InstaCuppa guide to iron rich foods in India - bajra, soya chunks, sesame seeds, rajma

Iron Rich Foods in India: Complete List with Exact Milligrams

By InstaCuppa Team | Last updated: 24 October 2026 | Iron figures from ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables 2017

Iron Rich Foods in India: Complete List with Exact Milligrams

The most iron-rich Indian foods are sesame seeds or til (14-15 mg per 100 g), soya chunks (about 9 mg), lentil or masoor dal (7 mg), kala chana (7 mg), bajra (6 mg) and rajma (6 mg). Adult women need 29 mg of iron a day, men 19 mg (ICMR-NIN 2020). Eat any of them with lemon, amla or tomato: the vitamin C helps your body take in more of the iron.

Anaemia is very common in India. In the National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-21), 57% of women and 25% of men aged 15 to 49 were anaemic (PIB, Ministry of Health). Low iron is a major cause. The reason is not just low iron in food — it is also how we eat iron foods. This guide tells you the best iron-rich Indian foods, how much iron is in each, and the free trick that helps you absorb more of it. Every per-100 g figure comes from IFCT 2017, the food table of ICMR-NIN, with its food code, unless we say otherwise.

How Much Iron Do You Need Per Day?

ICMR-NIN sets daily iron needs in its 2020 Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA). The table below uses its 2020 summary note:

Group Daily Iron Requirement
Adult men (19+ years) 19 mg/day (average need 11 mg)
Adult women (19+ years) 29 mg/day (average need 15 mg)
Pregnant women 35 mg/day in the 2011 guidelines, plus one IFA tablet a day from week 12
Breastfeeding women Keep taking the IFA tablet for the first 6 months
Adolescent girls Depends on age; see the ICMR-NIN 2020 report
Children (7–12 years) Depends on age; see the ICMR-NIN 2020 report

Women need more iron than men because of monthly menstruation. Many charts online still show the old 2010 figures, 17 mg for men and 21 mg for women. The 2020 RDA is higher. The RDA is set to cover almost everyone, so it sits above the average need. Pregnant women need even more, which is why ICMR-NIN advises a daily iron-folic acid (IFA) tablet.

Top 20 Iron Rich Indian Foods

Food Iron per 100g Common Serving Iron per Serving
Sesame seeds (til) 13.9–15.0mg (IFCT H009–H011) 1 tbsp (9g) ~1.3mg
Chicken liver 9.9mg (IFCT N005) 50g piece ~5mg
Soya chunks (dry) ~9.2mg (USDA defatted soy flour; no IFCT row) 25g dry (half cup) ~2.3mg
Pumpkin seeds 8.8mg (USDA; no IFCT row) 1 tbsp (10g) ~0.9mg
Soybeans (dry) 8.2–8.3mg (IFCT B024, B025) Half cup cooked (about 35g dry) ~3mg
Masoor dal 7.1mg (IFCT B013) 1 katori cooked (30g dry) ~2.1mg
Kala chana 6.8mg (IFCT B002) 1 katori cooked (40g dry) ~2.7mg
Bajra (pearl millet) 6.4mg (IFCT A003) 2 rotis (80g flour) ~5.1mg
Rajma (kidney beans) 6.1–6.3mg dry (IFCT B018–B020) 1 katori cooked (150g, from 50-55g dry) ~3–3.5mg
Raisins (kishmish) 4.3mg golden / 6.8mg black (IFCT E058, E057) 1 tbsp (10g) ~0.4–0.7mg
Flaxseed (alsi) 5.4mg (IFCT H014) 1 tbsp (10g) ~0.5mg
Amaranth leaves (chaulai) 4.6mg green / 7.3mg red (IFCT C002, C003) 1 katori cooked (from 100g raw) ~4.6–7.3mg
Jaggery (gur) 4.6mg (IFCT I001) 1 tbsp (15g) ~0.7mg
Ragi (finger millet) 4.6mg (IFCT A010) 1 katori porridge (30g flour) ~1.4mg
Moong dal 3.9mg split / 4.9mg whole (IFCT B010, B011) 1 katori cooked (30g dry) ~1.2–1.5mg
Whole wheat flour 4.1mg (IFCT A019) 2 rotis (60g flour) ~2.5mg
Dates — dry (chhuara) / soft 3.2–4.8mg dry / 0.9mg soft (IFCT E017–E019) 3 dates (~24g) ~0.8–1.2mg dry / ~0.2mg soft
Egg yolk 3.2mg (IFCT M003) 1 yolk (about 17g) ~0.5mg
Spinach (palak) 3.0mg raw (IFCT C033) 1 katori cooked (from 100g raw) ~3mg (little is absorbed)
Sardine (mathi) 0.8mg (IFCT P071, one region) 75g serving ~0.6mg

