Calories in Corn and Bhutta: Per Cob and Baby Corn
Corn comes in several forms in India: roasted bhutta on the roadside, boiled tender kernels, baby corn in stir-fries and the dry grain that makki is made from. They do not have the same calories, and a "cob" is not a unit in any food table. This guide gives the calories and protein per 100 g from the ICMR-NIN Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (IFCT 2017) for three rows, then turns them into servings using weights that are ours, so you can see what a cob or five baby corn adds up to.
The short answer
By IFCT 2017, tender local maize (A007) has 120 kcal and 3.57 g of protein per 100 g, baby corn (D042) has 73 kcal and 2.69 g, and dry maize (A006) has 334 kcal and 8.80 g. By our arithmetic, a cob with about 100 g of kernels (our weight) is about 120 kcal and 3.6 g of protein, and five baby corn (about 50 g, our weight) are about 37 kcal and 1.3 g. Our reading: tender corn and baby corn are light, while dry maize is dense because almost all the water is gone.
Calories and protein per 100 g
Each row is one IFCT 2017 Table 1 row, per 100 g edible portion as listed in the book, mean values as printed. Energy is the book's kilojoules divided by 4.184, to the nearest kcal. All three rows were measured in 6 regions. Everything is raw or dry (uncooked).
| Food (IFCT 2017 row) | Calories per 100 g | Protein per 100 g | Energy as printed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maize, tender, local (A007) | 120 kcal | 3.57 g | 502 kJ |
| Corn, baby (D042) | 73 kcal | 2.69 g | 306 kJ |
| Maize, dry (A006) | 334 kcal | 8.80 g | 1398 kJ |
IFCT 2017 also has a row for tender sweet maize (A008), but it was measured in only 4 regions, so this page does not use it. It has no row for popcorn or for maize flour that we found, so we give no numbers for popcorn or makki roti.
Per cob, per katori and per piece
Weights are ours, not from IFCT: about 100 g of kernels for one cob (the part you eat), 50 g for a small katori of kernels, 10 g for one baby corn and 30 g for a handful of dry maize. Each figure is the per-100 g value times the grams, divided by 100, rounded to the nearest kcal and 0.1 g.
| Serving (weight is ours) | Row | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cob, about 100 g of kernels | A007 | 120 kcal | 3.6 g |
| 1 small katori of tender kernels, 50 g | A007 | 60 kcal | 1.8 g |
| 1 baby corn, 10 g | D042 | 7 kcal | 0.3 g |
| 5 baby corn, 50 g | D042 | 37 kcal | 1.3 g |
| 100 g of baby corn | D042 | 73 kcal | 2.7 g |
| 30 g of dry maize | A006 | 100 kcal | 2.6 g |
What stands out in the numbers
- Dry maize holds about 2.8 times the calories of tender corn per 100 g (334 against 120 kcal). Table 1 lists water at 9.26 g per 100 g for dry maize and 68.29 g for tender local maize, so most of the gap is water.
- Protein per 100 kcal is similar across the three. By our arithmetic: baby corn 3.7 g, tender local 3.0 g and dry maize 2.6 g per 100 kcal. None of them is a high-protein food on a per-serving basis; our high-protein Indian foods guide shows the foods that are.
- Baby corn is the lightest per piece. Five pieces cost about as much as a third of a cob by our weights.
How to log it so the numbers hold
- Weigh the kernels once. Cobs vary a lot, and the core is not eaten. Strip a few cobs, weigh the kernels, and scale the table to your weight.
- Add what goes on it. Butter, ghee, oil, salt, masala and lime are not in these numbers; log them separately. A roadside roasted bhutta with butter and masala is not the plain row.
- Log baby corn by count. If you stir-fry it, the oil is the larger variable; see our cooking oil guide and the other sabzi rows in our parwal, tinda and kathal guide.
- Use a plate model for the rest. See the hand-portion method for Indian plates when you have no scale.
Where NYUS fits (our app)
We make NYUS, so read this as ours. NYUS is an AI fitness and nutrition coach in early access on Android, with no ads and no data selling. You log foods yourself by searching 8,900+ Indian and global foods or by barcode, and a weekly check-in adjusts your calories, macros and step goal once enough is logged. Barcode coverage of Indian packaged foods is not complete, so search by name when a scan finds nothing.
What this page leaves out
- A calorie or protein target: we have not looked up one for any person, so we give none.
- Popcorn, makki flour and makki roti, tender sweet maize (A008), canned or frozen corn, and anything with butter, oil, masala or salt added: IFCT 2017 has no row we could use for them.
- Anything about weight, blood sugar or health: the page adds up food data and makes no claim about what corn does to your body. If you have diabetes or are advised to limit carbohydrate, ask your doctor or dietitian.
Sources
- ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (IFCT 2017). Table 1, protein and energy per 100 g edible portion, read from the PDF on 27 Oct 2026: A006, A007 and A008 (PDF page 41) and D042 (PDF page 47). Energy converted from kJ at 4.184 kJ per kcal.
- nyus.in, the NYUS landing page, read on 27 Oct 2026 for the app statements in the NYUS section and the CTA.
The serving weights (100 g, 50 g, 10 g, 30 g), the sums, the rounding and every sentence starting "Our reading" are NYUS's own arithmetic or opinion, not from a study. Names in brackets and "tender local" are our matching to the IFCT row names.
Log what you eat and see your day add up
NYUS is an AI diet and workout coach. You can log foods by search or barcode against 8,900+ foods with calories and macros, and a weekly check-in adjusts your calories, macros and step goal once enough is logged. It gives general information, not medical advice. No ads, no data sold.
Join the NYUS waitlistFrequently asked questions
How many calories are in a corn cob (bhutta)?
By our arithmetic from IFCT 2017 row A007 (tender local maize, 120 kcal per 100 g), a cob with about 100 g of edible kernels is about 120 kcal and 3.6 g of protein. The 100 g is our assumption: weigh the kernels from your cob. Butter, oil, masala and salt are not counted.
How many calories are in baby corn?
IFCT 2017 row D042 gives baby corn 73 kcal and 2.69 g of protein per 100 g. By our weights, 5 pieces of about 10 g each (50 g) are about 37 kcal and 1.3 g of protein, before any oil used to cook them.
Is dry maize very different from tender corn?
Per 100 g, yes: IFCT 2017 gives dry maize (A006) 334 kcal and 8.80 g of protein against 120 kcal and 3.57 g for tender local maize (A007). Table 1 lists 9.26 g of water per 100 g in dry maize and 68.29 g in the tender row.
What about popcorn and makki roti?
This page gives no numbers for them: we found no popcorn or maize-flour row in IFCT 2017 Table 1, and the page only uses IFCT rows.
Can I log corn in NYUS?
NYUS is our app. You log foods yourself by searching 8,900+ Indian and global foods or by barcode; weigh the kernels or count the baby corn for the best match. NYUS is in early access on Android: 30-day free trial, then plans from ₹499 for one month, paid once with no auto-renewal, no card needed to start.