Calories in Papad, Cucumber Pickles and Hot Peppers

By NYUS Inc. · Published 27 October 2026

A papad and a spoon of pickle are small side items, and the records behind them are thin. USDA FoodData Central's SR Legacy table has one papad record, and this guide uses four of its pickle records. Indian food tables (IFCT 2017) have no papad or pickle row at all. This guide gives those five SR Legacy rows with the portion weights those records print, and says plainly where one prints none: the papad record has no weight for one papad, so the per-piece figures below use example weights that are ours. The pickle records are cucumber pickles and pickled hot peppers, not oil-based Indian achar, and this page gives no number for achar.

The short answer

USDA's papad record prints 371 kcal per 100 g and no weight for one papad. By our arithmetic a papad of 8 g is about 30 kcal, 12 g about 45 and 16 g about 59. For pickles, USDA's own portions give about 3 kcal for one 30 g sour cucumber pickle spear, 4 kcal for a small 35 g dill spear, 23 kcal for one 25 g sweet Gherkin and 7 kcal for 1/4 cup (34 g) of drained hot pickled peppers. Our reading: per 100 g the five rows run from 11 kcal (sour pickle) to 371 kcal (papad), and the sweet pickle row prints 91 kcal and 18.3 g of sugars per 100 g against 11 kcal and 1.06 g for the sour one.

Calories per portion

Each figure is our arithmetic: kcal per 100 g times the grams in the portion, divided by 100, rounded to the nearest kcal with half rounding up. The pickle portion weights are USDA's, printed on each record page. The papad record prints no portion, so its weights are in the next table.

The sums: sour pickle 11 × 30 / 100 = 3.3, so 3 kcal; dill pickle 12 × 35 / 100 = 4.2, so 4; sweet pickle 91 × 25 / 100 = 22.75, so 23; pickled hot peppers 22 × 34 / 100 = 7.48, so 7. Protein, fat and carbohydrate are the same arithmetic on the per 100 g figures, rounded to 0.1 g with half rounding up.

One papad: example weights, not USDA's

The USDA record page for papad lists no household portion, so there is no USDA weight for one papad. The three weights below are examples of ours to show how the number scales; they are not measurements and not USDA data. NYUS's own food list uses 12 g for one roasted papad, which is also our assumption. A papad's weight varies by size and maker, so weigh yours and scale from the 371 kcal per 100 g.

The sums: 371 × 8 / 100 = 29.68, so 30 kcal; 371 × 12 / 100 = 44.52, so 45; 371 × 16 / 100 = 59.36, so 59. At 12 g the protein, fat and carbohydrate are 3.1 g, 0.4 g and 7.2 g by the same arithmetic on 25.6, 3.25 and 59.9 g per 100 g.

Other USDA pickle portions

The SR Legacy pickle records print more than one portion. The same arithmetic on the portions not used above:

The sums: sour 11 × 7 / 100 = 0.77, so 1 kcal; 11 × 65 / 100 = 7.15, so 7; 11 × 135 / 100 = 14.85, so 15; dill 12 × 7 / 100 = 0.84, so 1; 12 × 135 / 100 = 16.2, so 16; sweet 91 × 7.5 / 100 = 6.825, so 7; 91 × 35 / 100 = 31.85, so 32.

What stands out in the numbers

• Per 100 g the rows run from 11 to 371 kcal: papad 371, sweet pickle 91, hot pickled peppers 22, dill pickle 12 and sour pickle 11.
• The sweet pickle row differs from the sour and dill rows. It prints 91 kcal, 21.2 g of carbohydrate and 18.3 g of total sugars per 100 g; the sour row prints 11 kcal, 2.26 g and 1.06 g.
• The papad record prints 25.6 g of protein per 100 g, about 3.1 g in 12 g by our arithmetic; this is food data, not a target.
• The papad kcal rests on the weight you use. The papad record gives no piece weight, so a per-piece number is only as good as the weight behind it.

