Fancy a curry? That will be a day's worth of fat for the average woman

An Indian takeaway can contain more saturated fat than a woman should eat in an entire day.

The nation's favourite dish, chicken tikka masala, with pilau rice and plain nan, contains on average 1,338 calories.

A woman would need to cycle for more than five hours to burn that off.

And for those who prefer Chinese, a takeaway including sweet-and-sour chicken can be laden with the equivalent of 19 teaspoons of sugar.

The disturbing figures have been uncovered by the consumer group Which? It argues that more information should be given about what goes in to takeaway meals.

At the same time, the Government's Food Standards Agency says it is time for restaurants to follow the example of supermarkets and print nutrition information on menus.

Which? found that the average saturated fat in a takeaway of chicken tikka masala, pilau rice and plain nan came in at 23.2g (0.8oz), when the recommended daily maximum for a woman is 20g (0.7oz) and for a man 30g (1oz).

The same meal provided 3.6g (0.12oz) of salt, where the daily maximum for an adult is 6g (0.21oz).

Surprisingly, weight for weight, nan bread contained even more calories than the curry swimming in oil.

There were 290 calories in a 100g (3.5oz) nan, compared with 685 in 350g ( 12.3oz) of chicken tikka masala.

Researchers found that a supermarket version of the same meal had 45 per cent less saturated fat, and less sugar.

In a Chinese takeaway of sweetand-sour chicken, egg fried rice and spring rolls, there was 62.3g (2.19oz) of sugar - 19 teaspoons.

The daily sugar limit for a woman is 90g (3.1oz) and for a man 120g (4.2oz).

The total fat level was 60.4g (2.1oz), 86 per cent of the daily ration for a woman, and there was 4.7g (0.16oz) of salt.

Burning off the 1,436 calories in the meal would need a woman to cycle for six hours.

Again, the supermarket version of the meal was considerably healthier.

The Which? research found the total fat for an average thin-crust peperoni pizza came in at 48g (1.6oz), which is 68 per cent of the daily allowance for a woman and half the figure for a man.

The saturated fat level was 22.5g (0.79oz), when the daily maximum for a woman is 20g (0.7oz).

Which? found that some pizza chains, such as Pizza Hut and Domino's, do offer nutrional information on their websites.

However, it appears the information is unreliable.

Four cheese-and-tomato pizzas sold by Domino's contained at least 50 per cent more fat than was stated on the company's website.

The editor of Which? magazine, Neil Fowler, said: 'Everyone is entitled to enjoy a treat while watching the footie or a movie.

'But we would like people to be aware of just how much of their daily food intake comes in just one meal.'