How to read this table: per-100 g figures are for the raw or dry food, from IFCT 2017 (ICMR-NIN) with its food code. Two foods have no IFCT row, so we used USDA FoodData Central instead. Serving figures are our own arithmetic from those numbers, so treat them as close estimates. Sardine is low in this table because IFCT tested one regional sample; other fish can be higher.

How Much Iron Is in Rajma?

Rajma has about 6 mg of iron per 100 g of dry beans. IFCT 2017 lists red rajma (code B020) at 6.13 mg, brown rajma (B019) at 6.30 mg and black rajma (B018) at 6.17 mg. Cooked rajma has about 2.9 mg per 100 g (USDA 175194). One katori of cooked rajma is about 150 g, which starts as roughly 50-55 g dry. So a katori gives you about 3 to 3.5 mg of iron.

Dry beans and cooked beans are not the same number. Rajma gains about two and a half to three times its weight when you soak and boil it, so the per-100 g figure drops in the bowl. Always check whether a chart means dry or cooked. Older charts say 5 mg; that is from the older ICMR-NIN book, Nutritive Value of Indian Foods. For the protein side of the same dish, see our rajma protein guide.

Rajma is non-heme iron, so the tomato and onion in the gravy are doing real work. The vitamin C in the tomato helps your body absorb the iron. Squeeze lemon on the rice and you help it again. Do not drink chai with the meal.

How Much Iron Is in Soya Chunks?

Soya chunks have about 9 mg of iron per 100 g dry. IFCT 2017 has no soya chunks row, so the closest lab figure is defatted soy flour, the raw material chunks are made from: 9.24 mg per 100 g (USDA 174275). A 25 g serving, which is about half a cup dry, gives you about 2.3 mg. Labels differ by brand, so check the nutrition panel on your packet.

Whole soyabean is a different food. IFCT 2017 lists brown soyabean (B024) at 8.29 mg of iron per 100 g and white soyabean (B025) at 8.22 mg. The 15-17 mg figure you often see for soya chunks is close to the USDA value for raw whole soybeans, 15.7 mg (USDA 174270). It is not a soya chunks figure. For protein in soya chunks, see our soya chunks protein guide.

How Much Iron Is in 3 Dates?

Three dry dates weigh about 24 g and give you roughly 0.8 to 1.2 mg of iron. IFCT 2017 lists dry dates at 3.20 mg per 100 g for the pale brown kind (code E017) and 4.79 mg for the dark brown kind (E018). Soft processed dates (E019), the moist packaged kind, have only 0.89 mg, so three of them give about 0.2 mg.

Older charts show a bigger number. The older ICMR-NIN book, Nutritive Value of Indian Foods, lists dates dried (chhuara) at 7 mg and dates fresh (khajur) at 1 mg per 100 g. By that table, three dried dates give about 1.7 mg. IFCT 2017 is the newer ICMR-NIN analysis, so we use its figures first. Either way, drying removes the water, so everything else in the fruit gets packed closer together.

What you buy in most Indian shops is the dried or semi-dried kind. So three dates in your evening snack are a small top-up. They are not a main iron source: at about 4 mg per 100 g, you would need more than 700 g of dry dates to reach a woman's 29 mg.

How Much Iron Is in Moong Dal and Other Dals?

