Ragi vs Wheat atta: nutrition per 100 g

Weighed dry, the two flours are near twins on the basics. Ragi gives 321 kcal and 66.8 g of carbohydrate per 100 g; wheat atta gives 320 kcal and 64.2 g. Fibre is the surprise for many people: ragi has 11.2 g and atta 11.4 g, so whole wheat atta is not the low-fibre flour it is sometimes made out to be. The real fibre gap in an Indian kitchen lies between whole flours and refined ones such as maida, not between ragi and atta. Atta has a little more natural sugar, 1.8 g against 0.3 g, though both amounts are small.

Atta has 10.6 g of protein per 100 g against 7.2 g in ragi, a gap of 3.4 g. Among the 14 cereals and millets in IFCT 2017, atta ranks 5th for protein and ragi ranks 14th, the lowest of the group. Atta also contains gluten, the protein network that lets a phulka puff and stretch. Ragi has none, which is why ragi rotti cracks at the edges and is patted out by hand rather than rolled thin. For anyone avoiding gluten on medical advice, that difference matters more than the protein count.

Calcium is where this comparison stops being close. Ragi has 364 mg per 100 g, ranking 1st of 14 cereals and millets and 18th of 242 foods in the tables, while atta has 31 mg. So 100 g of ragi covers about 36 per cent of an adult's daily calcium requirement, and atta about 3 per cent. Ragi also edges ahead on magnesium (146 vs 125 mg), potassium (443 vs 311 mg) and iron (4.62 vs 4.1 mg).

Atta wins back ground on phosphorus, 315 mg against 210 mg, on zinc, 2.85 mg against 2.53 mg, and on selenium, 53.1 micrograms against 15.3, about 3.5 times as much. Iron is close to a draw: 100 g of ragi meets 24 per cent of a man's daily need and atta 22 per cent. For a woman the shares fall to 16 and 14 per cent, because her iron requirement is set higher.

Wheat atta carries more of several B vitamins. It has 2.37 mg of niacin to ragi's 1.34 mg, and 0.25 mg of vitamin B6, five times the 0.05 mg in ragi. Thiamine, the vitamin that helps the body use carbohydrate for energy, is close: 0.42 mg in atta and 0.37 mg in ragi, each covering more than a fifth of an adult's daily need per 100 g. Ragi has slightly more folate, 35 micrograms against 29, and a little more riboflavin.

Atta is the everyday flour of north and central India: phulka, paratha, puri and thepla. Ragi is the staple grain of south Karnataka and parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, eaten as mudde with saaru, as rotti, dosa and the malt drink given to small children. Many families mix the two, adding some ragi to the atta tin so rotis stay soft while the calcium rises. Every figure on this page is for dry flour; a cooked roti or a ball of mudde holds water and weighs differently.