Indian food for baby
Baby food recipes - 6 to 18 months
By Swasthi on August 26, 2022, Comments, Jump to Recipe
Baby food recipes – A collection of homemade Indian baby food recipes for 6 10 18 months babies. If you are a new mum, you can check this Baby food chart for 6 months baby. If you have a baby older than 7 months then you can check this Indian baby food chart for 8 months & above. You can also take a look at the best foods to gain weight in babies & toddlers. This post contains a list of all Indian baby food recipes available on this blog.
I have also included a few sample baby food recipes in the recipe card. All the recipes are tried and tested and have been served for both my babies.
If your pediatrician has suggested you to start, then You can start with a single fruit, single veggie and then single grain. For more details please check this post on How to introduce solids to baby.
I highly recommend reading every line of the baby food posts on this blog as they can guide you extensively.
Baby food recipes – babies above 6 months
How to make baby rice cereal
Apple rice
Ragi porridge for babies
Apple Wheat porridge
Apple ragi (try ragi and apple separately first, then try together)
Khichdi for babies
Methi khichdi
Moong dal soup
Carrot almond baby food
Potato rice
Barley baby cereal
Sago carrot kheer for babies
Sabudana kheer for babies
Wheat cereal for babies
Soft idli recipe
Milk oats porridge
How to make ragi flour for babies
Oats porridge with vegetables (blend till smooth)
Sweet potato rice
Apple oats
Babies above 8 months
Sprouts soup
Urad dal khichdi
Raw banana rice
Ven pongal. please mash the rice well and remove the pepper corns. You can also puree it.
Curd rice. Puree if desired, skip tempering.
Curd oats
Moong dal halwa
Ragi idli
Baby food recipes for babies above 11 months
These need to be pureed before serving
Dalia khichdi
Oats vegetable khichdi
Sweet corn soup
Barley soup with vegetables
Chickpeas toddler food
Chickpeas soup (for babies above 15 months)
Badam milk.
pls consult your doctor and use buffalo or goat milk, avoid cow’s milk.
Set dosa
Banana milkshake
Lassi (avoid salt and sugar)
Neer dosa
Kambu dosa
Sample Indian baby food recipes
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Servings2
AuthorSwasthi
Ingredients for 6 months baby food recipes 1 – Any one of the following (refer notes)
- ▢ ½ banana
- ▢ 1 sapota
- ▢ ½ papaya
- ▢ 2 tbsp cooked rice
Ingredients for 7 to 8 months baby food recipes 2 (refer notes)
- ▢ 2 tbsp rice or 2 tbsps ragi or wheat flour
- ▢ 200 ml water
- ▢ 1 small apple or banana
- ▢ 1/8 tsp ghee homemade (refer notes)
Ingredients for 8 months baby food recipes 3
- ▢ 1½ tbsp rice aged rice
- ▢ 1½ tbsp dal (toor or moong dal)
- ▢ 1½ tbsp carrots chopped
- ▢ 200 ml water
- ▢ 1/8 tsp ghee homemade
Ingredients for 8 months baby food recipes 4
- ▢ 2 tbsp rice
- ▢ 1 baby potato or 2 tbsp chopped
- ▢ 1 pinch carom seeds powder (ajwain powder)
- ▢ ¼ tsp ghee homemade
Making 6 months baby food recipes
- ▢
Make sure you follow the 3 day test rule for every food you introduce.
Wait for the results until 4th day. - ▢
To make the baby food, Mash any one of the fruits – banana, papaya, sapota very well until smooth.
- ▢
If desired add it to a blender and puree until smooth. To thin down add a few spoons of boiled and cooled water. Fruit puree is ready.
- ▢
If using cooked rice, then puree together rice and any of the fruit – (banana, papaya, sapota or steamed apple) along with some boiled and cooled water. Fruit flavored rice is ready.
- ▢
You can also feed only steamed apple. Peel and chop the apples. Bring half cup water to a boil and add the apples to it.
- ▢
Cook until the apples are slightly tender just for a minute or 2. Cool and puree with rice or just the steamed apple. Apple puree is ready.
Making 7 months baby food recipes
- ▢
Wash rice and soak in water for at least 30 mins.
- ▢
Pressure cook on a medium flame for 2 to 3 whistles.
