High-protein vegetarian foods in India, beyond paneer

The high-protein vegetarian foods in India that deliver the most are soya chunks, whole soya bean, pumpkin seeds, masoor and moong dal, peanuts, besan, paneer and tofu. Per 100 g dry, soya chunks carry 51.5 g of protein, soya bean 37.8 g, pumpkin seeds 30.2 g, masoor dal 24.4 g. Paneer carries 18.9 g.

In this article

1. What are the best high-protein vegetarian foods in India?
2. How much protein does a vegetarian need a day?
3. How much protein is in a katori of dal?
4. Are soya chunks and tofu better than paneer?
5. Curd, hung curd or milk: which has more protein?
6. Are nuts and seeds a good protein source?
7. Is dal-chawal a complete protein?
8. What does a 74 g vegetarian protein day look like?

Most lists stop there. This one adds protein per real serving, protein per calorie, and how dal and roti cover each other’s gaps. Figures come from IFCT 2017, India’s food composition tables from ICMR-NIN, with USDA data only where IFCT has no entry.

What are the best high-protein vegetarian foods in India?

Rank by two numbers. Protein per serving is what reaches your plate. Protein per 100 kcal is what it costs your calorie budget: the number that matters for fat loss.

Protein in Indian vegetarian foods: per 100 g, per serving, per 100 kcal

Protein in Indian vegetarian foods: per 100 g, per serving, per 100 kcal

Food	Protein per 100 g	Serving	Protein per serving	Protein per 100 kcal
Soya chunks (dry)	51.5 g	30 g	15.4 g	15.7 g
Soya bean, whole (dry)	37.8 g	30 g	11.3 g	10.0 g
Pumpkin seeds	30.2 g	15 g	4.5 g	5.4 g
Masoor dal (dry)	24.4 g	30 g	7.3 g	7.6 g
Moong dal (dry)	23.9 g	30 g	7.2 g	7.3 g
Peanuts	23.7 g	30 g	7.1 g	4.5 g
Besan	22.4 g	40 g	9.0 g	5.8 g
Toor dal (dry)	21.7 g	30 g	6.5 g	6.6 g
Chana dal (dry)	21.6 g	30 g	6.5 g	6.5 g
Rajma, red (dry)	19.9 g	40 g	8.0 g	6.7 g
Paneer	18.9 g	100 g	18.9 g	7.3 g
Kala chana, whole (dry)	18.8 g	40 g	7.5 g	6.5 g
Almonds	18.4 g	20 g	3.7 g	3.0 g
Tofu, firm	17.3 g	100 g	17.3 g	12.0 g
Oats (dry)	13.2 g	40 g	5.3 g	3.5 g
Hung curd	9.0 g	100 g	9.0 g	9.3 g
Curd, whole milk	3.5 g	200 g	6.9 g	5.7 g
Cow’s milk	3.3 g	250 ml	8.2 g	4.5 g

How much protein does a vegetarian need a day?

ICMR-NIN sets the adult RDA at 0.83 g per kg of body weight a day. For its 65 kg reference man, that is 54 g. For the 55 kg reference woman, 45.7 g.

Two caveats. NIN puts the figure at 1 g per kg for cereal-based diets with low-quality protein: mostly rice or roti, little dal or milk. And the RDA covers health, not training. The International Society of Sports Nutrition puts most exercising people at 1.4–2.0 g per kg. The full maths, by goal: how much protein per day.

Your number moves with your weight, your goal and your training. Find it once. Then plate it.

How much protein is in a katori of dal?

It depends on the dry dal inside it. The 23.9 g listed for moong dal is per 100 g raw. Cooking adds water, never protein. Apply that figure to the cooked bowl and you overcount.

So count at the pot, not the bowl. Weigh the dry dal. Multiply. Divide by the katoris you serve. 90 g of dry moong for three people puts 21.5 g of protein in the pot: 7.2 g a katori, however thin the dal.

Whole pulses run slightly lower than split dals: red rajma 19.9 g, whole kala chana 18.8 g per 100 g dry. Kulthi (horse gram) at 21.7 g and white lobia at 21.3 g belong on the list too.

