Glycemic Index of Indian Foods: GI and GL Chart With Sources

"A glycemic index number is an average from about ten people eating one food on its own. Your plate is never that. Use a GI chart to choose between similar foods, one rice over another, then let portion, dal, sabzi and your own glucose readings decide the rest." - Dt. Trishala Goswami, MSc Clinical Nutritionist, Diabetes Educator

Dt. Trishala Goswami, MSc Clinical Nutritionist · Diabetes Educator · Certified Nutrigenomics Specialist · Last Updated: October 2026

The short answer: the glycemic index (GI) ranks carbohydrate foods by how fast they raise blood sugar compared with pure glucose: 55 or less is low, 56 to 69 medium, 70 or more high. Glycemic load (GL) also counts how much carbohydrate a serving holds. Dals, curd and most whole fruit test low. Polished white rice, plain dosa, dry-mix idli and instant oats usually test high; idli and upma land from medium to high. Portion and pairing matter as much as the number.

Most GI charts for Indian foods repeat numbers with no source, and some are wrong. Here every value names its source table and, where the tables give one, the original study; disagreements come with a range and a reason, and common foods with no published measurement are marked plainly.

GI and GL: what the numbers mean

Diabetes UK defines GI as a ranking from 0 to 100 of how quickly a carbohydrate food raises blood sugar, and uses these bands:

• Low GI: 55 or less
• Medium GI: 56 to 69
• High GI: 70 or more

The University of Sydney team that compiles the international GI tables uses the same cut-offs (Atkinson et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2021). A GI test feeds 10 or more healthy volunteers a portion of food holding 25 or 50 g of available carbohydrate and compares their blood sugar curve with the curve after the same amount of glucose.

GI says nothing about how much you eat. Glycemic load fixes this:

GL = GI × grams of available carbohydrate in the serving ÷ 100

So a food can have a medium GI and still a small GL if a normal serving carries little carbohydrate, and the reverse. Diabetes UK puts it directly: the amount of carbohydrate you eat has a bigger effect on blood sugar than GI alone.

How to read the tables

• Sources. AT1 is Supplemental Table 1 of the 2021 international GI tables: values from the ISO 26642:2010 method, the most reliable. AT2 is its Supplemental Table 2: smaller groups, people with diabetes or wide variability. Treat AT2 as a guide. NIN 2022 is the ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition study of South Indian breakfasts (Shakappa et al., J Food Sci Technol, 2022). MDRF 2012 is the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation rice study (Shobana et al., Int J Food Sci Nutr, 2012).
• GL column. This is the GL the source lists for its own standard serving of that food type: 45 g of carbohydrate for rice and grains, 15 g for roti, legumes and fruit, 10 g for dairy and 35 g for regional Indian dishes. NIN 2022 reported GL only for a 50 g carbohydrate test portion, so we do not list it as a serving GL. Because each source uses its own serving, GL values are not comparable between rows: roti at GL 7 uses 15 g of carbohydrate, while chapati and bajra roti at GL 17 to 24 use 35 g. As a rough guide, a GL of 10 or less is low, 11 to 19 medium and 20 or more high.
• Who was tested. Mostly healthy adults. Values from people with type 2 diabetes are labelled, because the same food often tested higher in them. A number in brackets after a group (for example "(6)") is the number of people tested.
• "No published measurement found" means we found no human GI test of that food in the 2021 international tables or in PubMed (checked October 2026).

Rice and rice dishes

Three commonly eaten Indian varieties all tested high, with no significant difference between them (MDRF 2012). Basmati sits in the medium band on average. Parboiled rice ranges from 28 to 99 depending on variety, amylose content and who ate it, which is why one number for "parboiled rice" is misleading. For portion and swap ideas, see our guide to rice for diabetics.

Wheat and atta foods

Plain roti and chapati have tested from 45 to 68, depending on the flour and what came with it. Atta mixed with besan and fibre tested lower. Chapati eaten with moong dal tested 44 in healthy adults, but that study had no plain-chapati comparison, and the same dish tested 81 in people with type 2 diabetes. See the best atta for diabetics for flour blends.

