Dal Protein Per 100g, Raw vs Cooked: Which Daal Has the Most
Most daals carry about 22 to 25 g of protein per 100 g, but that’s the figure for dry daal straight from the packet. Cooked, the same 100 g holds only about 7 to 9 g, because the daal has soaked up two or three times its weight in water. Soybean is the clear winner among pulses, and masoor, moong and urad lead the everyday daals. Below is every common daal side by side, raw, cooked and per katori, plus a simple way to work out the protein in your own pot.
Quick facts
- Dry daal: about 21 to 25 g protein per 100 g (soybean about 36 g)
- Boiled, drained: about 7 to 9 g per 100 g (soybean about 17 g)
- A thick katori: made from 30 g dry daal, about 6 to 7.5 g protein, roughly one egg’s worth
- Thin, watery daal: can drop to 3 or 4 g a katori
- Quick rule: every 10 g of dry daal in your bowl gives about 2 g protein
Why the raw and cooked numbers look so different
Nothing disappears in the pot. Think of a sponge. A dry sponge and a soaked sponge have exactly the same amount of sponge in them, but the soaked one weighs far more because of the water.
Daal works the same way. When 100 g of dry masoor cooks, it drinks water and ends up weighing somewhere around 250 to 300 g, so the 25 g of protein that was packed into 100 g is now spread through two or three times the weight, which is why a nutrition label for “cooked lentils” says about 9 g per 100 g while the packet in your cupboard says 25. Both are right. They just describe different things.
Home daal as it’s served is thinner still. A pot of daal with its tarka and gravy can be four or five times the weight of the dry daal that went in.
So the useful question isn’t “how much protein in dal per 100 g”. It’s “how much dry daal went into my katori?”
Which dal is rich in protein? Every daal compared
Figures are rounded, well-established values for each pulse. Different crops and brands vary a little, so treat a difference of 1 or 2 g as a tie. The katori column assumes a thick daal made with 30 g of dry pulse per serving.
| Daal | Raw, per 100 g | Boiled, per 100 g | Thick katori |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soybean (whole) | about 36 g | about 17 g | about 11 g |
| Masoor (red or sabut) | about 25 g | about 9 g | about 7.5 g |
| Moong (dhuli or sabut) | about 24 g | about 7 g | about 7 g |
| Mash (urad) | about 24 g | about 8 g | about 7 g |
| Lobia, moth (matki) | about 23 g | about 8 g | about 7 g |
| Arhar (toor), rajma, kulthi, matar daal | about 22 g | about 7 to 9 g | about 6.5 g |
| Chana daal | about 21 g | about 8 g | about 6 g |
| Kabuli and kala chana | about 18 to 20 g | about 9 g | about 5.5 g |
Look at the spread. Apart from soybean, the whole field sits within a few grams. Masoor over arhar gains you about 1 g a katori. Choose the daal you like, the one your stomach handles, and the one you’ll actually eat often.
Whole chickpeas look lower raw but not boiled. That’s because they hold a little less water than split daal, so the cooked figure ends up similar.
Soybean is the outlier, with about one and a half times the protein of ordinary daal. It also needs long soaking and full cooking, and it’s a heavier food for many stomachs. The chunks and tofu route is in our guide to soya chunks and tofu for desi vegetarians.
Arhar dal vs moong dal protein
Close to a draw. Moong has roughly 2 g more per 100 g dry, which works out to well under 1 g in a katori. Pick moong if you want the lighter daal, arhar if you prefer its taste.
Fibre and iron: the other two reasons to eat daal
Protein gets the headlines, but pulses are also some of the best everyday sources of fibre and plant iron. Here’s how they compare in broad terms.
| Daal | Fibre | Iron | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dhuli moong, red masoor | Lower | Medium | Skin removed, so less fibre |
| Arhar, chana daal | Medium | Medium | Chana daal keeps good fibre when split |
| Sabut masoor, sabut moong | Higher | Higher | The skin carries much of the fibre |
| Rajma, lobia, both chanas | Higher | Medium to higher | Whole beans, filling |
| Moth, kulthi, soybean | Higher | Higher | Among the iron-richest pulses |
Plant iron is harder for the body to take up than the iron in meat. A squeeze of lemon over the daal, or a kachumber salad beside it, helps, because vitamin C improves how much plant iron you absorb. Strong tea with the meal does the opposite, so leave the chai for an hour later.
Desi cooks never worried about grams. They served daal thick for working men and growing children, thin for the sick, and they almost always put it beside roti or chawal and a sabzi. The daal protein question most families need to ask is simply whether the daal is thick enough and the katori full enough.
How to work out the protein in your own pot
Two minutes with a kitchen scale beats any chart, because it measures your daal, your water and your katori.
- Weigh the dry daal before rinsing. One cup of split daal is roughly 190 to 200 g.
- Multiply by the protein share. Use 0.24 for masoor, moong or urad, 0.22 for arhar, rajma or lobia, 0.21 for chana daal, and 0.36 for soybean. Example: 200 g moong × 0.24 = about 48 g protein in the whole pot.