Besan and sattu are chana in another form. Besan carries 22.4 g per 100 g (USDA), so 40 g in cheela batter gives 9 g. Chana sattu is roasted chana, ground: expect a figure near the chana it came from. The pack label gives the exact number.

Are soya chunks and tofu better than paneer?

For protein per calorie, yes. Soya chunks are made from defatted soy flour, which USDA lists at 51.5 g protein per 100 g. A 30 g dry serving gives 15.4 g of protein for 98 kcal.

Firm tofu gives 17.3 g per 100 g at 144 kcal (USDA). Paneer gives 18.9 g at 258 kcal (IFCT 2017). Near-equal protein, almost double the calories. Paneer still works. It just costs more calories per gram of protein.

Does soya lower testosterone in men?

Clinical studies say no. The worry is isoflavones, soy’s plant compounds. A 2021 meta-analysis in Reproductive Toxicology pooled 41 clinical studies, with total testosterone measured in 1,753 men. Neither soy protein nor isoflavones had a significant effect on testosterone or estrogen, across doses and study lengths.

Curd, hung curd or milk: which has more protein?

Hung curd, by a wide margin. Cow’s milk carries 3.3 g of protein per 100 g; buffalo milk, 3.7 g (IFCT 2017). A 250 ml glass of cow’s milk gives about 8 g.

Setting curd removes nothing, so plain whole-milk curd stays near 3.5 g per 100 g (USDA). Hanging it changes the maths. Draining the whey water concentrates the protein: whole-milk Greek yogurt, the closest USDA match to hung curd, carries 9 g per 100 g at 97 kcal. Home hung curd varies with how long it drains.

Paneer is the far end of the same ladder. It holds about 52% water against cow’s milk’s 87%, which is why it reaches 18.9 g per 100 g (IFCT 2017).

Are nuts and seeds a good protein source?

Seeds are dense but small. Pumpkin seeds carry 30.2 g per 100 g and chia 16.5 g (USDA); sunflower seeds 23.5 g and flaxseed 18.6 g (IFCT 2017). You eat them by the spoonful, so a 15 g serving adds 2.5–4.5 g.

Peanuts do the heavy lifting: 23.7 g per 100 g, so a 30 g handful gives 7.1 g. Almonds are the myth: 609 kcal per 100 g buys only 18.4 g of protein.

Is dal-chawal a complete protein?

Together, yes: each covers the other’s gap. Cereal protein runs short on lysine, an essential amino acid. Pulse protein runs short on methionine and cysteine. In IFCT 2017’s amino acid data, atta protein holds less than half the lysine of moong dal protein, and moong dal protein holds less than half the methionine plus cysteine of atta.

That is why NIN pairs its protein RDA with a cereal–pulse–milk ratio of 3:1:2.5 for good protein quality. ICMR-NIN’s 2024 Dietary Guidelines say it in plain words: get good-quality protein through food combinations, and avoid protein supplements for building muscle.

The pair need not share a plate. A 1994 review by Young and Pellett in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded that complementary proteins eaten at different meals across the day still meet the body’s needs. Dal at lunch, roti at dinner: it counts. Worried about the chawal? The katori decides, not the grain.

What does a 74 g vegetarian protein day look like?

No paneer. No powder. Pulses, grains and seeds weighed dry.

One vegetarian day, about 74 g of protein

One vegetarian day, about 74 g of protein

Meal	What you eat	Protein
Breakfast	Oats 40 g cooked in 250 ml cow’s milk, pumpkin seeds 15 g	17.9 g
Lunch	Rajma 40 g, rice 60 g, curd 200 g	19.7 g
Snack	Peanuts 30 g	7.1 g
Dinner	Soya chunks 30 g, moong dal 30 g, atta 60 g	29.0 g
Total	About 1,420 kcal before oil, sabzi and salad	73.7 g

Every meal carries protein, and dinner carries the most without a gram of paneer. Swap the soya chunks for 100 g of paneer: protein rises 3.4 g, calories rise 160.