BABY PONGAL

Ingredients:

Raw rice - 2 tbsp

Dry roasted moong dal - 2 tbsp

A pinch of cumin seeds

Peppercorns- 5

Salt to taste

Ghee - 1/4 tsp

Water - 4 1/2 times of water and dal

Preparation:

Pressure cook all the ingredients together in a steel box for 8 minutes after first whistle.

When done wait for pressure to release and remove the peppercorns..

Mash with a spoon and serve hot.

BABY FRIENDLY MOONG DAL GRAVY

Ingredients:

Moong dal - 2 tbsp

Shallots  - 2 small (finely chop)

Turmeric powder  - a pinch

Cumin seeds  - a few

Ghee  - few drops (at first don't add ghee. Once the gravy is used to the baby after 4 days add ghee)

Salt a bit is enough or no salt too is good

Preparation:

Pressure cook all the ingredients together with water for 5 minutes after first whistle. 

Mash with a spoon.

Serve with idly, dosa or rice.

FOOD THAT CAN BE ADDED AT 8 MONTHS

After the baby completes 8 months we can add the following ingredients.

1. Moong dal

2. Schallots

3.Rice (Raw rice as Pongal;at 8 months and white rice with parboiled rice when the baby turns 8 1/2 months)

4.Coconut milk

5.Ghee / coconut oil

6. Fine samolina

7. Yoghurt

8. Spices like turmeric powder, cumin, coriander powder, whole black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom (remove pepper cardamom and cinnamon before feeding the baby).

9.Hard boiled egg yolks

Spices too must be given four days apart. Do not introduce at a time to find allergies.

Using these ingredients we can prepare varieties of baby friendly food of a particular cuisine. I will post a few south Indian recipes one by one.  

BEANS SAUCE FOR BABY

Ingredients:

Tender green beans - 4 to 5

Green gram cooked water- as needed

Preparation:

Steam or pressure cook beans. Meantime cook dehusked green gram and strain the water and set aside to cool. When cooled down grind both in a blender to get a smooth sauce. Add dal water little by little to get a smooth saucy texture and not runny.

Serve with soft and spongy dosa and boiled potatoes. Babies love the taste of this sauce. No need to add salt. Don't add salt until baby is 8 months old.

APPLE POTATO SAUCE FOR BABY

Ingredients:
Apple - 1/2
Potato - 1 small sized

Preparation:
Peel and slice the apple and potato. Boil with water until done.

Grind to a smooth paste with the boiled water.

Serve with idly or dosa.

DAL WATER WITH POTATOES

Ingredients:
Moong dal/ dehusked green gram splits  - 1 tbsp
Potato  - 1 small sized
When baby turns 7 months add a pinch of cumin seeds to the dal.

Preparation:
Pressure cook moong dal with water. Also peel and slice potatoes and pressure cook. I use a two layered lunch box to cook both together. Both will be ready in 5 minutes after first whistle. Lower flame to medium after first whistle.



Filter the water and mix add to potato pieces.



Serve with idly or dosa.

BABY'S MENU AT 7 MONTHS

As baby has already started to have mashed fruits and vegetables, now it's time to introduce few more food items. We are a south indian family and so my babies had south indian cuisine based food items. At 7 months itself started to introduce indian based food.

1. Idly
2. Dosa/oothappam
3. Idiappam
4. Aappam / vattappam (same as aappam but a little thicker batter steamed in a plate)
5. Mung dal / masoor dal cooked water
6. Tender beans ( tender and seeds are not started to develop yet)
7. Any 6 months old food if not introduced earlier

Or introduce any soft food with these ingredients from your cuisine. If we think about giving our kids a food which is easily digestible then we could be able to create new recipes. 

I have created lots and lots of new recipes according to the taste of each kid. After my first baby I cooked what she likes. But after my second one started to have solids most of my daughter's taste didn't suit his taste. So again I started to create new for him. 

Now my third one started his solids. Now itself I could see that he is different from his brother and sister. So again my new findings started.