- Count the katoris you serve from that pot. If 200 g of moong fills 6 katoris, each holds about 8 g protein.
- Want more per katori? Use more dry daal for the same number of people, for example 240 g instead of 200 g, and cook it thicker with about 3 cups of water per cup of daal instead of 5.
- Add a second source on the plate if you need more: a boiled egg adds about 6 g, a small katori of dahi about 4 to 5 g.
Check your usual katori
Next time you cook, weigh the dry daal and count how many katoris the family eats. Many households discover they’re using 15 to 20 g of dry daal per person, which is only about 4 g of protein each. Adding one more fistful of daal to the pot is the cheapest protein upgrade there is.
Is dal protein a myth?
No, but it’s often oversold. Daal is a real, useful protein food. It’s also more carbohydrate than protein: dry daal is roughly 55 to 60 percent carbohydrate and about 22 to 25 percent protein. That’s why a person trying to reach a high protein target on daal alone ends up eating a lot of carbohydrate along the way.
Pulse protein is a little short in one building block (methionine) that grains have more of, while grains are short in one (lysine) that pulses have plenty of. Eating a mix of pulses, grains, dahi and milk over the day covers both; they don’t have to sit on the same plate. How much protein you actually need, by body weight and age, is worked out in our guide to how much protein you need from desi sources, and the rupee cost of each option sits in plant protein vs whey on a desi budget.
Pulses pull nitrogen out of the air through bacteria in their roots, which is part of why they end up so rich in protein.
You have kidney disease: protein, potassium and phosphorus all matter, so let your nephrologist or renal dietitian set how much daal you eat, and don’t raise it on your own. With high uric acid or gout, daal in normal portions is usually fine, but ask your doctor about your own limits. Rajma and other kidney beans must be soaked and boiled hard for at least 10 minutes, since undercooked beans cause severe vomiting. Soy can interfere with thyroid medicine absorption, so ask your doctor how far apart to keep them. Anyone with a soy or peanut allergy should be careful with soybean and ask before trying it. Under-fives shouldn’t be given whole roasted chana or whole beans that could choke them; mash or cook them soft.
Dal protein questions, answered
Which dal is rich in protein?
Among everyday daals, masoor, moong and urad lead at about 24 to 25 g per 100 g dry. Soybean beats them all at about 36 g. The gap between ordinary daals is small, so the amount you eat matters far more than which one you pick.
How much protein is in dal per 100 g cooked?
About 7 to 9 g per 100 g of boiled, drained daal, and about 17 g for soybean. Home daal with gravy is thinner, often 4 to 6 g per 100 g, depending on how much water went in.
How much protein is in 1 bowl of dal?
A thick katori made from about 30 g of dry daal has roughly 6 to 7.5 g protein. A thin, watery katori may hold only 3 or 4 g. Weigh the dry daal and divide by the servings for your own figure.
Dal vs egg protein: which has more?
One large egg has about 6 g protein, roughly the same as a thick katori of daal. Egg protein is a little easier for the body to use, while daal adds fibre and iron that eggs lack.
Arhar dal vs moong dal: which has more protein?
Moong has slightly more, about 24 g versus 22 g per 100 g dry. In a katori that is less than 1 g of difference, so choose on taste and digestion.
How much protein is in masoor dal per 100 g?
About 25 g per 100 g dry, and about 9 g per 100 g once boiled and drained. Red (dhuli) and sabut masoor are very close; the whole kind has more fibre.
How much protein is in moong dal per 100 g soaked?
Roughly 12 g. Soaking about doubles the weight with water, so the protein per 100 g halves. Soaking itself doesn’t destroy protein.
How much protein do moong sprouts have?
About 3 to 4 g per 100 g of fresh moong sprouts, because sprouts are mostly water. A bowl of sprouts is a light snack, not a big protein serving.
Is dal protein or carbs?
Both, but mostly carbohydrate. Dry daal is roughly 55 to 60 percent carbohydrate and 22 to 25 percent protein, plus fibre. That still makes it one of the best protein sources in a vegetarian kitchen.
Does cooking dal destroy the protein?
No. Boiling or pressure cooking leaves the protein in the pot and makes it easier to digest. The lower cooked number only reflects the water the daal absorbed.
How much protein is in kala chana per 100 g boiled?
About 9 g per 100 g boiled. Dry kala chana has about 18 to 20 g per 100 g, a little less than split daals.
Is soybean better than dal for protein?
Per gram, yes: about 36 g per 100 g dry versus 22 to 25 g for daal. But whole soybean needs overnight soaking and long cooking, and it’s heavier on many stomachs, so most people use it alongside daal.
Can I get enough protein from dal alone?
For most adults, daal alone is hard work, because you’d need several thick katoris a day. Mixing daal with dahi, milk, eggs, paneer or chicken is easier. Your needs depend on weight, age and activity.
More pulse guides, from cooking times to buying, are in Grains, Daals & Pulses.