54 comparisons · IFCT 2017
Indian foods, side by side
These 54 comparisons set two Indian foods side by side using IFCT 2017 data per 100 g: grains such as ragi and wheat atta or brown and white rice, dals such as moong and masoor, proteins such as paneer and egg, plus oils, greens, fruits and fish. Each page shows which food carries more of each nutrient and explains who might choose which.
Fair comparisons, per 100 g
Most food choices in an Indian kitchen are swaps, not new foods: ragi or wheat for roti, brown or white rice, moong or toor for dal, mustard or groundnut oil for the tadka, paneer or chicken for dinner. These pages answer those questions with numbers from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017, published by ICMR-NIN, Hyderabad, rather than with opinion or marketing.
Each comparison lays the two foods' nutrient panels side by side, per 100 g of raw edible portion, and marks which is higher for each nutrient and by how much. A short editorial then walks through energy and macronutrients, minerals and vitamins, and how each food fits Indian meals, ending with a fair verdict on who should choose which, and for what goal. Where the differences are small, the pages say so.
Two cautions apply to every comparison. First, per 100 g is not per serving: a katori of cooked dal and a piece of fish are not the same weight, and dry grains swell in cooking. Second, no single food wins on everything. The aim is to understand the trade-offs and then build meals from a mix of both, not to declare one food good and the other bad.
Pick a pair
Almond vs Cashew
Almonds and cashews have the same protein per 100 g, 18.4 g and 18.8 g, according to IFCT 2017. Almonds have far more…
Almond vs Walnut
Per 100 g, almonds have more protein (18.4 g against 14.9 g), fibre (13.1 g against 5.4 g), calcium, magnesium and…
Amla vs Orange
Amla is India's vitamin C champion. Per 100 g, IFCT 2017 lists 252.0 mg in amla against 42.7 mg in orange pulp, about…
Atta vs Maida
Atta and maida come from the same wheat, and per 100 g they have almost the same protein, 10.6 g and 10.4 g, according…
Bajra vs Wheat atta
Per 100 g, bajra has about 1.6 times the iron of wheat atta (6.42 mg against 4.1 mg) and much more fat (5.4 g against…
Banana vs Apple
Per 100 g, ripe banana has more energy than apple, 105 kcal against 62, and more of most nutrients, according to IFCT…
Brown rice vs White rice
Brown rice and white rice carry almost the same energy per 100 g raw, 354 kcal against 356 kcal in IFCT 2017. The…
Chana dal vs Moong dal
Per 100 g dry, chana dal has more fibre than moong dal (15.2 g against 9.4 g), more iron (6.08 mg against 3.93 mg) and…
Chicken breast vs Chicken thigh
Per 100 g raw and skinless, chicken breast has more protein than thigh, 21.8 g against 18.2 g, and fewer calories, 168…
Chicken breast vs Mutton
Per 100 g raw, chicken breast and mutton (goat shoulder) have similar protein, 21.8 g and 20.3 g, according to IFCT…
Chicken breast vs Rohu
Per 100 g raw, rohu has much less energy than chicken breast, 102 kcal against 168, and far less fat, 2.4 g against 9.0…
Coconut oil vs Groundnut oil
Coconut oil is the most saturated cooking fat in IFCT 2017, with 90.86 g of saturated fat per 100 g against 18.94 g in…
Country chicken breast vs Broiler chicken breast
Per 100 g raw breast, country (desi) chicken and broiler chicken are almost identical on protein, 22.1 g against 21.8…
Country hen egg vs Poultry egg
Per 100 g raw, a country hen (desi) egg and a farm poultry egg have the same protein, 13.1 g against 13.3 g, according…
Cow milk vs Buffalo milk
Per 100 g, buffalo milk has more fat than cow milk, 6.6 g against 4.5 g, and so more energy, 107 kcal against 73…
Dalia (bulgur wheat) vs White rice
Per 100 g dry, dalia (bulgur wheat) gives more of almost everything than milled white rice, according to IFCT 2017: 8.8…
Dates vs Raisins
Per 100 g, black raisins have about twice the iron of dry dates, 6.81 mg against 3.2 mg, plus more potassium and…
Egg white vs Whole egg
Per 100 g raw, egg white has a third of the energy of whole egg, 45 kcal against 135, and almost no fat, 0.1 g against…
Flaxseeds vs Sesame seeds
Flaxseed and black sesame each top IFCT 2017 on one nutrient. Per 100 g, flaxseed has 12956 mg of the omega-3 fat ALA…
Ghee vs Sunflower oil
Ghee and sunflower oil are both pure fat but sit at opposite ends. Per 100 g, IFCT 2017 lists ghee with 71.02 g of…
Guava vs Orange
Per 100 g, white-fleshed guava has about five times the vitamin C of orange pulp, 214.0 mg against 42.7 mg, according…
Hilsa vs Rohu
Hilsa is the rich fish and rohu the lean one. Per 100 g raw, IFCT 2017 gives hilsa 259 kcal and 18.5 g of fat against…
Horse gram vs Whole moong
Per 100 g dry, horse gram (kulthi) beats whole moong on iron, 8.76 mg against 4.89 mg, and calcium, 269 mg against 92…
Jowar vs Bajra
Per 100 g, bajra has more iron than jowar (6.42 mg against 3.95 mg), a little more protein and fibre, and over three…
Jowar vs Wheat atta
Jowar and wheat atta are closer than the millet trend suggests. Per 100 g, IFCT 2017 gives jowar 334 kcal, 10.0 g…
Little millet vs White rice
