Recipe Scaler

How it works

The scaler multiplies every ingredient by the ratio of target-to-original servings. Standard Indian-kitchen units are converted to grams or ml first (1 katori ≈ 150 ml, 1 chamach/tsp ≈ 5 ml, 1 tablespoon ≈ 15 ml, 1 cup ≈ 240 ml). Note that spices and leavening agents (baking soda, eno) do not scale linearly — reduce by 10–20% when more than doubling, and add salt at the end to taste.

Worked example

A classic dal tadka recipe for 4 serves: 1 cup toor dal (200 g), 3 cups water (720 ml), 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp salt, 2 tbsp ghee. Scaling to 10 serves (ratio 2.5×) gives 500 g dal, 1.8 L water, 2.5 tsp turmeric, ~2 tsp salt (slightly under-scaled), 5 tbsp ghee. Cooking time goes up by ~25%, not 2.5×, because the cooker volume grows but heat transfer area does not.

When to use this

• Cooking for a family function, pooja prasad or wedding catering
• Bachelors cooking small portions from a typical 4-serving recipe
• Tiffin services and home-chefs preparing bulk orders
• Bakers scaling cake / cookie recipes to a different tin size

To track nutrition after scaling, use our carb counter (Indian foods database) or the biryani calorie calculator for portion math.