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Every parent is worried about feeding their children nutritional foods that are essential for their development and growth. What you feed your baby will have an influence on their physical health and help them develop good eating habits. This is why it’s critical to start feeding nutritious foods to newborns from the very beginning. Millets are one of the healthiest ingredients for babies to eat, as well as one of the most diverse cooking ingredients. This article will highlight the benefits of millets and introduce a few healthy and wholesome recipes with millets for kids. (6 Kids friendly recipes for lunchbox)
What are millets?
Millets are nutrient-dense grains. They are gluten-free, has non-acid forming properties, easy to digest, and are non-allergic. They are also considered superfoods as they are rich in many functional compounds like dietary fibre, slowly digestible carbohydrates, high protein content, B-complex vitamins, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, copper, and phytochemicals.
Types of millets available in India:
In India, there are 8 types of millet that are often used:
- Jowar (sorghum)
- Ragi (finger millet)
- Kakum (foxtail millet)
- Varagu (kodo millet)
- Sama (little millet)
- Bajra (pearl millet)
- Chena (proso millet)
- Jhangora (barnyard millet)
When to introduce millets to babies?
Give millet to your baby when he/she is six to eight months old. On the first day, start with a tablespoon and progressively increase the amount. They may be introduced to newborns through milk and then gradually introduced to recipes millets rice and dal in a 2:1 ratio with ghee/oil. Recipes with millets can be gradually supplemented with vegetables.
Benefits of Millets:
Millet has a variety of health benefits, such as:
1. Easily digestible:
Fibre, which is abundant in most millets, is one of the most essential elements that aid digestion. Millets are also high in antioxidants and have antimicrobial properties, which assist to fight and prevent stomach infections.
2. Supports bone development:
Millets are abundant in calcium and aid in the maintenance of strong and healthy bones. (Vitamin D, calcium and kids: Are they building strong bones in kids?)
3. Aids muscle recovery:
Muscle weariness can occur as your child’s muscles are utilised in different ways as they grow. Millets are a fantastic source of protein and the healthiest form of protein for newborns.
4. Prevents iron deficiency:
Iron helps in the proper function of haemoglobin. The deficiency of iron in the body leads to anemia. They are rich in iron and thus prevent your babies from becoming anemic.
5. Relieves constipation:
Millets are rich in dietary fibre – soluble and insoluble fibre. The insoluble fibre present in the millets helps in the easy movement of foods in the stomach and adds water into the stool, hence aiding easy digestion and relieving constipation.
6 Nutritious and wholesome recipes with millets:
Millets are quite easy to cook. This is why recipes with millets are so simple to prepare for your kid; here are a few recipes with millets that are healthy and nutritious:
1. QUINOA-MILLET PEAS MEAL
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Quinoa or Little Millet ( Quinoa and little millet boiled in equal water)
- ½ cup Peas
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 1 Chopped small onion
- 3 tbsp Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder (order here)
- 2 tsp Chopped garlic and ginger
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1 tsp Lemon juice fresh
- 2 tsp Chopped green chili (optional)
- Chopped handful coriander
- Salt to tatse
Preparation
- Heat oil in pan. Add cumin,ginger, garlic and onion. Saute for a minute.
- Add peas, chillies, salt. Cook for 3 minutes.
- Add boiled quinoa/ millet (without water), Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder (order here). Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add lemon juice to taste.
- Garnish with coriander. Serve!!
1 cup – 210 calories
Additional nutrition benefits
(1 serving of Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder gives 35.24 calories with 2.06g of protein).
Check 6 Yummy Calcium-Rich Recipes for kids
2. Beetroot idli
Ingredients
- 1 cup Samai millet/ rice
- ½ cup Urad dal (Split black gram)
- 1 cup Beetroot puree
- 1 tbsp Ghee/oil
- 3 tbsp Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder (order here)
Preparation
- Soak rice and dal for 3-4 hours.
- Grind it to make a thick paste. Keep it for rest overnight for fermentation.
- Add beetroot paste, salt and Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder (order here).
- Mix it well and pour the batter into greased molds.
- Put the idli maker into steamer, cover it and cook for 15-20 minutes.
- Let it cool and serve with coconut chutney.
1 beetroot idli – 80 calories
Additional nutrition benefits
(1 serving of Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder gives 35.24 calories with 2.06g of protein).
