Energy Drink for infants

Here is another recipe just for the infant babies...My daughter has always been underweight since her birth as she is very fussy about food. My doctor suggested this energy drink which is very healthy and highly nutricious for infants. And the best part is my baby just loved it. I started this for her when she was barely 6 months old. Every morning I gave her a healthy start with this energy drink. I continued giving this for almost a year. But now also when she is not keeping well and has loss of apetite, it comes for my rescue. She still loves this energy drink and I am sure your baby will also love it.
My little princess enjoys this drink, sitting in her little rocker in our balcony :).

In the fourth month, I had started with rice and dal mix (prepared in the same way) and then sixth month onwards I added this health drink to her diet. My suggestion would be that instead of giving your baby cerelac or farex or nestum, this home made energy drink would be the best substitute.

Ingriedients:
Rice - 2 cups
Yellow moong dal - 2 cups
Daliya - 2 cups
Soya dal - 1 cup
Ragi - 1 cup
Urad dal - 1 tablespoon
Tur dal - 2 tablespoon
Cashews
Pista
Almonds

Procedure:
Preparing the Energy drink powder mix:
1. Wash all the ingriedients except Daliya and dry fruits
2. Drain the water completely. You can also tie it to a muslin cloth so that entire water is drained.
3. Keep it for drying for a day or two in hot sun till it is completely dry. Make sure there is no moisture , otherwise the powder mix will attract fungus.
4. Once completely dried, dry roast it in a kadhai one by one. Do not mix everything as every item needs different levels of heating. Dry roast also the daliya and the dry fruits.
5. Once all the items are roasted, grind them one by one in the mixer to powder form.
6. Once all the ingriedients are powdered, mix them well and store it in a airtight container.

Preparing the Instant energy drink:
1. Take 3 teaspoon of the energy powder mix and mix it with 2 cups of water.
2. Add pinch of salt.
3. Boil this for around 10 minutes and keep stirring continuously.

The instant mix for your little one is ready.

Tips:
1. Adjust the consistency of the drink by adding water as per your baby's likes.
2. You can also add some other dals as per your choice.
3. Rice dal mix can be also prepared in the same way. Instead of all these ingriedients, use only rice (2 cups) and yellow moong dal (1.5 cups). You can try giving this from four months onwards.
4. Try adding one dry fruit at at time as some babies are allergic to dry fruits. Try with almonds first and then you can add also cashewnuts and other dry fruits.

Onion Tomato Chutney

When you are bored of preparing the same old coconut chutney or the pudina chutney, then give a try to this onion tomato chutney. It is very easy to prepare and tastes just awesome and needs just onions and tomatoes from the pantry.
So if you are running short of time or running short of coconut or pudina, then this is the best compliment for your dosas or idlis or even parathas. We had this with palak parathas and it turned out to be an amazing combination.

Ingredients:
2 ripe medium size tomatoes
1 medium sized onion
7-8 petals of Garlic
1 green chilly
Karipatta (Curry leaves)
1 teaspoon jaggery
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (Jeera)
Hing
Salt
1 tablepsoon Oil

Procedure:
1. Roughly chop the tomatoes and onions.
2. In the mixer, add the chopped tomatoes and onions, garlic and green chilli and grind it to a fine paste.
3. Next add pinch of salt to this paste and keep it for boiling. Add little water if needed.
4. Boil it for around 5-10 minutes to cook the tomatoes and the onions.
5. Once the color changes from bright red to dull red, add the jaggery and mix well
6. Finally add the seasoning.

For the seasoning:
1. Take a tadka pan, add little oil. Add mustard seeds.
2. Once the mustard starts to splutter, add the cumin seeds, hing and curry leaves.
3. Add this seasoning to the chutney.

Serve the chutney with Dosas or Idlis or Parathas.

Methichi Patal Bhaji (Fenugreek leaves Curry)

If you are tired of preparing the same old methi paratha and dry methi sabji, then its time to give a try to this recipe. Methichi Patal Bhaji is a typical marathi way of preparing the methi in gravy form. Patal bhaji means gravy in marathi. Here the boiled methi leaves are cooked with besan to prepare the gravy. It tastes just yummy.

Ingriedients:
1 bunch methi leaves - cleaned and chopped
1 tablespoon peanuts
2 red chillies
half teaspoon red chilli powder
2 tablespoon Besan
half teaspoon mustard
half teaspoon jeera (Cumin seeds)
Hing
Garlic - 5 petals
Oil
Water
Salt
Jaggery

Procedure:
Methi Gravy Prepartion:
1. Pressure cook the chopped methi along with peanuts and chana dal along with 1 cup water.
2. Once done, strain the water and keep aside.
3. When the methi is cooled down, add besan to it and mix well. Make sure that there are no lumps.
4. Once besan is applied to methi, add the methi water which was kept aside earlier and keep it for boiling.
5. Add salt and Jaggery.
6. Boil this for 10 mins.

For Seasoning
1. To prepare seasoning, in a small kadhai, pour 2 tablespoon oil, add mustard and wait till it splutters.
2. Add Jeera. Once it splutters add garlic and fry till it is golden brown.
3. Add red chillies, hing and chilli powder.
4. Add this seasoning to the methi gravy

Methichi Patal Bhaji is ready to serve.

Serve hot Methichi Patal Bhaji with rice or chapathis.

Tips:
1. Instead of adding peanuts, you can also add peanut powder. Add this while boiling the methi (after the addition of besan). This enhances the flavor. For peanut powder preparation, click Peanut Powder
2. If the methi (fenugreek leaves) is bitter, add 2 teaspoon sugar.