Recipes for Infants Suggested by the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) India

The following recipes are from the pamphlet “Low Cost Nutritious Supplements” brought out by NIN: The cereals and millets commonly used for the following recipes in India are rice, wheat, jowar, bajra, ragi, maize etc. Cereals are relatively poor sources of protein. Pulses are about the richest natural sources of proteins. 

These recipes give about 300 calories each. As the infants grow, the quantities can be increased by about 50% to meet the nutritional needs of the infant in full.

Wheat – Gram Porridge 

Ingredients

Method of Preparation 

Roast groundnut, wheat and Bengal gram and powder them. Mix the wheat, Bengal gram and groundnut powders and prepare a batter by addition of jiggery, dissolved in a suitable amount of water and made into thin syrup. Boil spinach in water till soft, mash and strain through a clean cloth. Add the vegetable juice to the batter and cook for a few minutes with continuous stirring till semi-solid.

Rice Porridge 

Ingredients

Method of preparation 

Cook the rice. Add to the cooked rice the pulse and groundnut powder. Boil leafy vegetables in water till soft, mash and strain through a clean cloth and add the juice to the above mixture. Add sugar or jaggery and cook for a few minutes.

Protein-rich supplement that may be added to the family’s diet

I encourage the parents to give to the child foods prepared for the whole family. To increase the nutritional value, add about 3 to 4 teaspoons of roasted groundnut powder to the daily diet of the infant. Addition of little jaggery (or sugar), helps the child to relish the dish and also provides extra calories.

Ready-to-use infant weaning foods 

The following recipes can be prepared in bulk and kept ready at hand for feeding infants.

Bajra Infant Food 

Powder all the roasted ingredients individually; mix them in the proportions suggested, and store in air-tight containers.

Ragi (Nachni) Infant Food

Use 45 g of ragi prepared as given below instead of bajra in the above formula.

Soak ragi in water overnight. Drain the water, spread the grains on a plate and allow germinating by covering with a damp cloth for one day. Dry the germinated ragi in sun and roast till it develops a malted flavor. Powder and store in an air-tight tin.

Method of Feeding

When required, take suitable amounts (say 50 -70 gms or 3 tablespoons) of any one  of the above ready- to-use infant weaning food and mix with a small amount of hot water. Add more sugar or jaggery, if required, before feeding.

Also read more about: The Ultimate Weaning Guide for infants by Dr R K Anand: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

_{Source: Book – Guide to Child Care by Dr R K Anand}

_{To consult Dr R K Anand in person  click here}

_{Source for banner image: yahoo.com}

Read More On Baby

#babyfood