Black dal provides about 25 grams of protein per 100g raw, dropping to roughly 7–8 grams per 100g once cooked.
Black dal, also known as black gram or urad dal, sits near the top of plant protein staples in many Indian kitchens. When you look at black dal protein per 100g, you get a clear sense of how much this lentil can add to your daily protein target, whether you eat meat or not.
Most nutrition tables place raw black dal around the mid-twenties for grams of protein per 100g, with calories in the mid-300s and a hefty dose of fiber. Cooking changes the numbers quite a bit, because water adds weight and dilutes the nutrients per 100g, so it helps to read those labels with a bit of context.
Why Black Dal Protein Per 100G Matters For Your Plate
Protein gives structure to muscles, skin, hair, enzymes, and many hormones. For most healthy adults, large nutrition bodies set a recommended intake close to 0.75–0.83 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, with many national guidelines sitting around 0.8 g/kg as a base level.
That means a 60 kg adult needs in the region of 48 grams of protein daily, while a 75 kg adult needs roughly 60 grams. A single 100 g portion of raw black dal already carries about half that amount, and even a cooked serving can make a real dent in the total for the day when paired with other foods.
Because black dal pairs so well with rice, roti, and fermented batters, it often shows up throughout the day instead of in just one meal. That steady intake of plant protein and fiber can keep meals satisfying and blood sugar swings gentler than with refined grains.
Black Dal Nutrition Snapshot Per 100G
To make sense of the protein figures per 100g for black dal, it helps to see the full macronutrient picture. Values below blend figures from major food composition tables and stay within the usual lab range; labels from specific brands may shift a little either side.
| Form (Per 100G) | Calories (Kcal) | Protein (G) |
|---|---|---|
| Black dal, whole, raw | 340–350 | 25–26 |
| Black dal, split, raw | 335–345 | 25 |
| Black dal, whole, boiled in water | 90–110 | 7–8 |
| Black dal, pressure-cooked with plain water | 95–115 | 7–9 |
| Black dal, cooked with basic tadka | 120–150 | 7–9 |
| Black dal batter for idli or dosa | 150–190 | 9–11 |
| Black dal sprouted, lightly cooked | 60–80 | 5–7 |
Raw values come from dry lentils straight from the packet, which look impressive on paper but are rarely eaten as-is. Once water enters the picture during soaking, boiling, or pressure cooking, the gram weight climbs and the protein per 100g drops, while the total protein in the pot stays almost the same.
When you read a label or a food chart, always check whether the line describes raw or cooked grams. A chart based on dry black dal can make the numbers look huge, while a cooked-weight chart for the same dal can look modest, while both describe the same underlying food.
Black Dal Protein In 100G For Everyday Meals
A standard home serving of cooked dal usually falls between 150 and 200 grams, especially when served as the main protein on the plate. If cooked black dal carries around 7–8 grams of protein per 100g, that puts a ladle and a half in the ballpark of 11–15 grams of protein.
That range lines up well with many national recommendations. For instance, a 60 kg adult aiming for roughly 50 grams of protein can reach around one quarter of the day’s target from a single bowl of black dal, then layer in curd, paneer, eggs, meat, or other dals through the rest of the day.
If you cook black dal a bit thicker and serve it with minimal oil, you raise the protein density per spoon. A thinner, soup-like dal with more water fills the stomach just as well, though each 100 g spoon then has slightly fewer grams of protein.
How Cooking Changes Black Dal Protein Counts
Cooks often wonder whether long simmering or pressure cooking destroys protein in black dal. The short answer is that normal home cooking does not remove protein in a meaningful way. What changes instead is the water content, which shifts the grams of protein per 100g of the final dish.
Raw black gram sits near 25 grams of protein per 100g. After boiling, the same lentils hold a large amount of water, so 100 grams of the cooked dal might deliver around 7–8 grams of protein. The total protein in the pot still matches what you started with in the dry lentils, minus a tiny loss into the cooking water.