Moong dal has 3.93 mg of iron per 100 g dry. That is the IFCT 2017 figure for split green gram dal (code B010). Whole green moong, with its skin still on, has more: 4.89 mg (B011). A katori of cooked moong dal made from about 30 g of dry dal gives you roughly 1.2 mg of iron. A katori of whole moong gives about 1.5 mg.

Why 30 g? That is the pulse portion ICMR-NIN uses in its Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024 meal plans. Your katori may hold more or less dal, so scale the number up or down.

Dal (dry) IFCT 2017 code Iron per 100g dry Iron per katori (30g dry)
Horse gram (kulthi), whole B012 8.76mg ~2.6mg
Masoor, whole brown B014 7.57mg ~2.3mg
Masoor dal B013 7.06mg ~2.1mg
Kala chana, whole B002 6.78mg ~2.0mg
Rajma, red B020 6.13mg ~1.8mg
Chana dal B001 6.08mg ~1.8mg
Urad, whole B004 5.97mg ~1.8mg
Toor (arhar), whole B022 5.37mg ~1.6mg
Moong, whole B011 4.89mg ~1.5mg
Urad dal B003 4.67mg ~1.4mg
Moong dal B010 3.93mg ~1.2mg
Toor (arhar) dal B021 3.90mg ~1.2mg

So which dal has the most iron? Of the everyday dals, masoor has the most, about 7 mg per 100 g. Horse gram (kulthi) is even higher, at 8.76 mg. Moong dal and toor dal are at the low end, close to 4 mg. For every pulse in this table, the whole grain has more iron than the split, skinned dal. For protein in the same dals, see our dal protein guide.

How Much Iron Is in Til (Sesame Seeds)?

Til has about 14 to 15 mg of iron per 100 g. IFCT 2017 lists sesame (gingelly) seeds at 13.90 mg for black til (code H009), 14.95 mg for brown til (H010) and 15.04 mg for white til (H011). One tablespoon, about 9 g, gives you about 1.3 mg of iron.

Til is eaten in small amounts, so it is a top-up, not a main source. Two tablespoons in a chutney or a laddoo give about 2.6 mg. Til chikki and til laddoo also carry jaggery, which adds a little more iron.

Heme Iron vs Non-Heme Iron

All iron in food is not equal. There are two types:

Type Found in Absorption rate Affected by blockers?
Heme iron Meat, fish, liver, eggs Well absorbed Less affected
Non-heme iron Plants, legumes, grains, seeds Poorly absorbed; depends on the meal Strongly affected

Researchers estimate that the body absorbs about 14-18% of the iron in a mixed diet, but only 5-12% in a vegetarian diet (Hurrell and Egli, 2010).

This is why vegetarians are at higher risk for iron deficiency. Almost all their iron is non-heme — which the body absorbs poorly, especially when eaten with tea, coffee, or calcium-rich foods.

The Free Trick That Helps You Absorb More Iron

Add vitamin C to iron-rich meals. Vitamin C keeps plant iron in a form your body can absorb. A classic review calls it "a powerful enhancer of nonheme iron absorption" (Lynch and Cook, 1980). The effect is strongest in a single meal and smaller across a whole diet (Cook and Reddy, 2001). It is still the easiest free step a vegetarian Indian can take.

Best Indian pairings:

  • Palak + squeeze of lemon
  • Rajma curry + tomato in the gravy
  • Dal + lemon + fresh coriander
  • Chana chaat + raw onion + tomato + lemon
  • Bajra roti + green chutney with lemon juice
  • Sprouted moong salad + amla or guava on the side
  • Soya chunk curry + capsicum
  • Ragi porridge + amla juice

Best vitamin C sources to pair: amla, guava, lemon, tomato, capsicum, mosambi, orange.

