10 Magnificent Health Benefits of Urad Dal + healthy urad dal recipes

Urad dal is also known as Split black lentils and Black gram dal. Split urad dal retains the skin and also has a strong flavour. Skinned and split urad dal is creamy white and somewhat bland. When boiled, the dal has an unusual mucilaginous texture. Tempered aromatically, it can be used as an accompaniment to rotis and rice.

Ground into flour or paste, it is extensively used in culinary preparations like dosa, idli, vada, and papad. In south Indian cuisine, urad dal is also commonly used for tempering. For such purposes, the white lentils are generally used. However it is not very difficult to make it a part of your daily healthy diet as a main ingredient. 

Here are 10 reasons why urad dal should be a part of your diet.

1. High Folic acid: 1 cup of cooked urad dal gives 69.30% of folic acid of your daily requirement of folate. Folic acid is required in various metabolic processes of our body. It is particularly important for pregnant women to have enough folate. They must start having folate rich foods even while they are planning to conceive. Folic acid deficiency in pregnancy can cause neural tube defects in the growing baby. Optimum folate levels need to be maintained before and during pregnancy. Try Urad Dal with Spinach as a double dose of folic acid. 

Urad Dal with Spinach, Healthy Urad Dal with Spinach

2. Good for Blood: The folic acid in urad dal helps your body to produce and maintain new cells, especially red blood cells. Try Mysore Barley Dosa.

Mysore Barley Dosa

3. Urad dal for healthy bones and teeth: 1 cup of cooked urad dal gives 26.95% of the total daily requirements for calcium. Being rich in Phosphorus it works with Calcium to build our bones. Helps in maintaining healthy teeth and bones by maintaining their structure. Mixed Dal Chilla is a good choice for breakfast or snacks.

Mixed Dal Chillas, Healthy Breakfast, Snack Recipe

4. High Fiber: Urad Dal or Split Black Gram are high in Fibre and 1 cup of cooked Urad dal gives 49.12% of your daily fibre requirements. Fibre results in your stomach feeling a lot fuller than refined carbs. When you feel full, it will prevent you from eating the wrong foods. Imagine eating a candy and you just want to have more and more of it. That’s because there is only sugar in it and no fibre. So pick foods with high fibre like urad dal and moong dal and use it to make Healthy Oats Dosa.

Healthy Oats Dosa

5. Health benefits of urad dal in diabetes: The glycemic index of urad dal is 43 which is low, therefore it is suitable for diabetics. urad dal is an excellent source of complex carbohydrates which is the major form of energy. When you eat food it is broken down into glucose which is used by our body for energy. But the best part about complex carbs is it is released in the blood stream slowly and do not fluctuate your blood sugar rapidly. This makes it suitable for diabetics to have 30 grams of raw urad dal at a time to manage your sugar levels. In Diabetic Adai recipe, urad dal combines with other dals and broken wheat to make a healthier version of South Indian breakfast which is devoid of rice.

Adai , Diabetic Adai Recipe

6. Excellent source of vegetarian protein: Like fats and carbohydrates, protein is referred to as a macro nutrient which our body relatively needs in higher amounts. One cup of cooked Urad Dal provides 41.6% of your protein for the day. Protein are critical component for a variety of tasks, right from the formation of new cells, strong bones, hemoglobin, to managing the wear-and-tear of body cells. Try it in the form of Green Moong Dal and Vegetable Idli.

Green Moong Dal and Vegetable Idli, Healthy Moong Dal Idlis

7. Keeps your heart healthy: Being a very good source of folic acid, urad dal helps in lowering the levels of homocysteine and reduces the risk of blood clots and hardening of the arteries. The magnesium in urad dal proves to be effective in relaxing your blood vessels and thus regulates the action of your heart. Potassium from it also maintains the heart rhythm. Calcium helps in the normal contraction of heart muscles. Baked Seedai is a non-fried snack you can rely on.

Seedai, Baked South Indian Jar Snack

8. Good for weight loss: Being low in GI and fat, high in protein and fibre, consumption of urad dal by way of Low Calorie Medu Vada will help you lose weight by keeping you satiated for a longer time and prevent you from binge eating in between meals. 

Low Calorie Medu Vada

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9. Builds immunity: Being a rich source of magnesium it helps in building immunity. Magnesium is also required to carry out normal bodily functions as it is involved in more than 300 reactions of the body. Buckwheat Dosa is a wise choice. 

Buckwheat Dosa

10. Urad Dal is iron rich: 1 cup of cooked Urad dal gives 3.99 grams of iron which is 19% of the total daily recommendation of iron for an adult. Iron is an important mineral in your diet as it is required in the blood to carry oxygen to the various parts of the body. Include Khatta Urad Dal in your diet once a week.

Khatta Urad Dal ( Zero Oil Urad Dal Recipe)

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Nutrition Information for Urad Dal

Nutritional Information for 1 Cup of Urad Dal

One Cup of Urad Dal is 210 grams which comes from 105 grams raw Urad Dal.

RDA stands for Recommended Daily Allowance.

364 Calories

25 grams of Protein

62.58 grams of Carbs

1.47 grams of Fat

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138.60 mcg of Folic Acid = 69.30% of RDA (about 200 mcg)

404.25 mg of Phosphorus (P) = 67.37 % of RDA (about 600 mg)

12.28 grams of Fibre = 49.12% of RDA (about 25 grams)

136.5 mg of Magnesium (Mg) = 39% of RDA (about 350 mg)

0.44 mg of Vitamin B1, Thiamine = 36.66% of RDA (about 1.2 to 1.5 mg)

3.15 mg of Zinc (Zn) = 31.50% of RDA (about 10 to 12 mg)

161.70 mg of Calcium (Ca) = 26.95% of RDA (about 600 mg)

0.29 mg of Vitamin B2, Riboflavin = 26.36% of RDA (about 1.1 mg)

3.99 mg of Iron (Fe) = 19% of RDA (about 21 mg)

840 mg of Potassium (K) = 17.87% of RDA (about 4,700 mg)

2.1 mg of Vitamin B3, Niacin = 17.5% of RDA (about 12 mg)

41.79 mg of Sodium (Na) = 2.19% of RDA (about 1902 mg)

7 Urad Dal healthy recipes

urad dal healthy Indian recipes. We start with the basic ural dal recipe which is made all over India. Then we have a zero oil khatta urad dal recipe.

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For a dry option, try urad dal with spinach. See here for lots of urad dal recipes.