Millets

Millets are not automatically low GI. A meta-analysis of 39 studies found a mean millet GI of 52.7, about 36% lower than milled rice (71.7) and refined wheat (74.2) (Anitha et al., Frontiers in Nutrition, 2021). But single values above run from 42 to 104: plain cooked little and foxtail millet and ragi upma tested as high as white rice, while millet dosas and millet eaten with moong did better. Several figures come from six people with diabetes, so they are weak evidence. More in our ragi, jowar and bajra guide.

Dals and legumes

Dals are the most consistently low-GI group here. The international tables note that legumes were usually low GI with consistent values around the world (Atkinson et al., 2021). Two cautions: most Indian dal values come from small studies done between 1981 and 1991, and one soaked, steamed rajma test gave 70, far above other rajma tests.

Breakfast foods

The NIN study found that rice-based breakfasts tested higher than legume-based ones (Shakappa et al., 2022). Idli has been measured from 48 to 85, depending on the rice, the batter and the side dish. Poha made from rice flakes with onion and spices tested 74 in 10 healthy Indian adults. The 43 is poha with groundnuts from one small study, and the added protein and fat may explain the gap. For full breakfast ideas, see the 7-day diabetic meal plan.

Fruits

Guava is a good low-GI fruit, but not the near-zero food some charts claim. In a controlled trial, guava bites tested at 29 and guava puree at 47; mashing the fruit raised the response, and older adults responded more than younger ones (Tey et al., J Nutr Health Aging, 2017). Banana rises with ripeness (47 ripe, 57 overripe), and watermelon, often listed at 72, averaged 50 in four tests. Read more in diabetes-friendly fruits and the health benefits of guava.

Vegetables and tubers

Why no number for bhindi or lauki? A GI test needs a portion holding 25 or 50 g of available carbohydrate. Leafy and watery vegetables hold so little that volunteers would need an impractical amount, so they are rarely tested. Their effect is small because a katori holds little carbohydrate. Potato varies widely: from 53 to 103 by variety and cooking.

Dairy

Dairy was usually low GI with consistent values worldwide (Atkinson et al., 2021). Sugar added to lassi or kheer is another matter: table sugar averages 66.

Snacks and sweets

The makhana value comes from 10 healthy adults in one study that used the ISO method, with 33 g of fox nuts supplying 25 g of carbohydrate (Liaquat et al., Food Production, Processing and Nutrition, 2022); we calculated the GL from those figures. One small study is a start, not a final answer. See is makhana good for diabetes. A low GI does not make a sweet a good choice: fat lowers GI, and Diabetes UK notes that not all low-GI foods are healthy.

What changes GI in an Indian kitchen

Parboiled vs raw rice

Across 10 studies, parboiled rice averaged 64, against 70 to 81 for the common polished Indian varieties (Sona Masuri, Ponni, Surti Kolam and BPT-5204) (Atkinson et al., 2021; Shobana et al., 2012). The range is wide. High-amylose parboiled varieties from Bangladesh tested 28 to 36, a low-amylose one 52, and an Australian low-amylose parboiled rice 87. A review of rice GI names variety, composition, processing and what the rice is eaten with as the main reasons values differ (Kaur et al., Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 2016). Parboiled is usually a better pick than polished raw rice, but variety matters too.

Cooling and reheating rice

In an Indonesian trial of 15 healthy adults, white rice cooked, cooled for 24 hours at 4°C and then reheated had more resistant starch (1.65 vs 0.64 g per 100 g) and a lower blood sugar response than freshly cooked rice (125 vs 152 mmol·min/L) (Sonia et al., Asia Pac J Clin Nutr, 2015). That is about 18% lower, a modest result (p = 0.047) in 15 people. The study measured blood sugar response, not GI, so claims that it "lowers GI by 10 points" go beyond the data. Cooked-then-cooled potato shows a similar pattern in the tables: mean 49, against 73 for boiled potato.

Pairing with dal, curd and fat

Adding chickpeas or black beans to white rice lowered the blood sugar response compared with rice alone in a randomised crossover trial (Winham et al., Nutrients, 2017). Indian tests are mixed. Kodo millet tested 68 alone, 57 with whole moong and 78 with split moong dal, in six people with type 2 diabetes. Chapati with moong dal (44) and mooli paratha with curd (41) were not compared with a plain version, so they do not show an effect on their own. Diabetes UK notes that fat lowers GI and that protein and fibre slow carbohydrate digestion. Fat also adds calories, so keep ghee modest.

