Nachni / Ragi roti and Doodhi sabji

Nachni / Ragi roti and Doodhi sabji lunch for my toothless 10 month old.

Nachni / Ragi roti

mix equal portions ragi flour and whole wheat flour with water into a pancake batter consistency. 

Spread onto an iron pan (cooking in iron vessels has it's own benefits.) 

cook till done, spread ghee / clarified butter while warm.


Doodhi sabji

Heat a little ghee.
Add just a little jeera / cumin.
Add grated doodhi and cook till done.

Serve warm, break teeny tiny pieces of roti and feed the baby.

Flavoring the food

Here are a few ways to flavor food for babies ...

As recommended by my pediatrician avoid salt and sugar when you exclusively cook for baby.

Flavorings

• Ghee / clarified butter
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Pudhina / Mint leaves
• Dhaniya / Coriander leaves 
• Jeera / Cumin powder
• Cinnamon 
• Dill leaves
• Fresh Fruit puree 
• Black pepper powder (just a pinch)

Moong daal khichdi

One of the most nutritious foods is plain moong daal khichdi.

Take equal parts of rice and split yellow moong dal.

 

Soak and keep aside for 15 minutes or more. I use about 3-4 times the water

Add a pinch of salt (I used sea salt) and a pinch of haldi / turmeric.

Pressure cook for 3-4 whistles.

Serve warm with a little ghee / clarified butter.

 

Mango and blueberry puree

Wash and cook blueberries in a little water. Cool down and puree with mango pieces. Have fun watching your baby enjoy this yum puree, but watch out for the smothered color purple on those cute little faces. :)

Cooling down the food

I mostly cook fresh food for my little one, this means that at times she is hungry sooner and I have to cool down her meal, either I put the bowl in a container filled with cool water from the tap and leave it for a few minutes, or if you have already introduced yogurt just take some a spoonful from the fridge and it will help cool down the food.

Always check the temperature of the food on your wrist.

Texture

You can start with purees while starting off solids, but gradually around the age of 9th month give the food a little texture, leave it a little coarse, so that the baby can get used to a variety of textures.

Starting solids for baby

I started solids for my little one after she turned 6 months. If you have been exclusively, this step is a big milestone and can feel a little overwhelming if you don't have much help. Here are a few things to keep in mind and steps to go through.

• Always keep a 3-4 day gap between introducing new foods. This is so that if the baby has a reaction to a new food, you will know what caused it.  
• I hung a calendar in the dining room and tied a pen to it, so I could write what I fed her each day.
• Start with mung bean water, boil / pressure cook mung beans and feed the water to your baby.
• Wait 4 days.
• Wash rice and mung - separately or together. Dry them indoors on a clean cotton cloth. When dry, grind into powder and keep in an airtight glass container. When needed cook with water, cool down and feed.
• Gradually you can start introducing more foods.
• Try not to sweeten everything with fruits, so your baby can learn and get used to individual tastes.
• Try not to mix and puree all fruits or variety of fruits together, again so that your baby can learn taste of different fruits.
• I bought a set of 2 oz. glass mason jars to keep food while going out.

Mango pulp

When in season, let your baby enjoy the goodness of mango. If just mashing it makes it too difficult to feed because of the fibers, grind it to a pulp.

Choosing a mango is fairly easy, smell it to check for a sweet smell. It took me a few tries to buy the right ones. I always buy organic whenever I can for the little one. Always wash the fruit before cutting.

Dudhi / Doodhi / Bottle Gourd

Doodhi is an excellent food for babies and they will most definitely love it as it is slightly naturally sweet in taste. Just serve it up with a dash of ghee / clarified butter.

Cut and taste a small piece, if it tastes bitter then throw it away, it's not good for anyone. It doesn't really have much of a taste otherwise.

Since you will rarely find organic doodhi, soak it in salted water for 5 - 10 minutes and then rinse.

Cut and remove the seeds, specially if they are big.

 

Pressure cook for one whistle with a pinch of salt.

Grind to make puree and serve with a little ghee / clarified butter.

 

Always check to make sure that the food is cool enough for baby to eat by checking on your wrist.