Feeding homemade baby food to babies is very beneficial as compared to feeding readymade and packaged baby foods. Have a quick look at some Indian recipes for making nutritious baby food at home.There are a number of Indian dishes that not only tickle the taste buds of adults but also small babies. Despite the popular belief that Indian spices are adverse for health, the purpose of using some common spices is to make food items tasty and appealing to the olfactory nerves. Most infants like to have foods enriched with the correct amount of spices. Many doctors believe that typical Indian dishes should be introduced quite early in a child’s life, perhaps when they are 7-9 months old. This article contains a number of easy to prepare Indian dishes that you may like to cook for your little one.
Khichdi
Feeding Khichdi is probably the best Indian baby food to make your child have vegetables and pulses.
Ingredients: 1/2 cup of rice, 1/2 cup of green gram, 1 carrot, beans, peas, 1 slice of pumpkin, 1 slice of bottle gourd, 1 piece raw papaya and a pinch of
haldi (turmeric).
Recipe: At first the rice and pulses must be washed properly. After washing, the pulses and rice must be soaked in water for at least half an hour. Next, the vegetables should be washed. After washing, you must add them to a pressure cooker containing the cleaned rice and dal. Add a slight amount of turmeric powder and allow the entire thing to cook till at least 10-12 whistles of the cooker are heard. Mash the preparation using a spoon and serve it to your kid after it cools down.
Vegetable Soup
Another great way to feed an ample amount of vegetables is to prepare vegetable soups.
Ingredients: Peas, 1 carrot, beans, a slice of pumpkin, a piece of bottle gourd, a pinch of
haldi or turmeric powder and 2 cups of water.
Recipe: At first, all the vegetables must be properly washed and cleaned. Next, you must chop them into small pieces. After this, place all the vegetable slices into a pressure cooker. Do not forget to add water and a slight amount of
turmeric powder. Allow the mixture to cook properly, till you hear at least 5-6 whistles of the cooker. After letting it cool down, you can use a mixer or a hand blender to blend the resulting item.
Banana Smoothie
You must give this particular preparation to your baby once he or she has been introduced to yoghurt and after checking with your baby’s doctor. You may replace banana with avocado, cheeku, papaya or melon.
Ingredients: 1/2 cup of yoghurt and 1 banana.
Recipe: First, you must slice the ba
nana into fine pieces. Next, add these slices to a bowl containing yoghurt. Finally, blend or mash the banana pieces really well and make sure that you serve it to your child after adjusting the consistency as per his/her desire.
Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry
This dish is one of the favourite Indian preparations of children.
Ingredients: A breast of chicken cut into pieces of 1” each, 1/2 cup of red lentils, 1 small finely sliced onion, 2 peeled and sliced sweet potatoes, a pinch each of cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, coriander, 1 tablespoon safflower oil and 2-3 cups of water.
Recipe: At first, heat the oil and fry the onions till they become soft. Next, add the chicken pieces and cook the mixture until it turns golden brown. Finally add the sweet potatoes and the spices. Keep stirring the mixture and at last add the lentils and water. Allow the whole thing to cook for 30 minutes. Let the soup cool down. Mix this preparation with white or brown rice and mash properly before feeding your baby.
Sweet Potato Kheer
This is a highly nutritious dish that kids like to eat.
Ingredients: A cup of milk consumed by the baby and 1sweet potato.
Recipe: At first the potato must be peeled and successively boiled in a cooker. Next it must be properly mashed and added to the baby milk before being fed.
Little kids get bored, if fed the same dishes again and again. You may like to prepare one of the items listed in this article from time to time. In this way, the baby gets to taste new dishes and does not get used to having the same kind of food. Of course, if your baby has some sort of allergy or intestinal problems, you must consult the doctor before making him have such foods.
Why is homemade baby food preferred over readymade baby food? Is it safe to refrigerate left-over baby food and feed it to her later on? For how long can be home made baby food stored? Discuss here. 
