Today’s recipe is something really nice and tasty for our tiny tots. It is one of the ‘bases’ as I call it. Instead of always serving rice to my little daughter who is now 15 months old, I sometimes serve her pasta or chapathi. But of late I have notice that she gets bored of the same old stuff and hence I have to innovate. Lots of people from previous generations will sigh and say, well, you offer way too many food varieties, so what do you expect? When I hear such statements I just want to exclaim
‘Seriously???’. Spare me! Well, new moms of babies born in the past 10 years will know how hard it is to get them to eat well at every meal. Gone are the days when 25-30 years ago we were fed just about anything and we just gobbled it down without complaints.
Today’s babies start their fussy eating habits early and I beg for strength during every meal. Honestly, I am waiting for this ‘plan meal-cook-clean up-feed-clean up-thrice a day’ routine to end soon. But then, I’ll have to admit that there are days when I have a good eater on my hands, when something has truly turned out tasty and is eaten without complaints. Those are the days I heave a sigh of relief and say, maybe I haven’t inculcated the wrong eating habits afterall.
Well, the point I am making here is that to each his own. Moms, do what really works for you. Don’t stress yourselves out. If your baby eats well because you stretched (not stressed!) yourself a bit and tried to make something new, then kudos to you. As long as we have happy, active and healthy children, I think everything is ok!
If you had never heard about this dish until now, well, join the club. I was given this recipe by my dear friend and ex-colleague, Sadhana when my son was a toddler. She gave me a couple of life saver recipes – ones that you can pre-prepare and store and then cook on short notice. They came very handy as I could cook them when I was in no mood to cook anything especially when I was unwell myself.
Ukad (also known as Thakachi Ukad) is a Maharashtrian style breakfast porridge that has a lot more ingredients that make it a little more spicy. I skipped the abundance of green chillies, ginger, garlic, curry leaves among the others. I will try the other version soon. For now, I hope your little one enjoys it. You can serve it for breakfast or lunch as a base (instead of rice/chapathi) along with a veg/chicken/fish curry.
Homemade Baby Food - Ukad (Maharashtrian Style Savoury Rice Flour Porridge)
Give your little one a delicious alternative to store bought baby food with this subtly flavoured savoury rice flour porridge!
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Ingredients
- 1/3 rd cup rice flour
- 3/4 th cup buttermilk * see note for substitute
- pinch of salt or to taste
For the tempering:
- 1/8 th teaspoon mustard
- 1/8 th teaspoon green chilli minced or 2 pinches of red chilli powder optional, adjust to taste
- a pinch of asafoetida/hing
- 1 tablespoon ghee
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk the buttermilk with the rice flour until well blended and lump free.
- Heat the ghee or oil in a non stick pan/kadhai/wok and add the mustard. When it stops spluttering add the green chilli or chilli powder, hing and give a quick stir, reduce the heat at this point to prevent the powders from burning.
- Slowly pour the buttermilk and rice mixture from one side of the pan to avoid spluttering. Stir continuously to prevent lump formation.
- Reduce the heat to low and continue to stir until the mixture thickens and leaves the sides of the pan, almost like a ball of dough. Cover the pan and allow it to cook for half a minute.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Serve warm with any accompaniment of your choice like chicken or vegetables or dal. You may drizzle a few drops of ghee per serving to make it more tasty.
Notes
If you don't have buttermilk, just dissolve 1/4 cup thick curd/yogurt in 1/2 cup of water and whisk it well to remove any lumps. Add salt to taste
Disclaimer
The nutritional values are only indicative.
Tried this recipe?Please leave a comment & rate the recipe below or share a photo on Instagram and tag me @ruchikrandhap
this is nice and healthy and new to me…
perfect for babies , remebered the days when my son was small…
Lovely looking baby food. Lovely preparation.
Deepa
Not baby food only!! I love it even now especially with Garlic tadka! oh yum, bring it on any hour !!
Shireen, I love your prologue to the recipe. it is very easy for people to comment on how we our babies. its really the easiest thing to do!! I have a 9 month old baby and feeding him is a challenge. there are days when he relishes a meal and on other days he just splurts it out, recipes like these can be a saviour! but any idea if we can use atta instead of rice flour. Im not a fan of rice for my babies as it hardly provides any nutrition and is fiberless.
@Rasika, thanks so much! I do understand the challenges of feeding little ones as I have just crossed the hurdle with my older son and now my daughter who is almost 2 is developing new tastes on a daily basis.
My views on rice are a little different from yours and I believe that rice has plenty of nutritional benefits. It has simply made to look like a villain these days. It is the best gluten free food for gluten intolerants. If it was so devoid of nutrition why would half the world be consuming it since centuries?
I am copy pasting excerpts from a website just for your benefit:
Courtesy:https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/cereal/health-benefits-of-rice.html
The health benefits of rice include its ability to provide fast and instant energy, regulate and improve bowel movements, stabilize blood sugar levels, and slow down the aging process, while also providing an essential source of vitamin B1 to the human body. Other benefits include its ability to boost skin health, increase the metabolism, aid in digestion, reduce high blood pressure, help weight loss efforts, improve the immune system and provide protection against dysentery, cancer, and heart disease. Rice is a fundamental food in many cultural cuisines around the world, and it is an important cereal crop that feeds more than half of the world’s population.
You may also want to read these articles which debunk many myths about rice
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/diet/Health-benefits-of-rice/articleshow/12439103.cms
http://www.justforhearts.org/2013/04/top-4-health-benefits-of-eating-rice/