A Baby Food Recipe

This article is about an easy and quick baby food recipe that can be made at home. Besides being easy to prepare, this one is also loaded with nutrients that promote good health and immunity. It also makes for a great travel food and it just takes minutes to prepare if you have the powdered mixture and hot water.

It is ideal that a newborn should be on exclusive breastfeeding from the mother until six months of life. Once the seventh month begins, slow weaning can be started and solid foods could be introduced once a day. As the month progresses, once-a-day solids could be increased to twice and thrice a day as per needs and demand.

The recipe mentioned here could be included in the baby’s diet as early as six months with a tweak in the ingredients. Let’s look at the overall recipe after which notes are mentioned towards the end as to how could the ingredients be altered to suit the age of the baby.

Ingredients:

• Puffed Rice 1 cup
• Roasted Bengal gram 1 cup
• Flattened rice (Poha) 1 cup
• Groundnuts 1 cup
• Cashew Nuts 8-10 in number
• Almonds 8-10 in number
• Walnuts 8-10 in number
• Pistachio 8-10 in number

(1 cup measure equals about 200gms as per my usage. Also, you could add or exclude any dry fruits of your choice.)

Preparation:

1. Heat a Kadai on a medium flame.
2. Dry roast all the ingredients mentioned above separately. Do not add all or multiple ingredients together and roast them.
3. Care should be taken not to burn them. Once the contents emit a mild aroma, switch of the flame.
4. Once every ingredient is roasted separately, let the contents cool down for a while.
5. Add them all together into a mixer jar, little by little, and grind them into a fine powder.
6. Store the powder in an airtight container. This powder can be stored for up to two-three months.

Feeding the baby:

1. Ensure to take two to three spoonfuls of the powdered mixture in a small feeding bowl. Decide on the quantity depending on your baby’s age and needs.
2. Add sugar as per taste. As a healthier option, suggest using powdered palm sugar or powdered jaggery.
3. Add boiling hot water in small quantities to this mixture and stir the contents well so that it reaches a consistency of porridge.
4. Start feeding the baby in little amounts.
5. The porridge tends to thicken a bit when exposed to air. Hence, ensure to add hot water as required, as the baby is being fed.
6. Instead of boiled hot water, boiled milk can also be used. Cow’s milk or packet milk could be used once the baby is one year old. Until then, suggest making the porridge using hot water.

Hope your child likes and enjoys this amazingly nutritious recipe.

Notes:

1. To start with, the powder should not be prepared using all the ingredients mentioned above, for a six-month-old baby, since it might be a little hard for their tiny and developing digestive system to absorb into their body.
2. Hence, suggest to prepare 2 mixtures of the below-mentioned combinations and store them in 2 separate containers.
   1. Puffed rice and roasted Bengal gram of equal measures.
   2. Flattened rice (poha) and roasted Bengal gram of equal measures.
3. While the baby is being introduced to solids, the above two mixtures suffice until the baby turns about 10 months. Choose any of the two as required. Add sugar and hot water. Stir the contents well as mentioned above and the porridge is ready.
4. As with any food, please do try this porridge in little quantities first and check if the baby is not allergic to any ingredients mentioned. Then, proceed to feed regularly.
5. Once the baby is ten months old, groundnuts could also be introduced in little quantity, as an ingredient to both the mixtures (a) and (b) separately.
6. Once the baby is one year old, instead of water, boiled hot milk could be added to make the porridge. It also enhances the porridge’s taste.
7. Also, once the baby turns one, instead of making 2 separate mixtures, puffed rice, Bengal gram, flattened rice and groundnuts could be used together to make one whole mixture. The method of making the porridge remains the same.
8. Once the baby is 18 months old, dry fruits of your choice can also be roasted and added as ingredients while preparing the powder.

This is a tried and tested recipe, word to word as mentioned in the steps and notes above. My child is quite fond of it.

Nutritional value:

• Puffed rice – Rich in Fibre, Carbohydrates, Iron, Calcium, and Protein
• Bengal gram – Rich in Carbohydrates, Fibre, Sugar, Iron and Protein
• Flattened rice (Poha) – Rich in Carbohydrates, Protein, Iron and Calcium
• Groundnuts – Rich in Protein, Carbohydrates, Fibre, and Calcium
• Milk – Rich in Calcium
• Walnuts – Rich in Carbohydrates, Protein, and Fibre
• Almonds – Rich in Carbohydrates, Protein, and Fibre
• Cashews – Rich in Fat, Carbohydrates, Protein, and Sugar
• Pistachios – Rich in Fat, Carbohydrates, Fibre, and Protein

Health Benefits:

• Boosts immunity and strengthens and rejuvenates bone cells
• Relieves constipation as it is rich in fiber
• Good source of antioxidants
• Improves gut health
• Aids in building good muscle mass
• Boosts metabolism
• Promotes good blood vessel health

Hope this simple and easy baby food recipe comes in handy for new moms. If you have any other such recipes, do share them with us.