Other Preparations

Here are recipes in South Indian style and from other cuisines for the baby. It is a complete food and is very nutritious.Doctors recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. After the completion of six months, solids can be started. It is necessary to make sure that babies get proper nutrition through solids that we feed them. Homemade baby food is safe and is the best for healthy growth and development of the babies. If you are not aware of some healthy and completely homemade baby food recipes, the following recipes are just for you. In this articlePumpkin Malagutal (South Indian dish)Spinach Malagutal (South Indian dish)Sooji (Semolina) and Jaggery PorridgeRagi MaltMultigrain MaltPumpkin Malagutal (South Indian dish)You will require equal quantities (say 4 tablespoons) of white pumpkin and either Tur Dal or Moong Dal. First peel the pumpkin and dice it into small pieces. Then lightly roast the Dal of your choice. Next, take both the diced pumpkin and the roasted Dal and cook them in boiling water; you should also add a pinch of turmeric powder and salt to taste. Once cooked, add ghee or butter for flavour. Malagutal can be served with rice, and is a very nutritious dish for an expectant mother as well as the baby.Spinach Malagutal (South Indian dish)The recipe for this dish is similar to the recipe for a pumpkin Malagutal. Except, instead of pumpkin use spinach. Although a blender is optional for the pumpkin malagutal, it will be required for the spinach malagutal, since the baby will find it difficult to eat spinach in the original form.Sooji (Semolina) and Jaggery PorridgeSooji and jaggery porridge is also one of the nutritious food items that can be given to babies. You need to prepare it carefully. Take three table spoons of sooji and roast it till it gives out wonderful aroma and turns golden. Boil four to five cups of water in a vessel and add two inches big lump of jaggery to it. Once the jaggery melts, you can add roasted sooji to it. Make sure to stir it properly so that lumps do not form. Add more water if the consistency is thick. Make sure that the consistency is porridge-like and not very thick. You can add more jaggery to the porridge as per your taste. Once the porridge is ready, add ghee to it. This porridge is very nutritious and healthy for babies.Ragi MaltRagi malt is loaded with iron and other nutrients and therefore is one of the most nutritious baby foods. For making ragi malt you need wash a cup of ragi and soak it in water for few hours. Now take the soaked ragi and grind it by adding a little water. Take a strainer to extract the juice properly from the grinded mixture. After the juice is extracted you can heat it using a sauce pan. You can add sugar to taste. Once the extract starts boiling you can mix milk and cardamom powder to it. You must cook the mixture properly and make sure that the consistency does not become too thick or lumps are not formed. Once the mixture cools down you can feed it to your baby. If you want you can add more milk to it.Multigrain MaltMultigrain malt is another nutritious baby food. It is made using grains like wheat, ragi, bajra, jowar etc. A few dry fruits like almond, cashew-nuts are also added to it. All you need to do is, mix all the grains together and rinse them thoroughly. After rinsing, these grains should be dried in sun. After the grains are completely dry, you must roast them in ghee along with dry fruits. Grind these roasted grains and dry fruits into a fine power and store this powder into an airtight container. You can use this powder to make malt whenever required. For making malt, mix a few teaspoons of this power with milk and add sugar or jaggery to taste and heat the mixture in a saucepan till it gets properly cooked. You can feed this malt to your baby once it cools down.If you are introducing the above mentioned recipes to your baby, it is a must for you to consult your child’s paediatrician and seek his approval.