Why these are reference rows, not your papad or your achar

• Generic US records. The names are USDA's record names. The papad record is named only "Papad" and does not say whether the papad was roasted, fried or raw; SR Legacy lists no fried papad.
• Cucumber pickles are not achar. The sour, dill and sweet rows are cucumber pickles and the fourth is hot pickled peppers. SR Legacy has no record named as oil-based mango, lime or mixed achar, so this page gives no number for achar.
• USDA's own notes. The record pages mark the papad protein, fat and total sugars "Recipe; Cookbook", the dill pickle and hot pepper protein and fat "Analytical", the sweet pickle protein and fat "Aggregated data involving combinations of data with only source codes 1 and 12 and/or 13", and the energy and carbohydrate of all five "Calculated". The sour pickle protein and fat carry no note.
• Pickle portion sizes are USDA's. A spear or a Gherkin you buy may be bigger or smaller; weigh when you can and scale from the per 100 g column.
• For a packaged product, the pack wins. This page uses no pack labels, so it does not mix them with the five records.

How to log it so the numbers hold

• Log papad by weight. A papad of 12 g is 371 × 12 / 100 = 44.52, so 45 kcal by our arithmetic; a heavier papad scales up from the 371 kcal per 100 g.
• Add oil on top if you fry. The papad record does not include frying oil. Our spoon guide gives a level teaspoon of oil or ghee.
• Log the plate separately. Our cooked dal guide gives a katori of dal and our cooked rice guide gives a cup of rice.
• Do not mix sources inside one day. If you log a jar of achar from its own pack, keep to the pack.

Where NYUS fits (our app)

We make NYUS, so read this as ours. NYUS is an AI fitness and nutrition coach in early access on Android, with no ads and no data selling. You log foods yourself by searching 8,900+ Indian and global foods or by barcode, and a weekly check-in adjusts your calories, macros and step goal once enough is logged. Barcode coverage of Indian packaged foods is not complete, so search by name when a scan finds nothing.

What this page leaves out

• A calorie, protein or fat target, and any claim about what these foods do to your weight or health: we have not looked up one for any person, so we give none. If you have a medical condition, ask your doctor or dietitian.
• Any named brand, pack label or FSSAI figure: not used, so the page does not mix label numbers with the records above.
• Indian achar (mango, lime, mixed), chutneys, fried papad, masala papad and other pickled foods: no SR Legacy row, so no number here.
• An IFCT 2017 comparison: IFCT 2017 has no papad or pickle row (we searched all 585 pages of the PDF on 27 Oct 2026 for papad, papar, papadum, appalam, pickle, pickled, achar, chutney, gherkin, relish, brine, canned, tinned and sauerkraut and found no food row).
• Nutrients beyond energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and total sugars, including sodium: not covered here.

Sources

• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 168106 (Papad): Energy 371 kcal, protein 25.6 g, total fat 3.25 g, carbohydrate 59.9 g, total sugars 0 g per 100 g; no household portion printed on the record (read 27 Oct 2026).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 169379 (Pickles, cucumber, sour): Energy 11 kcal, protein 0.33 g, total fat 0.2 g, carbohydrate 2.26 g, total sugars 1.06 g per 100 g; household portions: 1 spear 30 g, 1 slice 7 g, 1 medium 65 g, 1 large 135 g (read 27 Oct 2026).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 168558 (Pickles, cucumber, dill or kosher dill): Energy 12 kcal, protein 0.5 g, total fat 0.3 g, carbohydrate 2.41 g per 100 g; household portions: 1 spear small 35 g, 1 slice 7 g, 1 large 135 g (read 27 Oct 2026).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 169378 (Pickles, cucumber, sweet (includes bread and butter pickles)): Energy 91 kcal, protein 0.58 g, total fat 0.41 g, carbohydrate 21.2 g, total sugars 18.3 g per 100 g; household portions: 1 Gherkin (2-3/4" long) 25 g, 1 chip 7.5 g, 1 large Gherkin (3" long) 35 g (read 27 Oct 2026).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 169766 (Peppers, hot pickled, canned): Energy 22 kcal, protein 0.8 g, total fat 0.4 g, carbohydrate 4.56 g per 100 g; household portion: 0.25 cup drained 34 g (read 27 Oct 2026).
• ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (IFCT 2017), PDF searched on 27 Oct 2026 for papad and pickle terms: no food row found.
• nyus.in, the NYUS landing page, read on 27 Oct 2026 for the app statements in the NYUS section and the CTA.

The per portion figures, the sums, the rounding, the example papad weights (8, 12 and 16 g), the 12 g NYUS food-list weight, the comparisons and every sentence starting "Our reading" are NYUS's own arithmetic, assumption or opinion, not from USDA. The pickle portion weights in the tables are USDA's, printed on the record pages above. The names in the first column are USDA's record names.

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