Rajma Protein per 100g: Nutrition and Easy Recipes

Rajma protein per 100g is 22.9g when the beans are dry and about 8.7g once they’re cooked.

The protein stays the same throughout. Cooked rajma carries a lot of water, so every 100g holds less of it.

That one fact clears up most of the confusion online. Below, you’ll see what a real katori of rajma gives you and how to cook it so the protein is easy to count.

Rajma protein per 100g: the quick answer

Here’s the short version. Dry figures come from ICMR’s Indian Food Composition Tables and cooked figures from USDA data.

The soaked row is an estimate based on rajma roughly doubling in weight overnight. Your numbers will shift a little depending on how long you soak.

Why rajma protein per 100g drops after cooking

Rajma drinks water. A lot of it.

100g of dry beans swells to about 200g after an overnight soak and close to 260g after pressure cooking. The protein inside stays put at 22.9g the whole time.

So the maths works like this:

1. 100g of dry rajma has 22.9g of protein
2. Soak it overnight and it weighs about 200g
3. Pressure cook it and it weighs about 260g
4. 22.9g divided by 2.6 gives you roughly 8.7g per 100g of cooked rajma

Pressure cooking leaves the protein intact. Heat actually makes it easier for your gut to break down.

Want to check it yourself? Weigh 100g of dry rajma tonight and weigh it again after cooking tomorrow. Your kitchen scale will settle the argument in a day.

Why every website shows a different number

Search rajma protein per 100g and you’ll find figures anywhere between 18g and 24g. Sometimes on the same page.

Most of the gap comes down to where the beans were tested. ICMR tests Indian rajma and lands on 22.9g. The USDA tests American kidney beans and gets closer to 24g.

Moisture plays a part too. Drier beans show slightly more protein per 100g because less of their weight is water.

And some of it is plain copy-paste error. Cooked figures get labelled as raw and travel from one site to the next.

Our take is simple. For Indian rajma, use the ICMR number. It’s the one used throughout this post.

Your katori holds less than you think

This is where most people overcount.

The popular 7g figure assumes a katori packed with drained beans. But home rajma is a curry. A good part of that katori is gravy, which brings flavour and very little protein.

Now compare that with what you need. ICMR-NIN suggests about 0.83g of protein per kg of body weight for healthy adults. So a 60kg person needs roughly 50g a day.

One rajma-chawal plate covers close to 20% of that. It’s a solid contribution. It just won’t carry your whole day by itself.

Which number goes into your calorie app

If your protein tracking never quite adds up, the rajma entry is a common culprit.

• Weigh it dry, log it dry. This is the most accurate route. Use 22.9g per 100g.
• Weigh it cooked, log it cooked. Pick the entry marked boiled or cooked and use 8.7g per 100g.
• Never mix the two. Logging the dry figure against cooked weight counts nearly 3 times the protein you actually ate.
• Check the entry before you save it. Plenty of app listings never say if the beans are raw or cooked.

Is rajma actually high in protein?

For a plant food, yes. Rajma sits comfortably among the better pulses.

Most of its calories come from carbs, though. Only about a quarter come from protein, which is why some fitness creators call it a carb food.

Call it a good protein source with a lot of fibre attached. That fibre is why a plate of rajma keeps you full well into the evening.

Here’s how it compares per 100 kcal, which is the fairer test if you’re watching calories:

Source: USDA FoodData Central, cooked or boiled values.

Rajma beats chana per calorie, which surprises most people. Chicken sits in a different league entirely.

Rajma and rice make a smart pair

Protein is built from amino acids. Your body can’t make 9 of them, so they have to come from food.

Rajma is rich in lysine and low in methionine. Rice runs the other way. Put them together and each one covers the other’s gap.

Eating them in the same meal is optional, since your body pools amino acids across the day. Still, rajma-chawal figured this out long before anyone printed a nutrition label.

How to cook rajma so it’s easy on your stomach

Raw or undercooked rajma contains a natural lectin called phytohaemagglutinin. A small handful of undercooked beans can bring on cramps and vomiting.

Proper cooking destroys it completely. Here’s the routine:

1. Soak the beans for 8 to 10 hours
2. Drain the soaking water and rinse well
3. Pressure cook until a bean mashes easily between 2 fingers
4. Add hing or ajwain to your tadka to go easier on digestion

Skip the slow cooker for dry rajma. Low heat can leave the lectin active, so boil the beans hard for at least 10 minutes first if you use one.

If rajma leaves you bloated, start with half a katori and build up over 2 weeks. For most people, the gut adjusts to extra fibre faster than expected.

2 easy rajma recipes that count protein for you

Here’s the trick that makes tracking painless: cook by dry weight. 50g of dry rajma per person gives you about 11.5g of protein from the rajma alone.

Thick pressure-cooker rajma

Serves 2 · ~11.5g protein per serving from rajma · 40 minutes after soaking

Ingredients

• 100g dry rajma, soaked overnight
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, pureed
• 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tsp rajma masala or garam masala
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp oil
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Pressure cook the soaked rajma in fresh water with a pinch of salt until soft.
2. Heat the oil and add the cumin. Once it crackles, add the onion and cook until golden.
3. Stir in the ginger-garlic paste and cook for a minute.
4. Add the tomato puree with the masala. Cook until the oil separates.
5. Add the rajma with just enough cooking water to coat it. Mash a spoonful of beans against the pan to thicken the gravy.
6. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Mashing does the thickening, so each katori holds more beans and more protein than a thin, watery curry.

Rajma chaat with hung curd

Serves 1 · ~21g protein · 10 minutes with cooked rajma

Ingredients

• 150g cooked rajma (~13g protein)
• 100g hung curd (~8g protein)
• ½ onion, ½ tomato, ½ cucumber, chopped
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Chaat masala, roasted jeera powder, salt
• Fresh coriander

Method

1. Whisk the hung curd with salt and roasted jeera until smooth.
2. Toss the rajma with the chopped veg and lemon juice.
3. Season with chaat masala.
4. Spoon the curd on top and finish with coriander.

Hung curd adds protein and creaminess without a drop of oil. It’s a good use for leftover Sunday rajma.

Frequently asked questions

What is rajma protein per 100g, cooked and dry?

Dry rajma has about 22.9g of protein per 100g. Cooked rajma has about 8.7g, because the beans absorb water and nearly triple in weight.

How much protein is in one katori of rajma?

A katori of drained beans (about 80g) gives roughly 7g of protein. A katori of rajma curry usually gives less, since part of it is gravy.

Is rajma better than chicken for protein?

Chicken has far more protein per calorie. Rajma brings fibre and iron that chicken lacks, so it works best as one of several protein sources in your week.

Does pressure cooking reduce protein in rajma?

Pressure cooking keeps the protein intact and makes it easier to digest. It also destroys the natural lectin that makes raw or undercooked rajma unsafe to eat.

Is rajma good for weight loss?

It can help. The fibre and protein keep you full for longer. Keep an eye on the oil in your tadka and the size of your rice portion.