How Many Calories in Karak Chai? Condensed vs Evaporated Milk, Per Cup

Callie is our app. It comes up in one section near the end. Every figure links to its source, listed at the bottom. Where we calculated a number ourselves, it is marked with an asterisk (*) and the method is explained.

The 30-second answer

A cup of karak chai is about 65 to 220 kcal. The milk sets the number: a 150 ml cup made with evaporated milk and 2 tsp of sugar comes to about 98 kcal*, and a 250 ml cup with sweetened condensed milk and sugar to about 218 kcal*. We built those figures from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values.

Published figures range wider. An Aster Hospital dietitian told Gulf News in 2020 that a cup is 122 kcal and "The calorie count varies anywhere between 70 --133kcal depending on what proportion of milk and sugar is added in the making of karak tea." Marham, a Pakistani health site, lists 250 to 320 kcal for 200 ml made with condensed milk and 2 tsp of sugar (June 2026). The low figures fit evaporated milk in a small cup. The high ones need a heavy pour of condensed milk.

Karak ingredients: calories per portion

Karak is black tea boiled with milk, sugar and spices, usually cardamom and sometimes saffron. Almost all the calories come from the milk and sugar.

*Our calculation from the USDA per-100 g values and USDA portion weights. USDA gives 1 fl oz of condensed milk as 38.2 g and of evaporated milk as 31.5 g; a tablespoon is half a fluid ounce, so we halved them.

Cardamom and saffron don't matter for calories. A cafeteria batch in the Gulf News report used "two spoons of cardamom powder" for almost three litres of water, which works out at well under 1 kcal a cup. A pinch of saffron is a few milligrams.

Calories per cup: five karak recipes in two sizes

These are our calculations*, not lab measurements. Each cup is mostly tea, with the milk and sugar listed.

*Method: USDA values from the table above. We assumed milk is 30% of the cup's volume for evaporated milk, and scaled sugar with cup size. The snack row is the 250 ml condensed-and-sugar karak (218 kcal) plus a 70 g paratha at 326 kcal per 100 g (228 kcal) and a 28 g small bag of plain potato chips at 532 kcal per 100 g (149 kcal). Many cafeterias add cheese spread, which we didn't include. Check the chip bag for its real weight.

Fresh milk is the lightest milk option: a 150 ml cup with 50 ml of whole milk and 2 tsp of sugar is about 65 kcal*.

Why published karak figures disagree

Karak figures run from 70 to 320 kcal because nobody publishes a standard recipe. Cup size, milk type and sugar change from one cafeteria to the next.

Gulf News reported real cafeteria recipes in 2020. At one in Al Safa, a worker used "12oz of sugar and more than half a litre evaporated milk for making one kettle of tea that gives about 30 cups sized 6.5oz." By our arithmetic, that's about 11 g of sugar and roughly 70 kcal per 192 ml cup*, close to the dietitian's low end. Another tea maker in Ras Al Khor used "80g for five litres, as I add condensed milk for enhancing the flavour."

So the 122 kcal figure in our UAE food calories hub is a fair middle for an evaporated-milk cup. It doesn't cover large cups with condensed milk, which reach about 190–220 kcal in our table. Marham's 250–320 kcal per 200 ml would need about 4 tbsp of condensed milk plus 2 tsp of sugar, by our calculation (279 kcal*).

The 3-karaks-a-day habit: weekly maths

Three small condensed-milk karaks a day add up to about 2,940 kcal a week*. Gulf News called karak "perhaps the most consumed beverage in the UAE", and many people drink it morning, afternoon and evening.

The swap matters more than the cup count. Going from small condensed-milk cups to small evaporated-milk cups without sugar saves about 225 kcal a day*, or 1,575 kcal a week*. That's roughly the size of a full meal every two or three days. Keeping all three cups but changing the milk is easier for most people than cutting to one.

Sugar in karak vs WHO limits

One large condensed-milk karak can carry more free sugar than WHO's stricter daily target. WHO's 2015 guideline says: "A new WHO guideline recommends adults and children reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake. A further reduction to below 5% or roughly 25 grams (6 teaspoons) per day would provide additional health benefits."

Free sugars are sugars "added to foods and drinks by the manufacturer, cook or consumer," plus those in honey, syrups and juices. The lactose in plain milk isn't free sugar. So we counted condensed milk's extra sugar, 54.4 g minus evaporated milk's 10.0 g per 100 g, as added*.

Three small condensed-milk cups come to about 63 g of free sugars a day*. The Aster Hospital dietitian's advice in Gulf News was: "Ideally in a cup of tea, half to one teaspoon of sugar can be taken."

Caffeine per cup of karak

A cup of karak has about 20–35 mg of caffeine on USDA values, less than a typical coffee. USDA lists brewed black tea at 20 mg per 100 g. The tea part of our 150 ml cup is about 105 ml (21 mg*) and of a 250 ml cup about 175 ml (35 mg*).

The FDA's consumer guide (content current as of August 28, 2024) lists black tea at 71 mg per 12 fl oz, which is the same rate. It cites 400 mg a day for most adults "as an amount not generally associated with negative effects." Three karaks are well inside that.

Karak is often stronger than a tea bag, though. The Al Quoz cafeteria in the Gulf News report used 300 g of tea powder for 10 litres. Long boiling with that much tea likely puts a cafeteria cup above the USDA figure, so treat ours as a floor. If you're pregnant or sensitive to caffeine, ask your doctor what limit suits you.

