Idli Mixie Method
How to serve Idli to babies at 6-9M stage
You can cut the Idli in
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How to Serve Idly for Babies BLW[/caption]
to 3 -4 strips and place it front of the baby on their highchair tray to make it convenient for the baby 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.
- 2 cup Idli Rice
- 1/2 cup Urad Dal
Soak the Idli rice and Urad dal together for 6 hours minimum or overnight.
Grind the soaked ingredients of Idly Rice and Urad Dhal to a finely coarse consistency.
Keep aside to ferment for 8 hours.
Since we are making this for the baby do not add any salt at this stage (recommended for babies under 1 year 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.
After 8 hours or next day morning, you can see the Batter really fermented. Mix the batter well.
Batter is ready
- How to Make Idly for Babies
1. Idli batter - as prepared above. If store bought look for one without salt if making for a baby below one year of age
2. Ghee/oil - 1tsp - Making Idlis step by step for babies
Slightly grease the idli pan with ghee/oil to avoid the idli sticking to it.
Pour Idli batter onto the Idli pan
Stack the idly pan stands and insert into pressure cooker/ Idli maker with some water added to the bottom of the vessel
Let it steam for 10-15 min. Use a toothpick to check if fully cooked through.
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 (Recipe available 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 Grinder version of making Idli Batter as well.