer of urad flour dough, rolled paper thin and dried in the sun, then fried for a few seconds until it puffs and blisters, or roasted over a flame. In Britain it is the crisp that arrives before the meal; in India it is a papad, eaten with dal and rice. We count the dried wafer as 12 g of urad flour, using USDA's dry urad dal record as our stated proxy, and the fryer adds 4 g of oil.

Home vs takeout

The fried and roasted rows are the same 12 g wafer; only the oil differs. The takeaway starter is two fried poppadoms with 20 g of mango chutney and 30 g of raita.

Version1 poppadomProtein, 1 poppadom
Fried poppadomHeadlineA few seconds in hot oil.763.0 g
Roasted poppadomOver a flame, no oil.413.0 g
UK takeaway starter: 2 poppadoms, chutney, raitaMango chutney and raita on the side.2167.0 g

Fried or roasted

A poppadom is in the fryer for seconds, but it is so thin that it takes up oil fast. The 4 g we count is 35 calories, 46 percent of a fried poppadom. Roasted over a flame or in a microwave it has no added oil: 41 calories and 0.2 g of fat for the 12 g wafer, 35 calories less than fried. Per 100 g that is 341 roasted against 477 fried.

The starter plate

At a takeaway the poppadoms come with chutney and raita. Our starter of two fried poppadoms, 20 g of mango chutney and 30 g of raita is 216 calories: the poppadoms 71 percent, the chutney 22 percent and the raita 7 percent. The chutney is 47 calories, almost all sugar, 10.0 g of it, counted from the median of 31 US mango chutney labels.

safefood measured takeaway poppadoms in a laboratory at 21 g and 113 calories a portion, with 7.3 g of fat. Our fried poppadom at the same weight is 100 calories and 5.5 g of fat, 12 percent below their figure.[38]

Are poppadoms healthier than naan?

They are a much smaller food. One fried poppadom is 76 calories; a plain home naan of 90 g is 258, and a takeaway naan of 172.99999999999997 g 495. A home naan is the calories of 3 fried poppadoms. The poppadom's flour is a pulse, so it brings 4.0 g of protein for every 100 calories, but nobody eats a poppadom as a meal's bread.

Against USDA's survey record

USDA's survey record for papad, grilled or broiled, is 371 calories per 100 g, and weighs one papad at 9 g. Our roasted poppadom, the nearest match, is 341, 8 percent below it. USDA has no record for a fried poppadom.[37]

Is poppadom healthy?

One fried poppadom has 4.2 g of fat, 3.0 g of protein and 2.2 g of fibre. Roasting removes the oil and keeps the protein, 3.0 g. On the takeaway plate, the chutney is mostly sugar.

One poppadom of poppadom carries 3.0 g of protein and 4.2 g of fat, 0.6 g of it saturated: 4.0 g of protein for every 100 calories. The ghee page sets the NHS and American Heart Association limits for saturated fat side by side.

What studies of fried food found

In one poppadom of poppadom, the oil soaked up in the fryer is 4.0 g, 35 of the 76 calories. A meta-analysis of observational studies compared people who ate the most fried food with those who ate the least: across 17 studies, the highest intake was associated with a relative risk of 1.28 for major cardiovascular events, from 1.15 to 1.43. It found no clear link with dying of cardiovascular disease or of any cause.[39]

The authors themselves ask readers to weigh the high heterogeneity between studies, 82 percent, and possible recall and misclassification biases in how fried food was reported. These are observational studies: they show an association, not that fried food causes heart disease, and they say nothing about a single plate.

Related guide: Indian Takeaway Calories: The UK Lab Figures

How we calculated this

Every number on this page is for 1 poppadom (16 g), worked out from the recipe below. Piece and 100 g figures are scaled from it.

One fried poppadom of 16 g: a dried urad flour wafer of 12 g, counted as dry urad dal, and the oil absorbed in frying as its own line.

USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy for the urad flour, oil, curd and cucumber, US Branded label records for the mango chutney, USDA's survey record for papad as a cross-check and safefood's laboratory analysis of takeaway poppadoms as an outside figure.