You can also cook in a pot until soft. - ▢
Apple flavored rice cereal : When the pressure goes down, open the lid and add grated apple. Cover and cook for 2 to 3 mins. Cool and make a smooth puree. If needed add some boiled and cooled water. Add few drops of hot ghee. Apple flavored rice is ready.
- ▢
Banana rice cereal : Cool the rice completely. Add banana and rice to a blender and make a fine puree. Pour few tbsps boiled and cooled water if desired.
Making 8 months baby food recipes
- ▢
Wash rice and dal in a cooker or pot a few times until the water runs clear. Add grated carrots and pour water.
- ▢
Pressure cook for 2 to 3 whistles on a medium heat. If cooking in a pot add more water as needed.
- ▢
When the pressure goes down, using a masher mash the food to smooth. This is the stage you must be teaching you baby to eat mashed foods. Reduce feeding pureed foods. Add ghee to hot food and serve warm.
Rice dal baby food is ready.
Making 8 months baby food recipes
- ▢
Soak rice until water runs clear. Soak for 30 mins and cook along with potato until soft for 3 whistles. Mash the rice well and add ghee. Feed warm. To prevent colic you can add a pinch of ajwain powder. Potato rice is ready.
The nutrition values are only for the banana flavored rice. These are approximations only.
Please follow 3 day wait rule for every food you introduce.
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
Nutrition Facts
Baby food recipes
Amount Per Serving
Calories 45
% Daily Value*
Potassium 105mg3%
Carbohydrates 10g3%
Sugar 3g3%
Vitamin C 2.
6mg3%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @SwasthisRecipes or tag #swasthisrecipes!
© Swasthi’s Recipes
step by step
About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills.
Follow Swasthi’s Recipes
Sign up to receive awesome Swasthi’s Recipes in your inbox *
Popular Recipes
Featured Recipes
Baby food chart with recipes for 7 months to 1 year Indian baby & toddlers
By Swasthi on August 6, 2022, Comments,
Indian baby food chart along with a list of tried & tested 60 Indian baby food recipes.
Thanks to the readers who led me to this post on Indian baby food chart. Before I take you to the details of the food chart and the food recipes, please be informed that this post is based on my experience. I have honestly expressed my views and opinions on easy baby weaning so that it could be helpful to new mothers.
Please read the comments below before posting your queries since similar queries may have been answered.
Well, some of my tips might look like old wives tales since they are based on Ayurveda, but I do trust them in growing healthy and happy babies. However I suggest consulting your elders or pediatrician before you follow any new foods or tip that have been mentioned here.
For the past several years, I have been consistently sharing & updating baby recipes especially for a good weight gain. You can find all the latest recipes or ideas on the baby toddler recipes section.
Readers who have been asking for suggestions on foods to gain weight, please check this detailed post on best foods for weight gain in babies & toddlers.
Is this baby food chart suitable to my Baby?
This Indian baby food chart is a generalized one suitable for most babies. However i suggest you to use your judgement whether to include or not, certain ingredients in your babies diet based on your babies allergies, intolerance, appetite, likes and dislikes.
I have tried to link most Indian baby food recipes that I have posted earlier on this blog. Many were written almost 5 years ago and are updated regularly with new tips based on the readers reviews.
This Indian baby food chart was developed by me based on what i fed my 2 kids, whose birth weight was 3.3 kgs and 3.4 kgs. The ideas were basically drawn from the health and baby weaning booklets that were given to us during our visits to the singapore clinics, hospitals and few from clinics in Bangalore.
This chart is also suitable to babies who were preterm born or were underweight. However I suggest mums with such babies to consult a pediatrician if you are skeptical about these foods.
This post will be updated, to include tips and other information. You can leave a comment here if you want to know anything specific which will be answered. Please feel free to share or discuss your experiences, views, problems that you encounter while weaning your babies in the comment section. It could be helpful to other readers, it’s through sharing we can learn.
When to introduce food to baby – 6 months to 1 year
Here is a brief guide on the right time to introduce foods. But how to introduce them can be found in the recipe posts. Example: Oats or oatmeal – I have mentioned clearly how to choose them and the kind you can use and how to prepare it for a baby.
You can find a a detailed baby food chart for 6 months old baby here along with recipes.
This Indian baby food chart and the baby food recipes have been developed for a good weight gain in babies.