Foods That Block Iron Absorption

These common Indian habits reduce how much iron your body absorbs:

  • Tea with or after meals: Tannins in tea bind to iron and prevent absorption. Avoid chai for at least 1 hour before and 1–2 hours after an iron-rich meal.
  • Coffee: Same as tea. Polyphenols in coffee block non-heme iron absorption.
  • Milk and calcium: Calcium competes with iron for absorption. Keep calcium tablets and large glasses of milk away from your main iron meal.
  • Unsoaked legumes: Phytic acid in raw or poorly cooked dal and legumes reduces iron absorption. Soak overnight, sprout, or pressure cook properly.

Iron-Boosting Kitchen Tricks

  • Soak and sprout: Sprouting chana or moong lowers phytic acid. Phytic acid blocks iron, and more of it blocks more iron (Hallberg, 1989).
  • Ferment: Idli and dosa batter fermentation breaks down phytic acid. Idli is actually a good iron-absorption-friendly food.
  • Use a cast iron pan: Cooking acidic foods (tomato curry, tamarind dal) in a cast iron pan can add a small amount of dietary iron to the food.
  • Pressure cook dal properly: Under-cooked dal retains more phytic acid. Cook until completely soft.
  • Add lemon at the end: Add lemon juice to dal and sabzi after cooking, not during. Heat destroys some vitamin C. Adding at the end keeps it active for iron absorption.

Milk vs Bajra vs Palak: Iron Comparison

Food Iron per 100g Good iron source?
Cow milk 0.15mg (IFCT L002); a 250ml glass gives about 0.4mg No — milk is NOT an iron source
100g bajra 6.4mg (IFCT A003) Yes — very good
100g palak (raw) 3.0mg (IFCT C033), but little is absorbed Moderate — with lemon, better

Milk has virtually no iron. Many families give children extra milk thinking it builds iron. It does not. Bajra, rajma, and dal are your real iron builders.

Best Iron-Rich Foods for Pregnant Women

ICMR-NIN's 2011 Dietary Guidelines put the need in pregnancy at 35mg iron per day, and said plant diets give only about 18mg. Getting this from food alone is hard. The 2024 Dietary Guidelines advise one iron-folic acid (IFA) tablet a day, with 60mg of elemental iron, from the 12th week of pregnancy up to six months after the baby is born. But food still matters:

  • Rajma at lunch (adds ~3–3.5mg per katori)
  • Bajra roti instead of wheat roti for breakfast (~5mg per 2 rotis)
  • Soya chunks in curry 2–3 times a week (~2.3mg per 25g serving)
  • Sesame laddoo or til chutney as a snack (~1.3mg per tbsp)
  • Palak in dal or paneer with lemon
  • Amla or guava after meals for vitamin C
  • Avoid chai within 2 hours of meals

Always combine iron-rich foods with vitamin C sources at every meal during pregnancy. And take your prescribed iron supplement — food alone cannot cover the extra iron a pregnant woman needs.

Signs of Iron Deficiency

Early Signs More Serious Signs
Tiredness and weakness Breathlessness on mild exertion
Pale skin, nails, inside eyelids Heart palpitations
Hair fall Restless legs at night
Brittle nails Difficulty concentrating
Cracks at mouth corners Reduced immunity
Headaches Cold hands and feet

High-risk groups: women of reproductive age, pregnant women, adolescent girls, vegetarians, people with worm infestations, frequent blood donors. For tests and treatment, read our iron deficiency guide.

The Most Underrated Iron Food in India: Soya Chunks

The most underrated iron food in India is soya chunks.

100g of dry soya chunks has about 9mg iron. That is close to half the 19mg a day ICMR-NIN sets for an adult man. Soya chunks are low-cost, easy to cook, and go into any curry or pulao.

Most Indians think of soya chunks only as a protein source. But it is also one of the best iron sources in any Indian vegetarian kitchen. A 25g serving (half cup dry) gives about 2.3mg iron. Cook it with tomato or capsicum for vitamin C.

