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Roast or fry spices - same flavour, less oil

Roast or fry spices - same flavour, less oil

A fried tadka of spices gets its calories from the oil or ghee, not the spices - a 2-tablespoon pour is about 250 kcal. Dry-roast the same spices in a hot pan and you keep the aroma, cut the pour to a teaspoon, and save about 200 kcal.

12 Jul 2026 · Burnie Academy
spices tadka cooking-oil indian-cooking

That crackling tadka at the start of a dal is what makes it smell like home. But the calories are not in the cumin or the mustard seeds. They are in the oil or ghee you pour to fry them. A simple swap - toast the spices dry, then add just a little oil - keeps the aroma and cuts a big chunk of calories.

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