Indian baby food chart for babies above 7 months or from 8 months
| Milk – (skip milk if baby wakes up after 8 am, make a milk based breakfast from breakfast section) |
 30 to 8 am |
| One of the following: APPLE RICE CEREAL Quick fix breakfast (for 8 to 18 months): |
 15 am |
| One of the following: Steamed apple (raw apple for babies older than 12 months) |
| Try using whole grains like RAGI OR FINGER MILLET Try one of the following DALIA KHICHDI (vegetable broken wheat food) For a lighter meal, if the baby has colic mashed rice with dal ka paani with a pinch of ajwain(strained dal soup) |
 30 to 3 pm |
| Fruits or steam cooked mashed veggies |
| One of the following: Large serving of Milk |
| Please Note: Feeding late can cause indigestion and the infant may not sleep due to colic. Avoid feeding heavy foods. Dinner should always be light, nutritious, mostly vegetable based. For babies from 10 to 12 months prefer light foods from breakfast section. Avoid egg & nuts. Babies above 12 months : Any foods mentioned in the breakfast and lunch can also be served for dinner. Other options mashed rice with dal ka paani (strained dal soup) |
| Large serving of Milk. Make sure there is a gap of at least 1 hour 30 mins in between the completion of dinner and milk. For babies above 12 months: If the baby is still hungry after the milk, can feed some light crackers. |
Related post: how to make ragi flour for babies or toddlers’ porridge
Tips to increase the appetite in babies
1. Try to serve fruits 1 ½ to 2 hours before a meal. They tend to make the infant feel hungry naturally. Do not serve fruit with a meal.
2. Do not mix fruits with dairy especially milk.
It leads to indigestion.
3. Babies need exercise, let them play and crawl or run around. Don’t confine them to a small area. For toddlers / babies who can walk, a small walk in the neighborhood before a meal can make them hungry.
General Tips:
1. If you have a very fussy baby, avoid milk in the early morning and serve milk based breakfast mentioned in the table.
2. Serving bread or any other baked stuff to babies, leads to colic or bloating due to the ingredients like baking soda, powder, yeast etc.
3. Limit crackers or biscuits to only once a day, avoiding is however better.
About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home.
Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills.
Follow Swasthi’s Recipes
Sign up to receive awesome Swasthi’s Recipes in your inbox *
Popular Recipes
Featured Recipes
Everyday food in India — Real time
Society
07:00, 05/04/2019
Rice with rice, red chili and banana leaf feast
There is a concept in the West that in India, an impoverished and overpopulated country, overcooked and scalding food is eaten. But that's not the case at all. Indian culture won me over with its cuisine. Such a variety of tastes, colors, smells cannot be found, in my opinion, in any other cuisine in the world. And this despite the fact that traditional Indian cuisine is vegetarian, that is, it does not use meat, eggs and fish.
Due to spices, various vegetables, grains, milk and oils, thousands of dishes proven over the centuries are created. For several years now, I have been trying to master the main dishes of this cuisine, learning from local women. In a new article for Realnoe Vremya, I will talk about what my menu has become after a long stay in India.
All Five Tastes
The first thing you remember about Indian cuisine, especially if you get to know it not in restaurants designed for Western tourists, but in street cafes or visiting Indians, is the sharpness of the dishes. Indians love very spicy food, like the rest of the inhabitants of the hot zone. For many reasons. Hot peppers, chili, put in food, because it increases sweating and helps to endure heat more easily. In addition, pepper copes well with the destruction of infections in the body.
After some time I learned to eat moderately spicy food, and after that Russian cuisine seems boring and insipid to me.
True, there are as many peppers as the Indians, but I'm still not used to it. They throw a handful of dried red peppers into any salty and sometimes sweet dish, and then bite it with green chili as well. Chili is not a traditional product for India, it was brought from other hot countries, but initially Indian cuisine also has a spicy taste due to ginger and black pepper.
However, it's not just about the spicy taste. The basics of Indian cooking are based on such a science of human health as Ayurveda, which says that all tastes should be present in food during lunch: bitter, sour, spicy, sweet, and astringent.
A pile of rice is placed on a large round tray, and small cups with all kinds of snacks, side dishes, seasonings and sauces are placed around it. From Hindi, it translates as "large plate" or "tray". A hill of rice is placed on a large round tray, and small cups with all kinds of snacks, side dishes, seasonings and sauces are placed around it. This way you can try a little bit of everything and combine different dishes that just combine all five tastes.