Fermentation on its own made little difference in one Indian test: besan cheela tested 42 plain and 45 fermented, moong cheela 36 and 38 (Atkinson et al., 2021, AT2). Idli and dosa are fermented and still often test high.

Fibre

A meta-analysis of 42 trials in adults with prediabetes or diabetes found that eating more fibre lowered HbA1c by 2 mmol/mol and fasting glucose by 0.56 mmol/L, and suggested raising intake by 15 g a day or to 35 g a day as a reasonable target (Reynolds et al., PLoS Medicine, 2020). Whole dals, sabzi, whole fruit and less-processed millets can help you get there.

Eating order

In a small crossover study of 11 adults with type 2 diabetes on metformin, eating vegetables and protein 15 minutes before the bread and orange juice cut the two-hour rise in blood glucose (incremental area under the curve) by 73% compared with the reverse order, with glucose 37% lower at 60 minutes (Shukla et al., Diabetes Care, 2015). It was a pilot study of a Western meal (chicken, salad, ciabatta and orange juice), so applying it to a thali is an extrapolation: sabzi, salad and dal first, then roti or rice, is a reasonable habit, not a proven result.

Portion, through GL

GL is where portion enters. Sona Masuri rice has a GI of 72 and a GL of 32 for a serving with 45 g of carbohydrate. An apple has a GI of 44 and a GL of 7 for 15 g of carbohydrate. Halve the rice and you halve its GL; switching variety moves it far less. A small katori of rice with plenty of dal and sabzi can beat a large plate of a "low-GI" grain.

The limits of GI

GI is an average from about 10 people, and individuals vary. When 63 healthy adults were each tested three times with white bread, the GI averaged 62, with a 20% variation within the same person and 25% between people (Matthan et al., Am J Clin Nutr, 2016). In the tables above, idli, pongal and poori tested far higher in people with type 2 diabetes.

GI also describes a food eaten alone. Diabetes UK notes that we usually eat foods in combination, that cooking, processing and ripeness shift GI, and that portion size can matter more. Use the tables to compare similar foods, such as one rice against another, then let portion, pairing and your own glucose readings guide the plate. If you track HbA1c, our HbA1c converter translates between % and mmol/mol.

Safety: when to talk to your doctor

• Insulin or sulfonylureas. If you take insulin, gliclazide, glimepiride or similar medicines, cutting or swapping carbohydrate can change your risk of low blood sugar. Agree changes with your doctor first.
• Kidney disease. Your renal team may set limits on protein, potassium or phosphorus, which affects how much dal and millet suits you.
• Pregnancy. Gestational diabetes targets and meal plans are set by your antenatal team.
• Allergies. Chickpea, peanut and other legume allergies rule out several low-GI foods above.

This is general nutrition guidance. For personalized medical care, consult your doctor or book a 1:1 consultation with Dt. Trishala Goswami.

For readers abroad

Parboiled rice is often sold as "converted" rice in supermarkets. Indian grocers in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and the Gulf stock chana dal, whole moong, and bajra, jowar and ragi flours. Chana dal is split Bengal gram, not yellow split peas, which tested 25 to 32 (Atkinson et al., 2021, AT2). Single tests of white basmati in the UK, India and Australia have ranged from about 50 to 67, while heat-treated "easy-cook" basmati tested 80 in one UK study.

Related reading

• Rice for diabetics: which rice and how much
• Best atta for diabetics in India
• Ragi, jowar and bajra: an Indian millets guide
• Diabetes-friendly fruits in India
• Is makhana good for diabetes?
• Diabetic meal plan: 7-day Indian menu

Want your glucose numbers to make sense of your own plate? Book a consultation with Dt. Trishala Goswami for an Indian meal plan built around your HbA1c, medicines, favourite foods and the shops near you, working alongside your doctor. Online consultations for clients in India and abroad. You can also explore our Diabetes Management program.