Kala Chana Nutrition per 100 g, Raw, Boiled and Roasted (2026)

Last updated: 30 September 2026

> Quick Answer: Per 100 g, raw kala chana carries 18.77 g of protein, boiled about 8.9 g and roasted about 22 g. The raw figure is ICMR-NIN's Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 and the boiled one is USDA FoodData Central. Cooking adds water rather than removing protein, so the state you weigh decides the number.

Kala chana is the small, dark, unpolished desi chickpea, and on India's own tables 100 g of the dry grain holds 18.77 g of protein, 25.22 g of dietary fibre and about 287 kcal. The SatRas Haryana desi black chana, 900 g is that raw grain as sold, and how to judge desi kala chana before you buy it covers colour, size and shine.

Most of the disagreement online is about labels, not measurements. A page quoting 20 g and one quoting 9 g can both be right. One weighed dry seed, the other weighed boiled seed, and neither said which.

Why do published kala chana figures disagree so widely?

Three things move the number: the state of the grain, the table it came from, and how energy was worked out. Raw protein runs from about 17 g to 22 g depending on the source and boiled from 4 g to 9 g. Pages rarely say which state they weighed.

• The table. ICMR-NIN's Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 list whole Bengal gram at 18.77 g of protein. USDA's largely kabuli chickpea entry gives 20.47 g.
• The state. Boiled chickpeas are 60.21 g water per 100 g on USDA FoodData Central, so every figure falls by more than half.
• The energy method. IFCT puts desi chana at 1,201 kJ, about 287 kcal; USDA gives raw chickpeas 378 kcal. Pages printing 378 kcal for boiled chana have put the raw value on the wrong row.

Raw, soaked, boiled and roasted, how does the same 100 g compare?

Per 100 g, raw kala chana carries about 18.8 g of protein, soaked about 10.2 g, boiled about 8.9 g and roasted about 22 g. Water explains nearly all of it: soaking and boiling add weight without adding protein, and roasting drives water out. Each row names its own source.

The soaked row is arithmetic rather than a lab entry. A 2020 study in the Journal of Food Science and Technology measured chickpeas taking up 83.9% of their dry weight in water over 12 hours at room temperature, so 100 g of dry chana becomes about 184 g. IFCT lists no roasted pulse, so that row falls back on older ICMR-NIN tables, which report crude rather than dietary fibre.

How much protein is in one katori of boiled kala chana?

A 150 ml katori holds about 100 g of boiled kala chana, which carries roughly 9 g of protein and about 165 kcal. Put another way, the katori started as roughly 44 g of dry chana. Dry chickpeas weigh about 2.3 times more once boiled, going by USDA's raw and cooked water figures.

The conversion scales USDA's household measure of 164 g of boiled chickpeas per 240 ml cup down to 150 ml. From the dry side, 44 g of desi chana at 18.77 g per 100 g gives about 8.3 g.

A 900 g pack of desi black chana at ₹219 makes about 20 katoris of boiled chana, or about ₹11 a serving. For scale, ICMR-NIN's Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024 suggest about 85 g of raw pulses and legumes a day. That's close to two katoris cooked.

Which minerals does 100 g of kala chana carry?

Dry kala chana carries 6.78 mg of iron and 3.37 mg of zinc per 100 g on IFCT 2017. USDA adds folate, magnesium and potassium for chickpeas generally. Boiling roughly halves every figure per 100 g, mostly through water gain, with some water-soluble loss into the cooking liquid.

Folate is the odd one out. It drops from 557 µg to 172 µg, further than dilution explains, because it leaches into the cooking water.

How does kala chana compare with kabuli chana and moong?

Kala chana carries a little less protein than moong and roughly double the fibre of the kabuli-heavy USDA chickpea entry. Per 100 g dry, IFCT gives whole desi chana 18.77 g of protein and 25.22 g of fibre, and whole green gram 22.53 g and 17.04 g.

IFCT has no kabuli entry, so that comparison leans on USDA's 20.47 g of protein and 12.2 g of fibre; the thicker desi seed coat holds much of the difference. The protein figures for every common Indian dal sit side by side on a separate page.

What should you avoid when reading chana nutrition labels?

Skip any figure that doesn't say raw or cooked, and any calorie count with no source attached. Those two cause most of the confusion. The same handful of traps turns up on nutrition sites and packs alike, and each is easy to spot once you know it.

• Unlabelled state. "Kala chana, 100 g" with no raw or boiled tag is unusable.
• Raw calories on a cooked row. 378 kcal is USDA's raw chickpea value, not boiled chana.
• Crude fibre beside dietary fibre. Older tables print crude fibre, which reads far lower.
• Kabuli data sold as desi. Most international chickpea entries describe the larger pale seed.
• Sprouting doubling protein. Per 100 g it falls, because the sprout holds more water; the method for making sprouts at home is on its own page.

What can a per-100 g table not tell you about kala chana?

It can't tell you how much protein your body absorbs, how one harvest differs from the six-region IFCT average, or what kala chana does for any health condition. A composition table describes what is in the grain. Nothing more, and the benefits question needs different evidence.

The SatRas pack carries no laboratory nutrition panel of its own, so every number above is a published generic value, not a SatRas measurement. What the evidence says about eating kala chana regularly is covered in kala chana benefits.

This article is educational and is not medical advice. If you are managing a health condition or setting protein targets on medical guidance, speak to a qualified doctor or registered dietitian.

Frequently asked questions

How much kala chana should I eat a day for protein?

There is no single target for kala chana on its own. ICMR-NIN suggests about 85 g of raw pulses and legumes a day for an adult, shared across dals, beans and chana. At 18.77 g of protein per 100 g, 50 g of dry kala chana supplies about 9.4 g of protein toward that total.

How long does soaked kala chana take to pressure cook?

Usually 5 to 6 whistles on medium heat, or about 20 to 25 minutes, after an 8 to 12 hour soak. Unsoaked chana can take twice as long and often cooks unevenly. The seeds are done when one presses flat between two fingers with no chalky centre, and older stock generally needs longer.

How does chana dal differ from whole kala chana nutritionally?

Chana dal carries slightly more protein per 100 g of dry weight. Indian composition tables list chana dal at 21.55 g of protein against 18.77 g for whole Bengal gram, because removing the husk concentrates the rest of the seed. The whole grain keeps far more fibre, 25.22 g against 15.15 g, so each suits a different purpose.

Is black chana protein complete on its own?

Not quite. Like most pulses, chickpea protein is relatively low in the sulphur amino acids methionine and cysteine while being rich in lysine. Cereals run the other way, which is why Indian dietary guidance pairs pulses with grains such as rice or roti. Eaten together across a day, the combination covers the essential amino acids.

How many calories are in 50 g of dry kala chana?

About 144 kcal on the Indian composition tables, which list whole Bengal gram at 1,201 kJ, roughly 287 kcal, per 100 g. The same 50 g boiled becomes about 115 g of cooked chana. International tables give a higher raw figure of 378 kcal per 100 g because they calculate energy differently.

Should kala chana be soaked before cooking?

Yes, for most home cooking. Desi chana has a thick seed coat and takes several hours to hydrate, so soaking for 8 to 12 hours shortens cooking time and gives a more even texture. Discard seeds that float, and cook the rest until they press flat between two fingers.