This is quite a hearty meal, in India there is even a saying: "Men eat thali to be strong, and women to be fat and beautiful." In some cafes (and in the homes of residents of some states), thali is served in the traditional way, not on a tray, but on banana leaves: this method is good for health, banana leaves release useful substances when in contact with food. The same thali is prepared at home, and on holidays the number of dishes can reach 20-25. Also, a slice of lemon, a slice of ginger and a little salt are placed on the tray, they must be eaten first to awaken the appetite and start digestion.
Moreover, in most Indian cafes you can get a supplement for free: after a while you will be offered more rice and various vegetable dishes. There is no need to pay extra, you can eat as much as you want, your serving is not limited in weight and volume.
Rice with rice
Rice is the main food in the Indian diet. Rice is eaten all year round, morning, afternoon and evening.
It is easy to grow, cheap, and therefore accessible to all segments of the population. Mostly Indians eat white polished rice. Brown rice, which has recently become so fashionable in the West, is eaten only by very poor people. Many recipes for rice dishes have been preserved in modern India since ancient times, they are mentioned in the scriptures (shastras). There are many options for boiling rice, frying it with vegetables and spices (pulao, biryani), making rice sweets.
An Indian can eat a mountain of rice for lunch. And this is not a figurative expression. All other dishes are only an addition, be it a little soup, sauce or vegetables. Especially love rice in South India. Diversity at lunch is achieved by serving several types of differently cooked rice. First, as a rule, there is a handful of turmeric yellow rice with vegetables, then flattened rice may be served, and then the main portion of white.
Rice is eaten all year round, morning, afternoon and evening. It is easy to grow, cheap, and therefore accessible to all segments of the populationBean dishes - dal
Indians usually eat without cutlery, with the right hand.
The left is considered unclean. Eating with your hands is healthy and delicious. It is useful because it is difficult to take too much with your hand, fingers are sensitive to the consistency of food and its temperature, unlike a spoon. Rice itself is dry, and in order to soak it, medium-thick pea soup is poured directly into a hill of rice, dal. In India, many varieties of peas are available in all shops and stores. These are chana-dal, and chickpeas, and urad-dal, and matar-dal (large peas), and mung-dal (mash). From very small peas, which quickly boil and form a thick creamy soup, to large peas, which are known in Russia.
Bean dishes are superior in protein to all other foods. There are so many recipes for their preparation that you can cook different types of dala for several months and not repeat. The simplest recipe is matar-dal: peas are boiled and blended in a saucepan until smooth, and then spices fried in oil, masala, are added to it, which stimulates digestion and gives the dish aroma and color.
Masala usually includes fresh ginger paste and turmeric.
Almost all Indian housewives have pressure cookers at home: they can quickly boil dal, saving gas, which is not cheap in the country.
Vegetable dishes - sabji
In India, where over 80 percent of the population is vegetarian, rice and dal are the basis of a nutritious meal. The poor who cannot buy vegetables every day eat only rice and dal. In difficult times, when dal grows in price, they eat only rice, eating it with green chili. But traditionally, rice and dal are also served with sabji, fried and stewed vegetables with spices. India is a paradise for vegetarians, growing and selling a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. The markets where vegetables are sold are called “sabji bazaars”, where fresh vegetables and fruits freshly harvested in the fields and beds are unloaded every morning at sunrise.
Many of them are known to us: pumpkin, eggplant, potatoes, radishes, cauliflower, tomatoes.
Others are little known in the West: breadfruit, potol (Indian cucumber), bitter melon (karela), green papaya, and so on. In India, Shaka dishes are very popular, this herb is very cheap and available all year round. It is simply fried in a pan, seasoned with salt, spices and oil.
Vegetables are fried mainly in mustard oil, which, by the way, has a very high combustion temperature. They also cook with coconut, peanut and sesame oils. But ghee, ghee, has been considered a sign of prosperity in India for many centuries. It is also called liquid gold, because earlier a person's wealth was judged by ghee reserves. Ghee is also healthier than other oils and is called “brain food” in the shastras. When you cook food with ghee, the dish has a special caramel aroma and sweet taste.
Ginger paste, chili, cumin, coriander and mustard are usually added to vegetables.
Several types of sabji are served on the holiday at once.