Per 100 g raw, little millet (samai) has about 2.8 times the fibre of milled white rice, 7.7 g against 2.8 g, and more…
Mackerel vs Sardine
Per 100 g raw, Indian mackerel is leaner and higher in protein than sardine, 21.5 g against 17.9 g, with 101 kcal…
Moong dal vs Masoor dal
Moong dal and masoor dal are protein twins: IFCT 2017 lists 23.9 g and 24.4 g per 100 g, with energy of 326 and 322…
Moong dal vs Toor dal
Per 100 g dry, moong dal has a little more protein than toor (arhar) dal, 23.9 g against 21.7 g, and more magnesium…
Mustard oil vs Groundnut oil
Both oils are pure fat, so the difference lies in the type of fat. Per 100 g, IFCT 2017 gives mustard oil 5.72 g of…
Mutton (goat) vs Lamb (sheep)
Per 100 g raw shoulder, goat meat (mutton) has a little more protein than sheep meat (lamb), 20.3 g against 18.2 g, and…
Paneer vs Chicken breast
Per 100 g raw, skinless chicken breast has a little more protein than paneer, 21.8 g against 18.9 g, with fewer…
Paneer vs Egg
Per 100 g, paneer has more protein than whole egg, 18.9 g against 13.3 g, and nearly ten times the calcium, 476 mg…
Papaya vs Mango
Per 100 g, ripe papaya is lighter than banganapalli mango, 24 kcal against 42, with half the sugar and more fibre and…
Parboiled rice vs White rice
Parboiled rice keeps more of the grain's B vitamins than raw milled white rice. Per 100 g, IFCT 2017 lists 0.17 mg of…
Peanuts vs Almonds
Per 100 g, peanuts have more protein than almonds, 23.6 g against 18.4 g, fewer calories, 520 kcal against 609, and far…
Poha vs Suji (semolina)
For the two great Indian breakfast bases, IFCT 2017 gives suji (semolina) more protein than poha, 11.4 g against 7.4 g…
Pomfret vs Seer fish
Per 100 g raw, seer fish (surmai, vanjaram) has more protein than black pomfret, 22.3 g against 18.9 g, and more…
Potato vs White rice
Per 100 g, fresh potato has 70 kcal and raw rice 356 kcal in IFCT 2017, but the comparison is lopsided: potato is 80.7…
Prawns vs Chicken breast
Per 100 g raw, prawns are one of the leanest proteins in IFCT 2017: 91 kcal and 0.5 g of fat, against 168 kcal and 9.0…
Quinoa vs Ragi
Per 100 g, quinoa has more protein than ragi (13.1 g against 7.2 g), more iron (7.51 mg against 4.62 mg) and far more…
Quinoa vs White rice
Per 100 g raw, quinoa outscores milled white rice on nearly every nutrient in IFCT 2017: 13.1 g protein against 7.9 g…
Ragi vs Jowar
Per 100 g, ragi has 13 times the calcium of jowar (364 mg against 28 mg) and slightly more fibre, iron and potassium…
Ragi vs Wheat atta
Per 100 g, ragi and wheat atta are close on energy (321 vs 320 kcal) and fibre (11.2 vs 11.4 g), according to IFCT…
Ragi vs White rice
Per 100 g raw, ragi beats milled white rice on almost every mineral in IFCT 2017: 364 mg calcium against 7 mg, 4.62 mg…
Rice bran oil vs Sunflower oil
Both are pure fat; they differ in its make-up. Per 100 g, IFCT 2017 lists rice bran oil with more saturated fat, 23.76…
Rohu vs Catla
Rohu and catla, India's two most farmed carps, are both lean, with 102 and 94 kcal per 100 g raw in IFCT 2017. Rohu has…
Soya bean vs Paneer
Per 100 g, dry soya bean has almost twice the protein of paneer, 35.6 g against 18.9 g, and ranks 1st of all 257 foods…
Spinach vs Methi leaves
Per 100 g raw, methi (fenugreek) leaves beat spinach on iron, 5.69 mg against 2.95 mg, calcium, 274 mg against 82 mg…
Spinach vs Moringa leaves
Per 100 g raw, moringa (drumstick) leaves outscore spinach on most nutrients in IFCT 2017: three times the protein (6.4…
Sweet potato vs Potato
Surprisingly, sweet potato has more energy than potato per 100 g raw, 109 kcal against 70, according to IFCT 2017…
Urad dal vs Moong dal
Urad and moong dal are near equals on protein and energy per 100 g dry: 23.1 g and 23.9 g of protein, 324 and 326 kcal…
White rice vs Wheat atta
Weighed dry, wheat atta beats milled white rice on fibre, protein and minerals. Per 100 g, IFCT 2017 lists 11.4 g fibre…
Whole chana vs Rajma
Whole chana and rajma are equal on protein per 100 g dry, 18.8 g and 19.0 g in IFCT 2017. Chana has more fibre, 25.2 g…
About these comparisons
How are the foods compared?
Every comparison uses IFCT 2017 values per 100 g of the raw edible portion, for the same set of nutrients on both sides. The difference, and which side is higher, are worked out directly from those values, so no figure is estimated.
Why compare raw rather than cooked foods?
IFCT 2017 analyses raw foods, and cooking changes weight in very different ways: rice and dal absorb water, meat loses some, and oil adds fat. Raw values give a fair, like-for-like starting point, and the pages then explain how each food behaves in a real meal.
Which comparisons are covered?
Grains and millets, such as ragi vs rice and atta vs maida; dals; dairy, eggs, meat and fish; nuts, seeds and cooking oils; leafy greens and tubers; and fruits such as amla vs orange and banana vs apple.
Does a higher number always mean a better food?
No. More energy is welcome for a growing child but not for someone trying to lose weight, and more sodium is rarely a gain. Each comparison's verdict explains which side suits which goal, such as weight control, muscle building, diabetes or heart health.