Iron in Til: Small Seed, Serious Numbers
Last reviewed: · What changed: Answers to common questions added.
Til is the iron food Indian kitchens already own and rarely credit, and it beats every dal, millet and green. Sesame seeds carry roughly 9–15 mg of iron per 100 g, the highest of any common Indian ingredient, and a single tablespoon gives about 1–1.5 mg — more than a katori of palak, in a sprinkle. The winter til-gur laddoo is an iron food that pre-dates the science.
- Til has about 9–15 mg iron per 100 g, more than any dal, millet or green.
- One tablespoon, about 10 g, gives roughly 1–1.5 mg — the easiest iron add-on in the kitchen.
- Black til tests a little higher than white; both are excellent.
- Til chutney, til laddoo and til on a salad are the three easy routes.
- A low ferritin still needs a test and prescribed iron; til is the maintenance, not the cure.
Butter Coffee — All-in-One Nutrition Shake
25 g complete plant protein, 60+ superfoods, 26 vitamins & minerals, probiotics & digestive enzymes — in one 90-second shake.
The top of the table
Sesame sits above everything else in this series. Per 100 g it beats soya chunks, every dal and every millet, and it does so in a food that is eaten by the spoon, which makes the practical contribution easy to add to any meal.
| Food | Iron per 100 g |
|---|---|
| Til (sesame), white | ~9–15 mg |
| Til (sesame), black | ~10–15 mg |
| Soya chunks, defatted | ~8–10 mg |
| Bajra (pearl millet), raw | ~6–8 mg |
| Rajma (kidney beans), raw | ~5–8 mg |
| Masoor dal, raw | ~6–7 mg |
| Kala chana, raw | ~5–6 mg |
| Jaggery (cane) | ~3–11 mg |
| Palak (spinach), raw | ~2.5–3 mg |
| Dates, dried | ~2–4 mg |
The seed is also the richest common source of calcium, covered in calcium in til. That combination is unusual — most foods are good at one or the other — and it explains why til appears in so many winter and post-partum preparations.
A tablespoon at a time
| Serving | approximate iron |
|---|---|
| 1 tbsp til (~10 g) | ~1–1.5 mg |
| 1 til-gur laddoo (~25 g, half til) | ~1.5–2.5 mg |
| 2 tbsp til chutney (~15 g til) | ~1.5–2.2 mg |
| 1 tbsp tahini (~15 g) | ~1.3–2.2 mg |
| 1 katori palak sabzi, for comparison | ~0.7–1 mg |
The comparison with palak is the one that changes behaviour. A tablespoon of til sprinkled over the palak gives more iron than the palak itself. Against the RDA of 29 mg for women and 19 mg for men it is still a contributor rather than a solution, but it is the cheapest, easiest contributor available.
Absorption: the one caveat
Til's iron is non-haem and the seed carries phytate and oxalate in its hull, so the absorbed fraction is low, as it is for every plant source. Roasting improves flavour and slightly improves availability; grinding, as in chutney or tahini, breaks the hull and helps more.
| What you do | effect on non-haem iron absorption |
|---|---|
| Add a vitamin C source to the meal (lemon, amla, tomato, capsicum) | Increases, often two- to three-fold |
| Tea or coffee within an hour of the meal | Decreases sharply - tannins bind iron |
| Large calcium dose with the meal (milk, curd, supplement) | Decreases |
| Soaking, sprouting or fermenting the grain or dal | Increases - phytate is reduced |
| Eating it with a little meat, fish or egg | Increases - the 'meat factor' |
| Cooking in an iron kadhai | Small increase, variable |
The traditional pairings get this right. Til chutney is sour with tamarind; til laddoo is eaten in winter when citrus is abundant; til on a salad meets the tomato. What undermines it is the same thing that undermines every plant iron: chai at the same meal.
Black or white
Black til keeps its hull and tests a little higher for iron and calcium; white til is often hulled and milder. The difference is small, and the better choice is whichever you will actually eat regularly. Black til in chutney, white til on the roti or in the laddoo is a reasonable division.
Both are about half fat by weight, mostly unsaturated, which makes them calorie-dense. A tablespoon or two a day is the sensible range; the laddoo is a winter treat, not a daily iron tablet.