How we calculate

Confidence: medium

Sources

  1. USDA FoodData Central 174259: Mungo beans, mature seeds, raw
  2. USDA FoodData Central 170923: Spices, cumin seed
  3. USDA FoodData Central 171411: Oil, soybean, salad or cooking
  4. USDA FoodData Central 2669818 (Branded label): MANGO CHUTNEY
  5. USDA FoodData Central 2026062 (Branded label): MANGO CHUTNEY
  6. USDA FoodData Central 2431133 (Branded label): MANGO CHUTNEY
  7. USDA FoodData Central 2592796 (Branded label): MANGO CHUTNEY, MANGO
  8. USDA FoodData Central 2443307 (Branded label): CHUTNEY SWEET MANGO
  9. USDA FoodData Central 1899928 (Branded label): CHUTNEY, HOT MANGO
  10. USDA FoodData Central 2095438 (Branded label): MANGO & GINGER CHUTNEY
  11. USDA FoodData Central 2063576 (Branded label): MANGO CHUTNEY SWEET
  12. USDA FoodData Central 2623305 (Branded label): MANGO CHUTNEY, ORIGINAL
  13. USDA FoodData Central 2009377 (Branded label): MANGO JALAPENO CHUTNEY
  14. USDA FoodData Central 558064 (Branded label): PREMIUM MANGO CHUTNEY
  15. USDA FoodData Central 1864106 (Branded label): SHREDDED MANGO CHUTNEY
  16. USDA FoodData Central 2030164 (Branded label): SUKHI'S, MANGO CHUTNEY
  17. USDA FoodData Central 2442203 (Branded label): SWEET MANGO CHUTNEY
  18. USDA FoodData Central 2037606 (Branded label): HOT MANGO CHUTNEY, HOT MANGO
  19. USDA FoodData Central 2567228 (Branded label): MAJOR GREY MANGO CHUTNEY, MANGO
  20. USDA FoodData Central 2567229 (Branded label): MANGO & GINGER CHUTNEY, MANGO; GINGER
  21. USDA FoodData Central 1975323 (Branded label): MANGO MAJOR GREY'S CHUTNEY, MANGO
  22. USDA FoodData Central 2450003 (Branded label): SPICY MANGO CHUTNEY, SPICY MANGO
  23. USDA FoodData Central 497429 (Branded label): BENGAL SPICE MANGO CHUTNEY
  24. USDA FoodData Central 1764516 (Branded label): MAJOR GREY'S CHUTNEY, MANGO
  25. USDA FoodData Central 2587190 (Branded label): SWEET SLICED MANGO CHUTNEY
  26. USDA FoodData Central 2290086 (Branded label): TAIT FARM FOODS, MANGO CHUTNEY, MANGO, MANGO
  27. USDA FoodData Central 2584112 (Branded label): MAJOR GREY'S STYLE MANGO CHUTNEY, MANGO
  28. USDA FoodData Central 2281156 (Branded label): MILD SWEET MANGO CHUTNEY, MILD SWEET MANGO
  29. USDA FoodData Central 2455961 (Branded label): INDIAN MAJOR GREY'S MANGO CHUTNEY
  30. USDA FoodData Central 2008506 (Branded label): KERALA CURRY, HOT MANGO CHUTNEY
  31. USDA FoodData Central 2062272 (Branded label): LACRUZ SPECIALTY FOODS, MANGO CHUTNEY
  32. USDA FoodData Central 365182 (Branded label): SHARWOOD'S, MAJOR GREY MANGO CHUTNEY
  33. USDA FoodData Central 2030986 (Branded label): TRADER JOE'S, MANGO GINGER CHUTNEY
  34. USDA FoodData Central 390358 (Branded label): INDIANLIFE, SWEET & MILD CHUTNEY, MANGO, MEDIUM
  35. USDA FoodData Central 171284: Yogurt, plain, whole milk
  36. USDA FoodData Central 168409: Cucumber, with peel, raw
  37. USDA FoodData Central 2707429: Papad, grilled or broiled
  38. safefood. What's in your Indian takeaway? Laboratory analysis of 280 takeaway samples from 36 outlets, September 2015.
  39. Qin P, Zhang M, Han M, et al. Fried-food consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of observational studies. Heart, 2021;107(19):1567-1575.

Common questions

How many calories in 1 poppadom?

About 76 for a fried poppadom of 16 g, and 41 roasted with no oil.

How many calories in 2 poppadoms?

About 153 fried, before any chutney.

How many calories in poppadoms and chutney?

Our takeaway starter of two fried poppadoms, 20 g of mango chutney and 30 g of raita is about 216; the chutney alone is 47.

Are poppadoms healthier than naan?

They are far lighter as eaten: 76 for a fried poppadom against 258 for a plain home naan.

Is a roasted papad better than a fried one?

On calories, yes: 41 against 76, with 0.2 g of fat against 4.2 g.

How many calories in 100 g of poppadom?

477 fried and 341 roasted.

Are poppadoms fried?

In our fried row, yes: a few seconds in hot oil, taking up 4 g of it. Roasted over a flame, a poppadom takes none and is 41 calories.

Add poppadom to the calculator

These figures are estimates from stated recipes, for general information. They are not medical or dietary advice. If you manage a health condition, check with a registered dietitian or your doctor.

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