Indian bread
In traditional Indian cuisine there is no baking, the bread is fried. Usually the stove is built in the yard of clay bricks, the fuel is cakes made from cow dung. In the villages and towns that still make up most of India, women can be seen plastering fences and trees with these cakes so that they dry out. It is considered the most environmentally friendly fuel.
Although there are electric stoves in many Indian homes, sourdough or yeast bread is still not eaten by most Indians. But here, as in all Eastern cultures, there is a wide variety of cakes that are cooked on an open fire.
The most popular flatbread is chapati. Cooking it is not so easy, girls from childhood, under the supervision of their mother, learn to roll perfectly flat cakes from flour, water and salt. Then they are slightly warmed up in a hot flat frying pan without sides and thrown directly into the fire or on a metal grate above the fire.
If everything is done correctly, then the cake should swell to the state of a ball and thus bake from the inside. Chapatis are smeared with ghee.
A more refined and expensive version of cakes is puri. They are thrown into hot oil, and there is a belief that if a woman's puris are swollen, then her mother-in-law loves her. Indians eat puri for breakfast along with some stewed vegetables or jam.
There are also stuffed flatbreads called parathi. Cheese, potatoes, greens are put there as a filling. My favorite type of flatbread is lachcha paratha, I first tried real lachcha paratha in a small town in South India. On the street early in the morning, an elderly old man was preparing these cakes in a shop, which, probably, was inherited from his father, and since then he has been toasting bread here every day.
His daughter and grandson helped him. Lachchha paratha is a hot, crispy, puffy, buttered puff pastry.
All flatbreads are served hot, straight off the fire. However, Indians generally rarely eat food that has lain down for some time, they do not like semi-finished products either. According to Ayurveda, it is harmful to heat food, especially rice, dhal and vegetables.
Of course, large families don't have cakes every day, because they take longer to prepare. They are served with rice, dal and sabji. A piece of cake comes off and with its help a little rice and vegetables are collected, this is very convenient when the rice is crumbly and the vegetables have not cooled down yet.
Rice, daloo and sabji are served with spicy-sweet sauce - chutney, with a lot of pepper and sugarSnacks and sauces
Indian cuisine is rich in various snacks. Indians are very hospitable people, and even if they don't have lunch yet, you will certainly be treated to some deep-fried homemade crunchy chickpea flour crackers with spices and a glass of water or a chilled drink.
Such salty snacks are convenient to take with you on the road, they do not spoil.
Another type of popular snack is pakora: deep-fried pieces of vegetables (and sometimes also fruit and paneer or Adyghe cheese). This is a simple and cheap dish. Indians simply adore him, so there are always pakora sellers on trains, on the streets, in parks at social events. At home and in cafes, pakoras are usually served with soup or a drink.
Rice, dal and sabji are also served with spicy-sweet sauce - chutney, with lots of pepper and sugar. Such sauces emphasize the taste of the main dish; you can’t eat a lot of them because of the spiciness. I note that many modern Indians are very fond of onions and garlic and put it with the same fanaticism as chili in all dishes. However, traditional cuisine does not use these seasonings. Moreover, according to the shastras, onions and garlic are considered unclean foods and are not recommended for human consumption.
Sweets
Factory-made sweets and packaged chocolates have not yet killed Indian love for handmade sweets.
They are prepared by housewives, temple cooks, and shopkeepers (halvais), the recipes have practically not changed over the centuries. The chef's professionalism is expressed not in his innovation, but in his ability to achieve a taste that is as close to the traditional as possible. Many sweet dishes are made from boiled milk. Milk with sugar is boiled for an hour or longer, with constant stirring. This is a lot of work, but Indian women believe that for them it is an opportunity to put all their love for loved ones into cooking. Depending on the degree of milk cooking, burfi, khir, rabri, “sweet rice” are obtained. Decorate such sweets with nuts, ground cardamom, saffron.
Curd milk mashed with powdered sugar produces the most delicate sandesh. If the sandeshs are boiled in sugar syrup, then these are already rasagulas. And if after that put in a creamy sauce, then rasamalai.
Factory-made sweets and packaged chocolates have not yet killed Indians' love for hand-made sweets.
One of the most popular dishes in India is halava. Not halva, namely halava, which is made mainly from semolina and sugar with butter and resembles pudding.