Lighter karak swaps

The best swaps change the milk or the sugar and keep the drink recognisable. Savings below are for a 150 ml cup, by our calculation*.

1. Ask for evaporated milk instead of condensed. Saves about 42 kcal a cup* even with 2 tsp of sugar (98 vs 140 kcal), and about 75 kcal* without sugar. Many cafeterias make both.
2. Ask for half sugar or no sugar. Each teaspoon is 16 kcal. With condensed milk, the drink is already sweet without added sugar.
3. Use skimmed evaporated milk at home. At 78 kcal per 100 g against 134, it saves about 27 kcal a cup* and keeps the thick texture.
4. Order the small cup. A 250 ml condensed-milk cup has about 78 kcal more than a 150 ml one*.
5. Skip the paratha on weekdays. The chips oman paratha is about 377 kcal on its own*, more than the karak.
6. Make it with fresh milk. About 65 kcal for a sweetened 150 ml cup*, though it is thinner than cafeteria karak.

Sweeteners are an option too, but they don't change the milk calories. For other foods where the fat or sugar is invisible, see hidden calories in oil, butter and sauces.

How to log karak chai

Log karak by recipe if you make it, and by cup size plus milk type if you buy it. A generic "tea with milk" entry can be off by more than three times.

• At home: Enter it as a recipe. Measure the condensed or evaporated milk in tablespoons and the sugar in teaspoons, then divide by the cups you poured.
• From a cafeteria: Log the size (small or large, or the ml if the cup shows it) and the milk. "Karak, large, condensed milk" is enough for a good estimate.
• Unsure of the milk? Ask. If you can't, log condensed milk, the higher number. Under-logging is the common error.
• Log the snack separately. Chips oman paratha, biscuits and luqaimat are separate items with their own calories.
• Check the extras. Gulf News found cafeterias adding Lotus Biscoff, glucose biscuits and eclairs to the brew. A Biscoff biscuit "contains 3g sugar."

For the rest of the cafeteria menu, see shawarma calories, and for iftar, dates by variety.

How Callie fits in

Callie logs karak by photo, voice or text, and shows every item, portion and calorie value on a review screen before anything is saved.

• Voice logging. Say "karak with condensed milk, large" and check the cup size and milk on the review screen. Our voice logging test covers how accurate spoken logs are.
• Photo logging, reviewed. A photo can't see condensed milk, so correct the milk type before you confirm.
• Arabic interface. The app runs in Arabic with a right-to-left layout, alongside English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese.
• AI coach in any language. Ask it how many karaks fit today's target, in Arabic, Urdu, Malayalam or English.

Two limits. Callie has no offline mode yet, so if you're somewhere without signal, take a photo and log it later. And Callie doesn't know your cafeteria's recipe, so say the milk type. Callie includes 3 AI logs to try it, then costs AED 99.99 a year in the UAE ($34.99 in the US).

When counting karak calories is the wrong focus

For some people, tracking each karak isn't worth the effort.

• If you drink one small evaporated-milk karak a day, it's about 65–100 kcal*. Your meals matter far more.
• If you have diabetes, your doctor's plan and your glucose readings count for more than calories. Sugar per cup is the number to watch.
• If you have a history of disordered eating, skip the numbers and speak to a clinician.
• If you want micronutrients such as calcium from the milk, Callie doesn't track micronutrients. Cronometer is the better pick for that.

Sources

1. USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2019). "Milk, canned, condensed, sweetened," FDC 171275 (accessed October 23, 2026). https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/171275/nutrients
2. USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2019). "Milk, canned, evaporated, with added vitamin D and without added vitamin A," FDC 171276 (accessed October 23, 2026). https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/171276/nutrients
3. USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2019). "Milk, canned, evaporated, nonfat, with added vitamin A and vitamin D," FDC 170878. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/170878/nutrients
4. USDA FoodData Central, FNDDS (October 2024). "Milk, evaporated, reduced fat (2%)," FDC 2705400. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2705400/nutrients
5. USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2019). "Milk, whole, 3.25% milkfat, with added vitamin D," FDC 171265. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/171265/nutrients
6. USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2019). "Beverages, tea, black, brewed, prepared with tap water," FDC 173227. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/173227/nutrients
7. USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2019). "Sugars, granulated," FDC 169655. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/169655/nutrients
8. USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2019). "Spices, cardamom," FDC 170919, and "Spices, saffron," FDC 170934. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/170919/nutrients
9. USDA FoodData Central, FNDDS (October 2024). "Bread, paratha," FDC 2707715, and "Potato chips, plain," FDC 2709422. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2707715/nutrients
10. Saseendran S. Gulf News (January 14, 2020; updated January 15, 2020). "The bitter truth about your sweet karak tea in UAE." https://gulfnews.com/uae/the-bitter-truth-about-your-sweet-karak-tea-in-uae-1.68663205
11. Chaudhary S. Marham (June 24, 2026). "Tea calories." https://www.marham.pk/healthhub/tea-calories/
12. World Health Organization (March 4, 2015). "WHO calls on countries to reduce sugars intake among adults and children." https://www.who.int/news/item/04-03-2015-who-calls-on-countries-to-reduce-sugars-intake-among-adults-and-children
13. US Food and Drug Administration (content current as of August 28, 2024). "Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine is Too Much?" https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/spilling-beans-how-much-caffeine-too-much