How to Get Your Daily Iron from Indian Food

Meal Food Iron
Breakfast 2 bajra rotis + coriander chutney with lemon ~5mg
Lunch Rajma dal + rice + tomato salad ~3–4mg
Snack Sprouted chana chaat + tomato + lemon ~2–3mg
Dinner Soya chunk curry + roti + palak sabzi + lemon ~5–6mg
Total ~14–17mg

This meal plan gives about 14–17mg iron for the day. That is close to the 19mg ICMR-NIN 2020 sets for men, but short of the 29mg for women. Women can add a til laddoo or a katori of masoor dal or chaulai, and should ask a doctor for a blood test if they feel tired all the time. Pregnant women need supplements on top of this.

Common Questions About Iron in Indian Diet

Is palak the best iron food for Indians?

No. Palak is good but not the best. It has about 3mg iron per 100g raw (IFCT 2017, code C033), but it is also high in oxalic acid which reduces absorption. So your body takes in only a small part of the iron in a katori of palak. Compare this to masoor dal (7.1mg per 100g) or bajra (6.4mg per 100g). Palak is useful but should not be your only iron food.

Does cooking reduce iron in vegetables?

Iron itself is not destroyed by cooking. However, boiling vegetables and discarding the water does cause some loss. Better to cook in minimal water or pressure cook so the water is incorporated into the dish. Adding lemon or tomato after cooking preserves the vitamin C that helps absorb the iron.

Can I take iron supplements with food?

Ideally take iron supplements on an empty stomach for best absorption. If you get stomach pain (common), take them with a small amount of food. Avoid taking with milk, tea, or coffee. Take with a glass of orange juice or amla water to improve absorption with vitamin C.

Is jaggery a good source of iron?

Yes and no. Jaggery has about 4.6mg iron per 100g (IFCT 2017, code I001). But you typically eat only 10–15g of jaggery at a time (1 tablespoon), which gives about 0.5–0.7mg iron. It is a small top-up — not a primary iron source. Jaggery carries a little iron and minerals that white sugar does not, but it is still sugar, so keep the amount small.

Is spinach water good for iron?

Not really. Spinach has high oxalate which binds to iron in the water. The most effective way to get iron from spinach is to cook it, squeeze lemon over it, and eat it. Drinking raw spinach juice does give some iron but also a high dose of oxalates — not suitable for people with kidney stones.

Do girls need more iron than boys?

Adult women need more than adult men. ICMR-NIN 2020 recommends 29mg iron per day for adult women vs 19mg for adult men. The main reason is the iron lost in monthly periods, which start at puberty. For teenagers the figures change with age, so check the ICMR-NIN 2020 report. In NFHS-5, 57% of Indian women were anaemic against 25% of men.

How much iron is in rajma?

Rajma has about 6 mg of iron per 100 g of dry beans: IFCT 2017 lists red rajma (code B020) at 6.13 mg. Cooked rajma has about 2.9 mg per 100 g. One katori of cooked rajma starts as roughly 50-55 g dry, so it gives you about 3 to 3.5 mg of iron.

How much iron is in 3 dates?

Three dry dates weigh about 24 g and give you roughly 0.8 to 1.2 mg of iron. IFCT 2017 lists dry dates at 3.20 to 4.79 mg per 100 g (codes E017, E018). Soft processed dates have 0.89 mg per 100 g (E019), so three give about 0.2 mg.

How much iron is in moong dal?

Split moong dal has 3.93 mg of iron per 100 g dry and whole green moong has 4.89 mg (IFCT 2017 codes B010 and B011). A katori of cooked moong dal made from about 30 g of dry dal gives roughly 1.2 mg of iron.

How much iron is in soya chunks?

Soya chunks have about 9 mg of iron per 100 g dry. IFCT 2017 has no soya chunks row; defatted soy flour, which chunks are made from, has 9.24 mg per 100 g in USDA FoodData Central. A 25 g serving gives about 2.3 mg.

