Dal calories and protein: every common variety, compared
Dal is India's default protein — but a katori gives you less than most people assume. Here is what each variety actually delivers.
· 8 min read
Dal is the closest thing India has to a national protein source, and it is quietly overestimated. Ask anyone tracking their intake where their protein comes from and dal will be near the top of the list. Then look at the actual number in a katori and it is often around seven grams — which is one egg.
This is not an argument against dal. It is a very good food. It is an argument for knowing the number, because “I eat dal every day” and “I get enough protein” are not the same sentence.
Why cooked dal is mostly water
Dry lentils are genuinely protein-dense — around 22 to 25 grams per 100 grams, comparable to many meats by weight. But you do not eat dry lentils. You soak and boil them, and they take on two and a half to three times their weight in water.
So 100 grams of cooked dal contains only about 30 to 35 grams of the original lentil. The protein per 100 grams falls to around 6 to 8 grams, and a standard katori — roughly 150 grams of cooked dal — lands near 9 to 11 grams for the thicker preparations, less for a thin one.
Dry lentils, compared
| Dal | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fibre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toor / arhar (pigeon pea) | 343 kcal | 22g | 63g | 15g |
| Moong dal (split green gram) | 347 kcal | 24g | 59g | 16g |
| Masoor dal (red lentil) | 352 kcal | 25g | 60g | 11g |
| Chana dal (split bengal gram) | 364 kcal | 20g | 60g | 17g |
| Urad dal (black gram) | 341 kcal | 25g | 59g | 18g |
| Rajma (kidney beans) | 333 kcal | 24g | 60g | 25g |
| Kabuli chana (chickpeas) | 364 kcal | 19g | 61g | 17g |
Typical values. Masoor and urad are marginally the most protein-dense; chana and rajma carry the most fibre.
The differences are real but modest. Choosing masoor over toor gains you about three grams of protein per 100 grams of dry lentil — meaningful over a week, invisible in a single meal. Choose the dal you will actually cook and eat.
A katori, as it reaches the table
This is the number that matters, because it accounts for both the water and the tempering.
| Preparation | Calories | Protein | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plain boiled dal, no tadka | 120 kcal | 7g | 0.6g |
| Moong dal, light tadka | 150 kcal | 8g | 4g |
| Dal tadka (toor, standard) | 190 kcal | 9g | 8g |
| Dal fry (restaurant style) | 230 kcal | 9g | 12g |
| Dal makhani | 290 kcal | 10g | 18g |
| Sambar (thin, with vegetables) | 140 kcal | 6g | 5g |
| Rajma curry | 230 kcal | 9g | 8g |
| Chana masala | 250 kcal | 10g | 9g |
Restaurant versions are consistently higher — more oil, sometimes cream and butter. Dal makhani in a restaurant can exceed 400 kcal per katori.
Where the calories go
Notice what changes between the rows. The protein barely moves — it is set by how much lentil went in. Almost the entire calorie spread comes from fat added during and after cooking.
- A tadka of one teaspoon of ghee or oil adds about 45 calories per serving.
- Dal makhani earns its name from butter and cream, which is why it doubles plain dal without adding a gram of protein.
- Restaurant dal fry is usually finished with a second tempering, and sometimes a spoon of cream to make it glossy.
This is a useful thing to know because it tells you which changes are worth making. Halving the tadka saves real calories. Switching from toor to moong saves almost none.
Getting more protein out of the same bowl
Four adjustments that work, in rough order of effectiveness:
Cook it thicker. The single biggest lever, and it costs nothing. A thick dal that started from 40g of dry lentil per serving instead of 25g gives you roughly 9.5g of protein instead of 6g — over half again as much, from exactly the same recipe.
Mix dals. A panchmel or mixed dal combines several lentils. Beyond the flavour, different pulses have slightly different amino acid profiles, and the mix is a marginally better protein than any one on its own.
Pair it with a grain. Dal is low in methionine; rice and wheat are low in lysine and high in methionine. Eaten together — dal chawal, dal roti — they complete each other. This is not new nutrition science; it is why the combination exists in almost every cuisine that relies on pulses.
Add curd on the side. A katori of curd is another 3 to 4 grams of protein for about 60 calories, and it is the easiest addition to an Indian plate that exists.
Building a day that actually hits its protein
Take someone weighing 65kg aiming for about 100 grams of protein a day — a reasonable target for an active adult. Here is what a vegetarian day built around dal looks like when it is done properly.
| Meal | Food | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | 3 idlis + sambar + a bowl of curd | 14g |
| Mid-morning | 250ml toned milk | 8g |
| Lunch | 2 rotis + thick dal (40g dry) + curd + sabzi | 23g |
| Snack | 50g roasted chana | 9g |
| Pre-workout | 1 scoop whey in water | 24g |
| Dinner | Paneer bhurji (100g paneer) + 2 rotis + salad | 26g |
| Total | 104g |
Without the whey scoop this day lands near 80g — which is why a supplement is usually the simplest fix for a vegetarian target above about 90g.
The pattern to notice: dal contributes meaningfully but it is never doing the job alone. Curd, milk, paneer and chana are all pulling comparable weight. A day built on dal alone tends to plateau somewhere around 50 to 60 grams of protein, which is why so many people eating a genuinely healthy Indian diet still fall short.
For the full picture on hitting a target without meat, see how to hit 100g of protein a day as an Indian vegetarian.
Figures on this page are typical values compiled from public nutrition data and are approximations — real dishes vary with recipe, oil, and portion size. This article is general information, not medical or dietary advice. Talk to a doctor or a registered dietitian about any medical condition or before making significant changes to your diet.