Test before you treat
Tiredness, pallor, hair fall and breathlessness on stairs are reasons to ask for haemoglobin and ferritin. Iron deficiency in Indian women covers who is most at risk and what the results mean.
| Group | ICMR-NIN RDA for iron (2020) |
|---|---|
| Adult women, 19–50 | 29 mg/day |
| Adult men | 19 mg/day |
| Pregnancy | 27 mg/day |
| Lactation | 23 mg/day |
| Women after menopause | 19 mg/day |
A low ferritin needs prescribed iron over months. Til then keeps the stores up with almost no effort. Do not self-supplement without a result; iron overload is harmful and thalassaemia trait is common in India.
Three easy routes
- Keep roasted til in a jar and sprinkle a tablespoon over dal, sabzi or salad daily.
- Make til chutney with tamarind once a week; it is the best iron condiment in the Indian kitchen.
- In winter, a til-gur laddoo after lunch, not with chai.
- Pair it with bajra roti for a meal that covers a real share of the day's iron.
- Treat the gur in the laddoo as the sweet and the til as the point.
Where KABO fits in
Til is the easiest iron add-on in the Indian kitchen, and it is still not a cure. Anaemia needs a blood test and prescribed iron; til is what keeps the stores up once they are rebuilt, and so is a good breakfast.
A KABO serving carries 25 g of complete plant protein, 26 vitamins and minerals including vitamin C, and 60+ real ingredients in about 198 kcal, vegan and free of dairy, soy and gluten. Stir a spoon of roasted til into it if you like; the seed does the iron and the shake does the protein.
Butter Coffee — All-in-One Nutrition Shake
25 g complete plant protein, 60+ superfoods, 26 vitamins & minerals, probiotics & digestive enzymes — in one 90-second shake.
Read next
Frequently asked questions
How much iron is in til?
About 9 to 15 mg per 100 g for sesame seeds, with black til at the upper end. That is the highest of any common Indian ingredient. One tablespoon, roughly 10 g, gives about 1 to 1.5 mg of iron.
Is til better than spinach for iron?
Per serving, clearly. A tablespoon of til gives about 1 to 1.5 mg of iron; a katori of cooked palak gives roughly 0.7 to 1 mg, and palak's oxalate blocks much of its own iron. Sprinkling til over the palak more than doubles the meal's iron.
Does til laddoo give iron?
Yes, about 1.5 to 2.5 mg per laddoo, mostly from the til rather than the jaggery. It is a traditional winter iron food. It is also calorie-dense, so one after a meal rather than several with chai.
Black til or white til for iron?
Black til tests slightly higher because it keeps its hull, but both are excellent and the difference is small. Choose whichever you will eat regularly; black in chutney and white on roti or in laddoo is a practical split.
Can til cure anaemia?
No food cures diagnosed anaemia in a useful timeframe. A low haemoglobin or ferritin needs a doctor and usually prescribed iron for several months. Til is one of the easiest foods for maintaining iron stores once they have been rebuilt.
How much iron is in 100 g of til?
Til has about 9–15 mg of iron per 100 g. Values vary with variety and preparation.
How much iron is in 100 g of black til (sesame)?
Black til (sesame) has about 10–15 mg of iron per 100 g, according to the table on this page.
How much iron is in 1 tbsp til (~10 g)?
About 1–1.5 mg of iron, according to the serving table on this page.
How much iron is in 2 tbsp til chutney (~15 g til)?
About 1.5–2.2 mg of iron, according to the serving table on this page.
Is til a good source of iron?
Sesame seeds carry roughly 9–15 mg of iron per 100 g, the highest of any common Indian ingredient, and a single tablespoon gives about 1–1.5 mg — more than a katori of palak, in a sprinkle.
Til me kitna iron hota hai?
Til has about 9–15 mg of iron per 100 g, according to the table on this page.
Sources
- ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables (2017). nin.res.in
- ICMR-NIN, Nutrient Requirements for Indians (RDA 2020) and Dietary Guidelines for Indians, 2024. nin.res.in
- Hurrell R, Egli I, "Iron bioavailability and dietary reference values", American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2010;91(5):1461S-1467S.