Urad dal vs Moong dal: nutrition per 100 g

Split and husked, urad dal is creamy white and moong dal pale yellow, and their basic numbers are almost the same. Urad has 23.1 g of protein, 324 kcal and 51.0 g of carbohydrate per 100 g dry; moong has 23.9 g, 326 kcal and 52.6 g. Both cover more than 40 per cent of a man's daily protein requirement per 100 g, and they rank 11th and 5th of 257 foods for protein. Fibre favours urad, 11.9 g against 9.4 g, about 1.3 times as much.

Urad dal has more iron, 4.67 mg per 100 g against 3.93 mg, covering 25 per cent of a man's daily need against 21 per cent. It also has more magnesium, 173 mg against 155 mg, more calcium, 56 mg against 43 mg, and more zinc, 3.0 mg against 2.49 mg. Urad ranks 33rd of 242 foods for magnesium.

Moong dal wins on potassium, 1268 mg against 1157 mg, phosphorus, 416 mg against 375 mg, copper, and selenium, 50.1 micrograms against 24.0, about 2.1 times as much. Sodium is low in both, though urad has a little more, 19 mg against 10 mg. Neither dal is a top iron food, and both benefit from a vitamin C source in the meal.

Urad dal stands out for the plant omega-3 fat ALA: 566 mg per 100 g, about 3.6 times the 157 mg in moong, ranking 13th of 203 foods and 2nd among the pulses. Moong dal leads on thiamine, 0.35 mg against 0.21 mg, covering 19 per cent of a man's daily need against 12 per cent, and on beta-carotene, 122 micrograms against 10. Folate is almost equal, 92 and 89 micrograms, and vitamin B6 is close at 0.22 and 0.19 mg.

Urad dal is the backbone of south Indian batters: soaked and ground with rice, it ferments into idli and dosa batter that rises and turns soft, and on its own it becomes medu vada and papad. A spoon of urad dal crackles in nearly every south Indian tadka. Whole black urad goes into Punjab's dal makhani and maa ki dal. Moong dal is lighter, the dal of khichdi, cheela and sick-day meals. Values here are for raw dal; cooked dal is mostly water.