Fat and spice additions, such as ghee, oil, cream, or butter, push calories up but do not add much extra protein unless you stir in paneer, curd, or meat. Salt and acidic ingredients like tomato or lemon adjust flavour and texture but barely touch the protein content.
Where Do The Per 100G Numbers Come From?
Nutrient numbers for black dal come from laboratory analyses compiled into national food tables and online databases. For raw black gram, many tables cluster around 340–347 kcal and roughly 25 grams of protein per 100g, with carbohydrate just under 60 grams and fat close to 1.5 grams.
Cooked black gram entries tend to show around 90–110 kcal and 7–8 grams of protein per 100g, reflecting the higher water content in boiled legumes. Values from different tables fall within a small band, shaped by factors such as variety, growing conditions, and exact cooking method.
Public databases, including the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 and the USDA FoodData Central database, build their numbers from repeated lab testing. They give a reliable picture for everyday planning, even though no single number can match every bag of black dal sold in markets.
How Black Dal Protein Compares With Other Foods
Looking at protein values per 100g for black dal in isolation can make it hard to judge whether the food is protein dense or not. Setting it next to other familiar foods makes the picture much clearer, both for raw lentils and for cooked portions.
| Food (Per 100G Cooked) | Approx. Calories (Kcal) | Protein (G) |
|---|---|---|
| Black dal, cooked | 90–110 | 7–8 |
| Chana dal, cooked | 120–130 | 8–9 |
| Moong dal, cooked | 100–120 | 7–8 |
| Rajma (kidney beans), cooked | 125–135 | 8–9 |
| Cooked chicken breast | 160–170 | 30–32 |
| Paneer, regular | 250–300 | 18–22 |
| Boiled egg | 140–155 | 12–13 |
As cooked plant proteins go, black dal holds its own. Per 100 g cooked, it sits just a touch behind some other legumes, yet it brings a thick texture, a rich taste, and a comfortable place in many traditional recipes. When you measure by dry weight, though, black dal stands right alongside the most protein dense pulses used in Indian cooking.
A practical way to read this table is to think in servings instead of grams. A normal dal serving at home often lands near 150–200 g, while a standard egg is around 50 g and a palm-sized piece of chicken breast can sit around 100 g. Spread across a day, a mix of these foods can cover protein needs quite comfortably.
Getting More Protein From The Same Black Dal
Once you know the black dal protein numbers per 100g, you can tweak recipes and habits to squeeze more protein into the same bowl. The easiest lever is portion size. If you usually eat half a cup of cooked dal, sliding up to a medium bowl adds several extra grams of protein with no major change to ingredients.
Soaking black dal overnight and cooking it until soft also helps digestion, which allows the body to handle a larger portion without discomfort. A pressure cooker or instant pot keeps cooking time manageable and helps achieve a tender texture even with whole black gram.
Combining black dal with other protein rich foods raises the total per meal. A thick urad dal paired with a side of curd, a small serving of paneer, or a boiled egg can lift the meal’s protein content far above what the dal brings on its own, while still keeping black dal as the flavour anchor of the plate.
Putting Black Dal Protein Numbers Into Daily Life
At this point, the raw and cooked numbers for black dal protein per 100g should feel less abstract. Raw lentils sit around 25–26 grams of protein per 100g, cooked dal settles closer to 7–8 grams per 100g, and real servings fall somewhere between 11 and 20 grams depending on how full the bowl looks.
You can use those ranges as a mental shortcut when planning meals. A breakfast idli or dosa batter that blends black dal with rice or other pulses starts the day with a steady dose of protein. Lunch and dinner dals, soups, and stews then round out the total without leaning only on meat or dairy.
You can always weigh your cooked dal once or twice to check these estimates yourself.
If you live with kidney disease, gout, or another condition that affects how much protein you should eat, talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian before making big changes. For most people, black dal gives a steady, budget friendly source of plant protein in daily meals.