My baby doll is nearly a year old. She shows off two tiny teeth every time she laughs. I cant seem to get enough of it. Although its really cute to look at I know her gums itch quite a bit. No wonder she is always putting things in her mouth. So I thought its time I tried my hand at some teething biscuits. Now she has something home-made to sooth her gums. I was happy with the firmness of these biscuits but like any other teething biscuits they have a potential choking hazard. You need to constantly monitor the baby while eating so he doesnt bite off too big a piece (He heee… now I sound like a baby product company ) Continue reading »

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.