Idli Grinder Method
Description
Being south Indians, idli has always been a staple food for us. It is a super quick and convenient breakfast item that can be paired with chutney, sambar or idli podi.
How to serve babies at 6-9M stage
You can cut the idli into 3 strips and place it front of the baby on their highchair tray to pick up and eat. Resist the urge to correct their hold or make it easier unless they struggle and are unable to pick it up even after 30sec-1min. I've noticed as long as we stay calm and don't interfere, babies will figure out the best way to eat on their own :)
Our Experience
We introduced this to S when he was 6 months old. We initially introduced it plain without dipping it in any chutney/dal. Since it's dry we offered a sip of water every now and then. S definitely took some time understanding the new texture and there was a bit of gagging when he bit off slightly larger pieces. However by the end of the meal he understood how to work the texture and got a lot better at chewing and handling it.
We next introduced it dipped in coconut chutney. I personally felt it was a really good way to expose him to coconut. He loved it and from then on we always had a dip (Dal, Sambar, other chutneys) since it made it easier to chew for him.
Ingredients for Idli Grinder method
Idly Grinder Method remember we don't add Salt for Babies
Procedure for Grinding Idly Batter in Grinder
Instructions
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Grinding Idly Batter
Soak all ingredients separately. Rice and Fenugreek soak overnight or for 6 hours. Urad dal and Poha should be soaked for 1 hour.
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Add soaked Fenugreek seeds to the grinder. Start grinding and add water as required until it is finely ground and becomes frothy.
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Add soaked Urad to the grinder. Keep adding water while grinding little by little till the quantity becomes roughly 6 times its original quantity.
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Remove the above and keep aside.
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Now, to the empty grinder, add the soaked Idli rice. Add enough water and keep grinding until half done (rice looks broken in half) or about 20 min.
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At this stage add soaked poha and keep grinding. Grind to a fine paste for super soft idlis or finely course texture for soft idlis.
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Personally, at the 6-month stage we found S preferred finely coarse texture batter since he was able to hold the Idlis properly without crumbling them. You can try both and see what works for you.
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Now add the previously ground Urad and Fenugreek batter to this and nicely mix.
Since we are making this for the baby do not add any salt at this stage (recommended for babies under 1year of age). -
Leave outside for 8 hours to ferment. Alternatively you can keep aside a small portion to ferment for the baby and add salt to the remaining at this stage itself.
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After 8 hours or next day morning you can see the batter nicely fermented. Mix well. Batter is Ready
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How to Make Idly for Babies
Slightly grease the Idli pan with ghee/oil to avoid the Idli sticking to it.
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Pour idli batter onto the idli pan
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Stack them up and insert into Pressure Cooker/ Idli maker with some water added to the bottom of the vessel
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Let it steam for 10-15 min. Use a toothpick to check if fully cooked through. Idli is Ready
Note
A variation you can include over time is adding grated carrot and beetroot. Ragi Idli is another great option through which you can also introduce your kids to millets (Please click the link for Finger Millet Ragi Idli recipe here)
You can find our tried and tested idli batter recipe below which has been passed on over generations in our family and guaranteed to give you super soft melt-in-your-mouth idlis! We recommend making it in a grinder but since this isn't readily available in many households, we've mentioned a Mixie version of making Idli Batter as well.
