Roma's Space

Porridge , Kheer or Payasam is the most common dish given to babies. There is a long list of base ingredients from which porridge can be made. In the description below, I have tried to cover most of them. The overall method is the same with only certain changes depending on the method of cooking the base ingredient used.

After boiling any of the kheers mentioned below you can add soaked & ground almonds, elaichi powder and jaggery till it thickens.

Wheat vermicilli:

1. Coarsely grind the vermicilli.
2. Roast in ghee till it becomes brown.
3. Boil in milk till it softens.

Sabu dana :

1. Gives good relief to children who are suffering from loose motions.
2. Soak sabu dana for 3-4 hrs.
3. Boil in milk till it becomes transparent.

Coarsely ground rice :

1. Wash rice and dry it under the sun.
2. Fry it in ghee and coarsely grind.
3. Boil in milk for approx 10 mins till rice becomes soft.

Chiroti rawa :

1. Fry in ghee for few minutes till it becomes opaque.
2. Add milk and cook till the kheer starts thickening.

Soaked wheat :

1. Soak for 3-4 hrs, grind coarsely.
2. In a teaspoon of ghee fry the wheat till it drys up.
3. Boil in milk till it softens.

Ingredients :

• 2 teaspoons of ghee
• 4 teaspoons of wheat flour
• Pinch of elaichi powder
• Few raisins
• 1 cup of milk
• Fruits of your choice

Procedure :

1. Heat ghee in a kadai. Add raisins and set aside once they swell.
2. To the remaining ghee in the kadai add wheat flour and roast well till you get the smell of cooked atta. Mix in some elaichi powder
3. Boil milk and mix into the atta. Stir continuously, till the mixture becomes pasty and has no lumps.
4. Finally you can add mashed apple/banana/cheeku/grapes to the halwa.

Variation
You can use fine rawa instead of wheat flour in this halwa.

Instant khichdi Mix

This mix is handy while traveling with a little baby. You can carry an electric cooker, plug it in your hotel room and boil the Instant khichdi Mix to quickly have baby’s lunch ready. This khichdi has a texture like that of idly.

Only request is, please try feeding your baby with this dish once or twice before you leave on your journey else you might find it difficult in a new place if he rejects it.

Ingredients :

• 2 tablespoons of yellow moong dal
• 2 tablespoons of rice
• 1 tablespoon of ghee

Procedure :

1. Mix the dal and rice. Wash well till milkiness goes away and dry it in the sun.
2. Heat ghee and roast this mixture in it for about 5-7 mins.
3. The mixture will start turning light brown indicating its done.
4. Now cool it and grind it to the desired consistancy in a mixie jar.
5. When you need to feed the baby, boil this mix in water or milk for about 5-7 mins.

Baby Rasam

Rasam rice is something I have noticed babies of this age enjoy quite a bit. However, we can not use the same rasam powder that we make for ourselves as it is too spicy for them.

By making a rasam powder of our own and with a little variation like adding the juice of vegetables, it can become an excellent alternative to the usual dal.

Rasam powder (for Babies)

• 1 Cup Corriander seeds
• 1/2 Cup Cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 tsp toor dal
• 1 tsp ghee
• Pinch of hing

Instructions:
1. Fry corriander seeds and cumin seeds separately till they release their aroma.
2. Heat 1 tsp ghee and fry fenugreek seeds, toor dal seperately and add hing.
3. Grind the mixture to fine powder.

For the Rasam

Ingredients:

• 1 tomato
• 1/2 carrot
• Small piece of cabbage
• 1/4 cup toor dal
• 1/4 teaspoon of rai
• 1 teaspoon of baby rasam powder
• Few teaspoons of tamarind juice
• Finely chopped Coriander leaves

Procedure :

1. When you make toor dal for yourself keep aside some dal water that stands on the dal once its cooked.
2. Extract juice from tomato, carrot and cabbage.
3. Heat oil. Add rai and baby rasam powder. Add the extracted vegetable juice, cooked dal water, tamarind juice and give it a boil.
4. Finally garnish with finely chopped dhania leaves.

Mini Fried Idlies

After the age of 8 months babies start eating dosas, idlies, etc; Fried idlies is a good choice at this point as the size is perfect for babies and it takes lesser time to make than idlies. Moreover, adding some vegetables can help make it a nutritious choice for your baby.

For this dish you need to get a stand which resembles a tava with molds in it. This is locally called a Kuzhi Paniyaram stand and can be directly used on flame for making these mini fried idlies.

Ingredients :

• 3 tablespoons of dosa batter
• 1/2 teaspoon rai
• 1/4 carrot, grated
• 1/2 tomato, finely chopped
• Few mint leaves, finely chopped

Procedure :

1. Mix a pinch of salt in dosa batter
2. Grease the molds with ghee. Add rai and let it crackle.
3. Fill batter in each mold.
4. Garnish with grated carrot, finely cut tomatoes and mint leaves.
5. Fry each idly for about 5 mins. Flip over and continue frying the opposite side.

Varitation

If this dish is being made for adults :

1. You can add some more salt, finely chopped onions, green chillies and grated ginger to the dosa batter. Add a tadka of rai, channa dal and curry leaves. Use oil instead of ghee here.
2. Please try to use dosa batter thats slightly sour. In other words, you can use up the previous days leftover batter.
3. You can use Spring onion leaves instead of mint leaves. Your baby might like this variation too.

Please NOTE :

1. Try to use a non-stick mold as otherwise you will need to pour ghee from the sides after filling batter into the molds.
2. My stand’s manual told me to use it only on low flame. Please read instructions on your stand before using.