Red chilli nutritional value per 100g: calories, protein, vitamins

Every figure below is for 100 g of dry red chilli as bought, the food IFCT 2017 lists as chillies, red under food code G022, botanical name Capsicum annum. The energy column reads 990 kJ in IFCT 2017, which converts to 237 kcal; the fibre line reads 31.15 g and potassium 2245 mg. Cumin seeds and black pepper sit beside the chilli in the table so the spice is not read in a vacuum.

Two blanks deserve a word. IFCT 2017 prints no vitamin C value for the dry chilli and no glycemic index either, so both stay blank rather than borrowing numbers from another food. And no kitchen cooks with 100 g of it: a curry sees a teaspoon, not a bowlful, which is why the next section does the per-teaspoon arithmetic.

Per 100 g raw, edible portion. Composition: IFCT 2017 (ICMR-NIN). — means not reported. These are average values for the food; the label on a pack gives the values for that product.

Nobody cooks with 100 g of dry chilli. The working unit is a level teaspoon of chilli powder (about 2.5 g). That teaspoon carries 5.9 kcal, 0.3 g protein, 0.2 g fat, 0.7 g carbohydrate and 0.8 g fibre, with 0.16 mg iron and 2.5 mg calcium.

Scale it to a day's cooking: two teaspoons (5 g) across a curry, a tadka and a marinade come to about 12 kcal, next to nothing on a day's plate, with the chilli's heat delivered for free on top. The spice adds colour and pungency; it is not where a meal's energy comes from.

Red chilli carries 12.69 g of protein per 100 g. Set against two everyday spices, that is about a quarter more than black pepper's 10.12 g and a touch below cumin seeds' 13.91 g. A teaspoon, though, delivers only 0.3 g, so no cook leans on chilli for protein; the powder's job is heat and colour.

Fibre is the surprise. Dry red chilli holds 31.15 g of total fibre per 100 g, just above cumin seeds at 30.35 g and a shade under black pepper at 33.16 g. The Dietary Guidelines for Indians describe dietary fibre as delaying the absorption of carbohydrate and fat and adding to satiety, but that is written about fibre-rich foods eaten in quantity; the 0.8 g in a teaspoon of chilli is too small a share to lean on. Fat runs the other way: 6.4 g per 100 g against cumin's 16.64 g and black pepper's 2.74 g, so the chilli sits well under half of cumin's figure and more than double pepper's.

IFCT 2017 prints no glycemic index for dry red chilli, and the ICMR-NIN guidelines print none either, so none is quoted. The practical reading comes from the carbohydrate line instead: a level teaspoon of chilli powder carries 0.7 g of carbohydrate, next to nothing against the dal, the rice or the roti it seasons.

For anyone counting carbohydrate, that means lal mirch adds no meaningful amount to the plate, and the spice itself comes with no figure to quote rather than borrowing another food's number.

The headline mineral is potassium, at 2245 mg per 100 g, well above black pepper's 1487 mg and cumin seeds' 1886 mg; a teaspoon of the powder delivers about 56 mg. Sodium is 19.45 mg per 100 g, and the teaspoon's share is a bare 0.5 mg, so the salt in a spicy dish comes from the cook's hand, not the chilli.

The rest of the card: iron 6.23 mg, calcium 99.83 mg, magnesium 231 mg, zinc 1.66 mg and folate 51.5 mcg per 100 g; per teaspoon that is 0.16 mg iron, 2.5 mg calcium, 5.8 mg magnesium, 0.04 mg zinc and 1.3 mcg folate. The iron point matters in one direction only: a spice is not where a day's iron comes from. The Dietary Guidelines' advice on iron pairs vitamin C rich foods and coriander chutneys with iron-rich plant foods in the same meal; a pinch of chilli colours such a meal but does not supply its iron. IFCT 2017 prints no vitamin C value for the dry chilli, so no vitamin C claim rides along on it either; a fresh green chilli is a separate IFCT entry and a separate story.

Dry red chilli works as a flavour, not a fuel. Whole chillies go into tadka, curries, pickles and spice blends, and the powder into soups, stews and curries for colour and heat; that is how COWBERRY's product pages describe its Guntur chillies and its chilli powder. The nutrition follows the use: a day's chilli, two teaspoons or so, adds about 12 kcal and 1.6 g of fibre while doing its real job on the tongue.

Two places to continue: chilli powder benefits separates what capsaicin studies show from what they do not, and idli podi is the recipe that roasts whole chillies with urad dal and sesame. The dry chilli hub gathers names, storage and buying.

Is red chilli powder good for health?

As a spice in ordinary kitchen amounts, red chilli powder is food, not medicine. A level teaspoon (about 2.5 g) gives 5.9 kcal, 0.8 g of fibre and 56 mg of potassium, which is what the numbers actually add. What studies do and do not show is separated on chilli powder benefits.

How red chilli is made?

Whole chillies are ripened, harvested and sun-dried, then either sold whole or ground fine into powder; that is the process COWBERRY's product pages print, with nothing added. At home the same result comes from a dry roast, a full cooling and a short grind, as set out on how to make kashmiri lal mirch powder.

How many calories in red chilli powder?

237 kcal per 100 g of dry red chilli in IFCT 2017, which sounds high until you weigh a serving: a level teaspoon of the powder is about 2.5 g and holds 5.9 kcal, so the spoonful in a curry costs almost nothing. Two teaspoons (5 g) come to about 12 kcal.

Does red chilli have vitamin C?

IFCT 2017 prints no vitamin C value for the dry chilli, so no vitamin C claim is made for it. Fresh green chillies are a separate IFCT entry and a separate food; the dried red spice is what the entry records, and vitamin C is not among its printed figures.

How much protein in red chilli?

12.69 g per 100 g of dry red chilli (IFCT 2017), more than black pepper's 10.12 g and slightly less than cumin seeds' 13.91 g. A level teaspoon gives 0.3 g, which makes the point: chilli seasons a protein source, it is not one itself.

What is lal mirch powder?

Whole dry red chillies ground fine, with nothing added. IFCT 2017 records the spice as chillies, red, and the powder is simply that food milled; COWBERRY's product pages describe its own powder as sun-dried chillies finely ground without artificial colours. The home method is on how to make kashmiri lal mirch powder.