Moong dal vs Toor dal: nutrition per 100 g

Toor dal is the most cooked dal in much of south and west India, and moong dal the gentlest. Per 100 g dry, moong has 23.9 g of protein and toor 21.7 g, a gap of 2.2 g. Moong ranks 5th of 257 foods for protein and toor 20th, both high. Each covers more than 40 per cent of a man's daily protein need per 100 g. Energy is close, 326 kcal for moong and 331 kcal for toor, and so is fibre, 9.4 g and 9.1 g. Toor has a little more carbohydrate and natural sugar.

Iron is the surprise. The two dals are equal, 3.93 mg in moong and 3.9 mg in toor, and they rank 13th and 14th of the 14 pulses in IFCT 2017, the lowest in their group. Neither is a strong iron dal; masoor, chana and rajma do better.

Moong leads on magnesium, 155 mg against 119 mg, on phosphorus, 416 mg against 328 mg, and on selenium, 50.1 micrograms against 14.4, about 3.5 times as much. Toor leads on calcium, 72 mg against 43 mg, about 1.7 times as much, and on potassium, 1395 mg against 1268 mg; toor ranks 9th of 243 foods for potassium. Zinc and copper are close, slightly higher in toor.

Toor dal has more thiamine, 0.45 mg per 100 g against 0.35 mg, covering 25 per cent of a man's daily need. It has more folate too, 108 micrograms against 92, meeting 49 per cent of a woman's daily requirement against 42 per cent for moong. Niacin and vitamin B6 are also slightly higher in toor. Both dals carry a little beta-carotene, 127 and 122 micrograms. Moong has more of the plant omega-3 fat ALA, 157 mg against 51 mg.

Toor dal is the base of sambar in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, pappu in Andhra Pradesh, varan and amti in Maharashtra, and the sweet and sour Gujarati dal. Moong dal goes into khichdi, light yellow dal, cheela, and the moong dal halwa served at weddings. Toor needs a little longer to cook and is often pressure cooked; moong softens quickly. The values on this page are for raw dal, so a bowl of thin, cooked dal holds much less protein than 100 g dry.