Diwali sweets: calories per piece

By Nirmal Amin, Sonal Systems. Published 15 October 2026.

One piece of a Diwali sweet is between about 50 calories (a 10 g kaju katli) and about 155 (a gulab jamun), with most pieces, a soan papdi cube, a peda, a motichoor ladoo, landing between 105 and 115. The table below has every sweet and snack on this site per piece, worked out from a recipe in grams and IFCT 2017; each name links to the page with the arithmetic.

Key takeaways

Per piece, size matters more than the sweet: a 10 g kaju katli is about 50, a 21 g soan papdi about 105, a 43 g gulab jamun about 155.
Per 100 g the order is different: kaju katli and soan papdi are the richest at about 505 and 495; rasgulla and kheer the lightest at about 200 and 100.
The fried snacks are richer per gram than any sweet: mathri about 545 per 100 g, namak para about 520, chakli about 490.
A 500 g box of kaju katli holds about 2,520 calories, a 250 g box of soan papdi about 1,245. Counting by the piece, as you eat them, is easier than counting the box.

How many calories are in one piece of each Diwali sweet?

Every row is a home or sweet-shop piece of the size named, drained of syrup where there is syrup, with the page's own number. The pages explain the recipe, where each value comes from and how it compares with lab analyses and packed labels.

Calories per piece, as on each dish's page.
Sweet	One piece	Cals	Per 100 g
Kaju katli	1 sweet-shop piece, 10 g	50	505
Soan papdi	1 packed piece, 21 g	105	495
Peda	1 peda, 28 g	120	425
Motichoor ladoo	1 ladoo, 28 g	115	420
Besan ladoo	1 ladoo, 35 g	165	470
Gujiya	1 home gujiya, 30 g	130	440
Rasgulla	1 rasgulla, 36 g, drained	70	200
Jalebi	1 jalebi, 30 g	95	320
Rasmalai	1 piece with its milk, 77 g	130	170
Gulab jamun	1 gulab jamun, 43 g, drained	155	355
Kheer	1 katori, 200 ml	225	100
Gajar halwa	1 small katori	145	see page

The two columns tell different stories. A gulab jamun tops the per-piece list because it is the biggest piece, soaked in syrup; per 100 g it is in the middle. Kaju katli and soan papdi are the richest per gram, because they are mostly nuts, ghee and sugar with almost no water, but a shop cuts them small.

How many calories are in a box of Diwali sweets?

Boxes are sold by weight, so use the per 100 g column. A 500 g box of kaju katli is about 2,520 calories, about 50 pieces of 10 g. A 250 g box of soan papdi is about 1,245, about 12 cubes. A 500 g box of motichoor ladoo is about 2,105, around 18 ladoos of 28 g. Half a kilo of peda is about 2,125.

A box is rarely eaten by one person in one sitting, and the number that matters for your day is the pieces you took. Two pieces of kaju katli and a soan papdi cube come to about 205. The meal calculator adds up a plate of mixed sweets typed in plain words, such as "2 kaju katli, 1 motichoor ladoo, 1 gulab jamun".

Which Diwali sweets have the fewest calories per piece?

By the piece, the smallest pieces: a 10 g kaju katli at about 50, a small 13 g packed peda at about 55, a rasgulla drained of its syrup at about 70, and a jalebi at about 95. A 21 g soan papdi cube is about 105.

By weight, the sweets with the most water in them: rasgulla at about 200 per 100 g, kheer at about 100, rasmalai with its milk at about 170. Syrup sweets drop further if you lift them out and let the syrup run off: a tablespoon of syrup on a gulab jamun is about 45 calories, which is the difference between 155 and 200.

Sugar-free and low-sugar sweets made with sweeteners can be much lower than any of these; count them from the packet's label, not from these pages.

How many calories are in Diwali snacks like chakli and mathri?

The savoury side of the faral plate is richer per gram than the sweets, because fried snacks are dry and hold oil. Per 100 g: mathri about 545, namak para about 520, shakarpara about 500, chakli about 490. For comparison, a samosa is about 165 a piece and a khasta kachori about 120.

Diwali snacks per piece and per 100 g, as on each dish's page.
Snack	Portion	Cals	Per 100 g
Chakli	1 chakli, 18 g	90	490
Mathri	1 mathri, 21 g	115	545
Namak para	10 pieces, 50 g	260	520
Shakarpara	10 pieces, 60 g	300	500
Samosa	1 samosa	165	see page
Kachori	1 khasta kachori	120	see page

A piece of chakli or a few namak para is small. A small bowl of chakli, about 50 g, is about 245, and that is the portion that disappears with a cup of chai.

What about dry fruit?

Dry-fruit boxes are the other Diwali gift, and nuts are dense: IFCT 2017 puts cashews at about 583 calories per 100 g and almonds at about 609. A 25 g handful is a quarter of that, in the same range as a sweet-shop piece of kaju katli, which is itself half cashew. Raisins are about 306 per 100 g. Count dry fruit by the handful the way you count sweets by the piece.

How do you count sweets across the Diwali days?

Diwali is five days, from Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj, and sweets arrive at every one of them. The simplest way to count is by the piece, at the time you eat it, with the piece's size: a kaju katli is a kaju katli, a big wedding ladoo is a big one. Write the pieces on the day's line and let the total take care of itself; a day with four sweets on it is a day with four sweets on it, and the next day starts at zero.

The meal calculator counts a line like "2 kaju katli, 1 motichoor ladoo" with these numbers, and "half kaju katli" or "1 big motichoor ladoo" changes the size. A sweet from a halwai or a box can be bigger than the home piece; the pages above give the shop sizes where they differ.

If a festival week turns into something that worries you about food, the number is not the thing to fix. Talk to someone you trust, or to a doctor or dietitian; Tele-MANAS (14416) is free, any time.

Questions people ask

How many calories are in one piece of kaju katli?

About 50 for a 10 g sweet-shop piece, and about 90 for a bigger home piece. Half a shop piece is about 25.

How many calories are in one motichoor ladoo?

About 115 for a 28 g ladoo, the size on packed labels, and about 190 for a large 45 g sweet-shop one.

How many calories are in one gulab jamun?

About 155 for a home gulab jamun of about 43 g, drained, and about 200 with a tablespoon of syrup.

Which Diwali sweet has the most calories per 100 g?

Kaju katli, at about 505 per 100 g, with soan papdi close behind at about 495. The fried snacks are higher still: mathri is about 545.

How many calories are in a 500 g box of kaju katli?

About 2,520 for the whole box, about 50 pieces of 10 g.