2 Healthy Recipes for Toddlers

In this article, two yummy and healthy recipes for toddlers are briefed. All the ones mentioned are tried and tested recipes and the details I share here are absolutely from my own personal experience.

Now, let’s have a look at the recipes:-

1. BROKEN WHEAT PORRIDGE

This is a nutritious food that can be given to a child right from the age of 10 months. That’s when I started feeding my kid with this porridge. It is slow but easy to digest and hence keeps the little tummy full for some time.

The preparation mentioned here is for the powdered mixture which can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 2-3 months.  It can be used as and when required to make the porridge.

Ingredients for the healthy recipe for toddlers:

• Broken wheat / Dalia / Samba Rava – 200 to 300 grams
• Cumin seeds / Jeera – 2 to 3 tbsp
• Carom seeds / Ajwain / Omam – 2 to 3 tsp

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 powder.
6. Use a sieve to filter out larger particles so that the finer ones fall into another container. Keep the sieved out contents separately and the remaining needs to be ground and sieved again. This process is repeated until we get a fine powdery mixture. (refer notes below for additional information)
7. Store it in an airtight container.

Feeding the child:

1. Ensure to take two to three spoonfuls of the powdered mixture in a small vessel. Decide on the quantity depending on your child’s age and needs.
2. Add sugar as per taste. As a healthier option, suggest using powdered palm sugar or powdered jaggery. This porridge can be prepared with a pinch of salt instead of sugar if your child likes the taste. Since cumin and carom seeds are added, the usage of salt while preparation would also go well with the taste.
3. Add water little by little and mix the contents well. The water need not be boiled for usage at this step.
4. Heat the contents on the stove and keep stirring it continuously to avoid lumps.
5. Keep adding water little by little to the boiling contents and keep stirring.
6. After a few minutes, the mixture starts thickening and turns into a porridge-like consistency. I suggest you keep adding little amounts of water and stirring continuously until the required consistency is reached.
7. Care should be taken not to burn the mixture. Suggest making it on a low flame only.
8. Instead of water, milk can also be used to prepare the porridge. 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 toddler likes and enjoys this healthy food.

Notes:

1. To start with, this powder is prepared only with the first ingredient mentioned above – Broken wheat, for a child who has just started solid foods. Cumin and carom seeds are initially avoided until the child turns one.
2. Also, until the child is one year old, it is better to prepare this porridge only using water and not with milk. The method of preparation of the porridge is the same as above except that it is prepared only with water.
3. Once the child turns one, water can be replaced with milk in step 5 of the pointers mentioned under ‘Feeding the child’, so that the contents are boiled with milk to prepare the porridge.
4. Once the child is 18 months old, cumin and carom seeds can also be included as per the mentioned quantities to prepare the powdered mixture.
5. Also, once the child is 18 months old, the sieving step can be excluded from the method of preparation of the powder, since the child’s digestion capacity is much better than what it was when he or she was less than a year old.

Health Benefits:

• Rich in fiber and hence prevents constipation
• Aids in building good muscle mass
• Good source of antioxidants
• Boosts metabolism

 

2.BANANA PANCAKES

The richness of bananas is brought into the palate of a fussy eating toddler through the enticing banana pancakes. These pancakes are very easy to prepare and are also loaded with nutrients essential during the formative years of a child.

Ingredients:

• Red or yellow bananas – 1
• Idli or dosa batter – 200gms

The quantity mentioned above comes to a serving of about 2-3 pancakes. You can increase the number of bananas and correspondingly the amount of batter added if you would like to store and use it later. But, it is advisable to not refrigerate it for more than 2 days. It is always good to eat them fresh.

(Ingredients mentioned above suffice if you already have the batter prepared at home. If not, you can refer the notes at the end of the recipe on the batter preparation method)

Preparation:

• Peel off the banana skin and slice them into a container. Mash them well.
• Add idli batter little by little (200 gms or as required) with the mashed banana slices and mix it well.
• Keep stirring and mixing the contents well so that the prepared batter is neither too runny nor too thick. If it is too thick, the pancakes can turn out a little harder.
• Heat a Tawa on the stove.
• Once the Tawa is hot enough, pour a ladle or two of batter onto it and keep circling it round. Try to make thick pancakes as the thicker ones are softer and easy to eat.
• Pour a tsp of ghee around the steaming pancake and close it with a lid.
• Once the pancake turns a little brown at the ends, flip it. If required, another tsp of ghee could be added on the other side. Keep it closed for 30 seconds. Care should be taken not to burn the pancake.
• After 30 seconds, take the lid off and remove the pancake from the Tawa onto a plate.
• Serve it hot with powdered palm sugar or powdered jaggery.

Sure that the kids would love to eat these soft and lightly crunchy pancakes. This is again a tried and tested recipe. If your child refuses fruits, this is one of the best ways to sneak in the nutrients of a banana into a yummy food item.

Notes:

• Suggest using red bananas to prepare these pancakes as it is a much healthier and tastier option.
• If idli batter is already available at home, the preparation of the pancake shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes of your time. If not, please refer to the below-mentioned quick recipe for the preparation of the batter.

Ingredients for the batter:

• Urad dal – 100 gms
• Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
• Plain rice – 100 gms
• Parboiled rice – 200 gms
• Salt as required

Preparation:

• Keep the ingredients soaked in water for about 3 hours.
• After 3 hours, transfer the soaked urad dal and fenugreek seeds into a mixer jar and grind them well. The output should have a thick flowing consistency. Do not discard the water used for soaking. It can be used while grinding.
• Once the urad dal is ground well, add plain and parboiled rice into the jar, add salt as needed and grind them well. Add water as required while grinding so that the output again has a thick pouring consistency. The water used for soaking can be used while grinding.
• Mix both the ground contents well with a ladle.
• Once the batter is ready, add it to the mashed banana little by little so that the batter is neither too runny nor too thick.
• Once the pancake batter is ready, you can follow the steps mentioned above to prepare yummy pancakes.

Health Benefits:

• Rich in iron and promotes good blood vessels health
• Boosts immunity
• Promotes good eye health
• Rich in antioxidants
• Provides relief from or prevents constipation
• Boosts bone health

Try these healthy recipes for toddlers and you don’t have to worry if your child is getting proper nutrients. Lets us know how it came out. And if you have some recipes with you, please share them in the comments!