Best Iron-Rich Indian Snack Ideas

  • Til laddoo: Sesame + jaggery. Traditional and iron-rich. Each tablespoon of til (about 9g) in it adds about 1.3mg iron.
  • Sprouted moong chaat: Add lemon, onion, tomato, and coriander. A serving made from about 40g of dry whole moong has about 2mg iron.
  • Chana sattu shake: Sattu is roasted chana flour. IFCT 2017 has no sattu row, but whole Bengal gram has 6.78mg iron per 100g (code B002), so sattu is in that range. Add to water with lemon for a quick iron-boosting drink.
  • Kala chana chaat: Boiled kala chana + onion + tomato + lemon + chaat masala. About 2–3mg iron per katori.
  • Pumpkin seed trail mix: Pumpkin seeds have about 8.8mg iron per 100g (USDA). Mix with raisins and a few almonds for a portable snack.

Summary

  • Adult men: 19mg iron/day, women: 29mg/day (ICMR-NIN 2020 RDA); in pregnancy, one IFA tablet a day from week 12 (ICMR-NIN 2024)
  • Top vegetarian iron foods per 100g: sesame seeds (14–15mg), soya chunks (about 9mg), masoor dal (7.1mg), kala chana (6.8mg), bajra (6.4mg), rajma (6.1mg)
  • Top non-veg iron: chicken liver (9.9mg per 100g)
  • Milk has almost zero iron — do not rely on it for iron
  • Always eat iron with vitamin C foods — lemon, amla, tomato, guava
  • Avoid chai within 1–2 hours of iron-rich meals
  • Soak, sprout, and ferment legumes for better iron absorption

More Indian Nutrition Guides

Sources & References

  • ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (Longvah et al.) — mineral table, iron (Fe) per 100 g with food codes used on this page: nin.res.in (PDF)
  • ICMR-NIN Expert Group, brief note on the 2020 RDA and EAR — Tables 3 and 4: iron RDA 2010 men 17 / women 21 mg, RDA 2020 men 19 / women 29 mg, EAR 2020 men 11 / women 15 mg: nin.res.in (PDF)
  • ICMR-NIN, Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024 — one IFA tablet (60 mg elemental iron) a day from week 12 of pregnancy to six months of lactation; pulses portions of 30 g: nin.res.in (PDF)
  • USDA FoodData Central — soy flour, defatted (iron 9.24 mg): FDC 174275; soybeans, raw (15.7 mg): FDC 174270; pumpkin seed kernels, dried (8.82 mg): FDC 170556; red kidney beans, cooked (2.94 mg): FDC 175194
  • NFHS-5 (2019-21) anaemia: 57.0% of women and 25.0% of men aged 15-49 — PIB, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
  • Hurrell R, Egli I. Iron bioavailability and dietary reference values. Am J Clin Nutr 2010 — PubMed 20200263
  • Lynch SR, Cook JD. Interaction of vitamin C and iron. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1980 — PubMed 6940487; Cook JD, Reddy MB. Effect of ascorbic acid intake on nonheme-iron absorption from a complete diet. Am J Clin Nutr 2001 — PubMed 11124756
  • Hallberg L et al. Iron absorption in man: ascorbic acid and dose-dependent inhibition by phytate. Am J Clin Nutr 1989 — PubMed 2911999
  • Older edition, for comparison: ICMR-NIN, Nutritive Value of Indian Foods (Gopalan, Rama Sastri & Balasubramanian) — pulses table, iron per 100 g: rajmah 5 mg, soyabean 10 mg, lentil 7 mg, Bengal gram whole 5 mg
  • ICMR-NIN, same series — fruits table: dates dried 7 mg, dates fresh 1 mg per 100 g
  • ICMR-NIN, same series — cereals table: bajra 8 mg, ragi 4 mg, wheat whole 5 mg per 100 g
  • ICMR-NIN, Dietary Guidelines for Indians (2011 edition) — pregnancy needs 35 mg of iron a day, plant diets supply about 18 mg, and tea or coffee should be avoided for at least an hour before and after a meal: nin.res.in (PDF)
  • Full report: ICMR-NIN Expert Group, Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) and Estimated Average Requirements (EAR) — 2020, publication page at nin.res.in

This guide is general food information, not medical advice. Anaemia is diagnosed with a blood test. If you have symptoms, see a doctor before starting any iron supplement.

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