How the food of my childhood became the best baby food for my children
The news has been rife with an investigation into baby food this week and it reminded me of the dilemmas and decisions I needed to make regarding my own children’s weaning journey. As a new mum I wanted to do what was right and make decisions that would ensure they received all the correct nutrients and no sugar or salt. However much I read and researched at times I was still really confused.
So I did what was natural to me and went back to my routes and looked at all the food of my heritage and what I could adapt. Once I did this the decision was clear – DAL!
It was the one staple dish we had growing up and one I continued to eat as an adult and knew that it was healthy, nutritious as well as delicious.
So I started to experiment with the recipe, to one that excluded salt and chilli and came up with a super simple fresh recipe for a masoor dal that I have shared below:
Masoor Dal
Serves 4
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
Lentils
1 cup red lentils
2 cups of water to cook
1/2 tsp turmeric
Masala
2-3 tbsp ghee* or 1/2 – 1 tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
6 curry leaves
1 small onion finely chopped
1/2 inch ginger grated
1 clove of garlic grated
1 small, tomato finely chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek)
1 tbsp fresh coriander chopped
Method
- Wash the lentils until water is clear. Soak lentils in warm water for at least 15 minutes
- Add extra water to the lentils and boil lentils in a pan the lentils for 15 minutes with the turmeric
- Once cooked place on a low heat and stir for a 2 minutes to break down any lentils to make it smoother. Add water at this stage if needed.
- To make the vaghar heat the ghee or oil on a medium to high heat and add in the cumin and the curry leaves. Stir for a minute. Then add the onion, let this cook for 8 minutes.
- Next add in the ginger and garlic, cook these for a few minutes then and in the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add in coriander and kasuri methi. Stir on a medium heat until onions are cooked and tomatoes are soft – 10 minutes or so.
- At this stage the cooked lentils can be added to the vaghar.
- Finally add in the coriander and stir for a few minutes until dal is at the consistency required, you may wish to add water if it is too thick.
I hope you choose to make this for your young family. I would love to see pictures of your little ones enjoying it the way mine did.
If you have any questions just get in touch at ela@cookeatjoy.co.uk and I will reply
Ela’s Tips
I use red split lentils as they cook down really quickly to a puree and don’t require a pressure cooker.
I sometimes cook more lentils than I need, then cool then down and freeze them in portions so when I need to cook them again I already have the lentils ready to go.
If you want to make some for yourself then simple take some aside and add salt and chilli and cook for a further 5-10 minutes to allow the spices to cook down.
If you’re looking for help to do this, get in touch at ela@cookeatjoy.co.uk and I will be there to help.
