Mamak food calories: what to order and what to skip

The table shows one common serving of each dish. Each dish page also shows a realistic range, because every stall cooks a little differently.

Dish	Calories	Protein	Carbs	Fat
Roti canai1 piece, plain (kosong), without curry	300 kcal	6 g	42 g	12 g
Masala dosa1 dosa with potato filling	350 kcal	8 g	50 g	13 g
Nasi lemak1 plate with egg, sambal, ikan bilis and peanuts	500 kcal	15 g	62 g	21 g
Mee goreng mamak1 plate	580 kcal	18 g	75 g	23 g
Chicken biryani1 plate with 2 pieces of chicken	600 kcal	28 g	70 g	22 g
Nasi goreng1 plate with shredded chicken and kerupuk, no egg	550 kcal	15 g	76 g	20 g
Nasi kandar1 plate with fried chicken, mixed curry gravy and vegetables	800 kcal	32 g	95 g	33 g

Mamak menus are long, so here are a few more favourites. These numbers come from the Ministry of Health Malaysia calorie list, not from our dish pages.

A mamak meal is rarely one item. It is a main, a side of gravy, maybe an egg or a piece of chicken, and a sweet drink. Each part looks small, but together they add up.

• Fried protein. A plate of nasi kandar with fried chicken has about 800 kcal. That is more than a plate of chicken biryani at 600 kcal.
• Noodles fried in oil. Mee goreng mamak has about 580 kcal and 23 g of fat per plate.
• Sweet milky drinks. A Milo ais adds about 230 kcal. That is most of a second roti canai.
• Second rounds. Supper at a mamak often comes after dinner. A late roti canai and teh tarik is about 430 kcal on top of the day.

Gravy matters too, but it depends on the type. Dhal is one of the lighter gravies: the MOH list puts half a cup of dhal curry at about 50 kcal. Curries cooked with more oil or coconut milk add more.

You do not need to skip the mamak to eat lighter. These orders keep the flavour and cut the calories.

• Tosai with dhal. About 210 kcal for a set in the MOH list, and one of the lightest mains on the menu.
• One plain roti canai. A single roti canai is about 300 kcal. Ask for dhal on the side instead of a flood of mixed curry.
• Tandoori chicken. About 110 kcal for a 100 g piece in the MOH list. It gives you protein without the batter of fried chicken.
• Masala dosa. A masala dosa is about 350 kcal, with the potato filling inside.

Bread choices are closer than many people think. In the MOH list, a 100 g capati and a 95 g roti canai both come to about 300 kcal. Choose by size and by what you put on it, not by name.

Drinks are the easiest place to save calories, because the drink is not what you came for. Condensed milk and sugar add up quickly, and many people order two drinks in one sitting.

Two words help at any mamak. Kurang manis means less sweet. Kosong means no sugar at all. Our kopitiam drinks guide explains the other order words, such as O, C and siew dai.

1. Pick one carb. Roti, rice or noodles, not two of them.
2. Ask for kuah sikit (a little gravy), or dhal on the side, so you control how much you pour.
3. Choose grilled or tandoori chicken over fried chicken when you want protein.
4. Order your drink kosong or kurang manis, or have plain water with the meal.
5. Share the big items. A murtabak cut into pieces is easy to split between two or three people.
6. If it is supper, count it as a meal. A late roti canai is still part of your day.

Take a photo of the table before you eat. Nibbs recognises dishes such as roti canai, mee goreng mamak and nasi kandar, and it splits a mixed plate into each item, so the rice, the chicken and the gravy are counted on their own.

You can also type what you ate, for example "roti canai kosong with dhal, teh tarik kurang manis". Check each item and portion, edit anything that looks wrong, and save. If you order the same thing every week, save it as a saved food and log it again with one tap.

For more dishes, see our dish calorie pages or the guide to tracking calories when you eat out.