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3. OATS Pancake
Ingredients
- 2 cups Oats
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 1/4 tbsp Butter
- 1 tbsp Ghee
- 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 2 tsp Cinnamon powder
- 1 egg or 2 tbsp chia or flaxseeds powder soaked in 6 tbsp warm water till it becomes lumpy
- 2 tbsp Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder (order here)
- Salt to taste
Preparation
- Blend the oats to a fine powder.
- To this, add cinnamon powder, baking powder, salt, Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder (order here) and mix well.
- In another bowl, add egg or chia or flaxseeds powder soaked in warm water, butter, milk and whisk well.
- Now add the oat mixture to this and mix well to form a batter of pouring consistency without lumps.
- Heat the pan and add ghee followed by a ladle of batter and cook on the medium flame.
- Allow it to cook on the both sides for 30 seconds and serve hot!!
1 Oats pancake – 200 calories
Additional nutrition benefits
(1 serving of Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder gives 35.24 calories with 2.06g of protein).
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4. Ragi Millet and VEGGIES APPAM
Ingredients
- 1 cup Ragi / Finger millet
- 1 Chopped Medium size beetroot
- 1/2 cup Chopped Carrot, Broccoli
- 2 tbsp Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder (order here)
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp Oil
- Water as required
Preparation
- Finely chop the beetroot, carrot and broccoli.
- Grind them in a coarsely in a mixer.
- Mix the coarse mixture of veggies and Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder (order here) with finger millet.
- Make a batter with pouring consistency by adding little water in it.
- Grease the appam pan with oil.
- Once heated pour spoonful of batter in each mold. Cover and cook on medium flame. After 3 minutes flip over each appam and cook from other side for 2 minutes.
- Take out on a plate and serve with coriander chutney or green chili sauce.
1 appam – 35 calories
Additional nutrition benefits
(1 serving of Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder gives 35.24 calories with 2.06g of protein).
Also, check 8 Healthy and creamy recipe of smoothies and milkshakes
5. Ragi vermicelli
Ingredients
- 1 cup Ragi vermicelli
- 2 tsp freshly grated coconut chunks (optional)
- 1 tsp chana dal
- 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
- 1 chopped onion
- 5-6 Curry leaves
- 1 tbsp oil or ghee
- Green chillies (optional)
- 2 tbsp Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder (order here)
- Handful of coriander leaves
- Salt to taste
- Water as required
Preparation
- Soak the vermicelli for about 3-5 minutes in lukewarm water. Drain the water and set the vermicelli aside.
- In a pan, add oil, mustard seeds, chana dal, curry leaves, and onion, saute until they turn pinkish brown.
- Then add Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder (order here), ragi vermicelli, salt and cook on a medium flame.
- Stir well for 2-3 minutes and garnish with grated coconut and coriander leaves.
- Serve!!
1 cup – 356 calories
Additional nutrition benefits
(1 serving of Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder gives 35.24 calories with 2.06g of protein).
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6. Ragi litti/savoury balls
Ingredients
- 2 cups Ragi flour (Finger Millet Flour)
- ½ cup Sattu (Roasted black gram flour)
- 1 tsp Chopped ginger and garlic
- 1 tbsp mustard oil
- 1/2 tsp black cumin
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- Handful of coriander leaves
- 3 tbsp Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder (order here)
- Salt to taste
Procedure
- Take sattu and add chopped ginger, garlic, mustard oil, kalonji (black cumin), lemon juice, coriander leaves in it.
- Add 2 tbsp of Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder (order here) and mix well to make filling.
- Take ragi flour, add 1 tbsp of Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder (order here), add water and knead a soft dough.
- Divide the dough, flatten to desired size and place a spoonful of filling. Close the dough by the edges and roll it into ball.
- Preheat the oven at 180 degrees and bake till balls are cooked properly.
- Serve hot!!
1 Ragi litti/savoury ball – 130 calories
Additional nutrition benefits
(1 serving of Iyurved’s Daily Nutrition Veggies and Dal powder gives 35.24 calories with 2.06g of protein).
Also, check 5 top ayurvedic herbs that are safe for kids
Millets are superfoods, but they can’t replace your child’s whole diet. Please visit your dietician or nutritionist to better understand your child’s nutritional needs and how to add recipes with millets into their diet.
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