Toor dal for weight loss: calories, protein and how to eat

It is a useful plate for one, provided it replaces something heavier. Toor dal is good for weight loss because it displaces: what it replaces matters more than the dal itself, which carries only 1.56 g of fat per 100 g. The strongest trial evidence is a 2016 systematic review and meta-analysis that combined 21 randomised controlled trials covering 940 participants. People eating pulses lost 0.34 kg more body weight than comparison groups, with a 95% confidence interval of -0.63 to -0.04 kg (P = 0.03). The effect held across weight-loss and weight-maintaining diets alike, over a median follow-up of six weeks, at a median daily intake of 132 g of pulses. Modest, and the authors note the effect appeared even in diets not meant to cut calories. For Hindi speakers, arhar dal for weight loss is the same food and the same arithmetic.

The table below shows what IFCT 2017 counts per 100 g of raw toor dal; the katori arithmetic sits under it. A katori of toor begins as 30 g of dry dal. Cooked, it lands at about 99 kcal and 6.5 g of protein, with 16.6 g of carbohydrate, 2.7 g of fibre and 0.5 g of fat. Two katoris across the day double that: about 199 kcal and 13 g of protein from the dal alone.

For a calorie budget the protein matters in one way the guidelines name: pulses pair with cereals to supply the amino acids the cereal is short of, so the dal earns its place beside a smaller rice portion. The katori's 99 kcal buys 6.5 g of protein; the count sits on the dry dal, the form the kitchen weighs.

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

The guidelines name the mechanism: an adequate intake of micronutrients and fibre-rich foods, pulses among them, improves satiety and helps keep blood glucose, insulin, cholesterol and triglycerides steady. They add that pulses, nuts and a moderate amount of lean meat help maintain weight and health. Toor dal's contribution to that fibre is 9.1 g per 100 g of dry dal.

How the dal is cooked decides what it adds. The guidelines direct light methods: grilling, baking, steaming or a saute with minimal oil in place of frying lowers the energy density of a meal. The 99 kcal is the dal alone: every teaspoon of oil or ghee in the tadka adds to it, so keep the tempering to about one teaspoon.

Toor dal water for weight loss deserves a straight answer: the cooking water is not a slimming drink in any of these guidelines, and its place is the pot, not a glass. The guidelines value that water for a different reason: the cooking water carries B complex vitamins and vitamin C, which may be lost when the water is thrown away after boiling, and boiling with just enough water, without draining it, is the guidelines' best method to retain folate in legumes, toor included. Let the grains drink the water, and the bowl keeps more of what the dal has.

Keep the pot simple otherwise: no cream, no sugar, a tempering of one teaspoon of oil or a little ghee, and vegetables into the same pot. The toor dal khichdi and sambar recipes are built that way, and the toor dal page covers the plain cooking.

One katori with lunch and one with dinner put the day's dal at about 199 kcal and 13 g of protein. At lunch, a katori of toor beside a measured rice serving or two rotis, plus a dry vegetable and curd. At dinner, the second katori as dal with one roti, or as sambar with a small rice serving; the toor dal khichdi, sambar and toor dal roti recipes fit those slots.

One habit runs through the whole day: measure. The ICMR-NIN plate allots pulses and legumes 85 g a day for an adult, and two katoris from 30 g of dry dal each sit inside that. Eyeballed third helpings, not the dal itself, are what undo a plan.

Better:

• A katori of plain toor replacing a roti or part of the rice, not added beside it.
• Toor khichdi with measured rice, one pot for dal and cereal.
• Sambar loaded with vegetables, eaten with a small rice serving.
• A light tadka of one teaspoon of oil or ghee, counted on top of the dal's own 99 kcal.

Worse:

• Heavy ghee temperings, cream or butter that pile calories onto the katori.
• The dal as an extra course after the full roti or rice count.
• Packaged or sweetened dal mixes with added fats and sugar.
• Fried accompaniments beside the dal; they carry the meal's weight, not the dal.

Weight loss means different things in different bodies, and a calorie plan that fits one person's medical history can be wrong for another's. If you take medicines for diabetes, blood pressure or thyroid, or if you are pregnant or nursing, show the plan to the person who knows your numbers before cutting or swapping staples. For the portions that suit your body and your medicines, talk to your doctor or dietitian.

What is toor dal?

Toor dal is the split, dehusked seed of the pigeon pea, Cajanus cajan; Hindi speakers call it arhar, and sambar and tadka are its home dishes. For a weight-loss plate the numbers that matter are 331 kcal, 21.7 g of protein and 9.1 g of fibre per 100 g of dry dal.

Does toor dal have protein?

Yes: 21.7 g per 100 g of raw dal, and one katori, cooked from 30 g of dry toor, carries about 6.5 g of protein. On a calorie budget the protein helps the dal pair with rice or roti and meet the amino acid need, as the guidelines describe.

Can toor dal be soaked overnight?

It can be. The guidelines put soaking among the household methods that improve the digestibility of legumes, and they print no soak time for toor. For a weight-loss bowl the step that matters is the same as always: cook the dal fully soft, in just enough water with none poured away.

Can we eat arhar dal at night?

Yes; the guidelines name no time of day for dal. The number that governs the evening bowl is the day's total: the ICMR-NIN plate puts pulses and legumes at 85 g a day, and a katori cooked from 30 g of dry dal sits easily inside. If a heavy, late dinner disturbs your sleep or your digestion, keep the evening bowl small and the tempering light, and see what your own body says.

Which toor dal is best?

For weight loss, the calorie and protein figures above come from the standard composition table's one entry for toor dal, which gives no separate figures by type. What moves the scale is how the dal is cooked and measured, and what it replaces on the plate. For the full breakdown of oily, plain, polished and unpolished toor, see which toor dal is best.