AbstractThe protein quality of Indian dishes prepared from whole wheat and refined wheat flour were measured in N‐balance experiments with growing rats. All samples were also analysed for amino acids. The levels of lysine, methionine, cystine and tryptophan were slightly reduced by processing. As a result, with the exception of a dish prepared by deep fat frying, the net protein utilisation of the dishes were approximately 5% lower than those of the corresponding unprocessed samples. True digestibility, however, was in general only slightly influenced by the processing.