Homemade yogurt is fermented by housewives every day. Women take pride in using the leaven that has been passed down from generation to generation, from mother to daughter. Condensed yogurt can be used to make a delicate shrikhand dessert, and if you dilute the yogurt with water, add fruit puree and sugar, you get lassi, a refreshing and satisfying drink.
In India, you can find different types of sugar in all stores and stalls, it is not uncommon and it is very affordable. These are cane (jaggery), and date, and palm (gur) sugar. The word "sugar" itself comes from the Sanskrit word "sarkar". The amount of sugar Indians use to make sweets is incredible. It is clear that in this way sweets are stored longer in the heat. They also traditionally add dried fruits, spices and natural flavors - green cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, saffron, black pepper and camphor, rose water.
Sweets are usually sprinkled with nuts or coconut flakes.
Drinks
Tea was brought to India by the British. Now this drink is very popular here, but they prepare it in their own way: they boil it together with milk, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon and other spices. This is called masala chai. It should be piping hot, drink it from tiny cups.
I saw how early in the morning, before dawn, some old man takes his smoky iron stove to the side of the road, kindles a fire in it and brews tea in a teapot. This is his earnings, perhaps, throughout his life. Everyone who passes by on their way to work, as well as rickshawals and cyclists, buy tea from him in small cups and drink it sitting next to him right on the ground. This is the morning ritual of many Indians.
However, tea and coffee, from the point of view of the sastras and according to the authoritative brahmins, are not pure foods. And many Indians refuse these drinks, which have a slight narcotic effect and are addictive.
The same attitude in traditional culture to alcohol. In some places it is even forbidden to sell alcohol, for example, where I live (Mayapur, Bengal).
My culinary experiences
Before coming to India, I had some experience in cooking Russian and European cuisine. But when I got acquainted with Indian cuisine, I realized that I didn’t know how to cook at all. In India, cooking is a complex and delicate art, and it is better if a girl learns it from childhood. Now I take lessons from local women, YouTube videos are a good help, since many Indian housewives or their grandchildren are infected with the modern disease to blog culinary.
Of course, not all recipes that you can see there are proven. Therefore, in case one of the readers is interested in how to learn how to cook Indian cuisine, I will advise a number of sources. Of the blogs that talk about Indian cuisine in Russian, this is Culinary Journey: Indian Cuisine. And from the authoritative literature - the book of Yamuna devi "Indian Vegetarian Cuisine" and Adiraja das "Vedic Culinary Art". In particular, Yamuna, a cook from America, traveled all over India, collecting traditional recipes from temple priests and householders.
In some articles I have already written that in the tradition of India it is customary to take consecrated food (“What did you eat today?” as the main Indian question). The well-known philosophical and religious Indian treatise Bhagavad Gita says that one who takes food that is not offered to God "tastes only sin." Food is offered both in temples and at home altars, reciting the appropriate mantras. In order to offer it, the chef does not taste the dish during the cooking process: Indian housewives can determine by eye whether there is enough salt and sugar in the dish.
Most Indians know that eating food from the store or cooked anywhere and by anyone is a low standard of living, because with food we take over the consciousness of a person and take away his sins. Indians love to eat what their mother or wife cooks. And a woman's ability to cook is decisive when choosing a bride. Despite the fact that emancipation in large cities of India is gaining momentum and more and more women are choosing a career over family life, women housewives in India are still treated with respect today, because all family members thanks to them can get fresh and healthy food every day.
Natalia Fedorova, photo from the archive of the author
SocietyCulturefood guide with descriptions and photos
When Indian spices are placed on a hot frying pan, a wonderful aroma immediately spreads throughout the area. He lightly knocks on doors and windows, envelops wooden huts, trees. Neighbor dogs are already moving their noses in the wind, wondering what it is: marinated chicken or melt-in-your-mouth fried paneer cheese? You can eat Indian food every day and discover something new every time.
Today I will talk about what we ate in Delhi and Goa for two months. The most delicious and favorite dishes with descriptions and photos. Fasting on an empty stomach is dangerous, so better make yourself a sandwich.
It's amazing how the same products "sound" differently in different cuisines around the world. Take at least vegetables - potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, onions. Our housewives will most likely make a vegetable soup or stew out of this. Flip flops will quickly fry this in a hot frying pan, adding soy sauce and half a spoon of sodium gluconate. Thais, in addition to salty soy sauce, add sugar and squeeze lime juice. And the Malays will be rolled in breadcrumbs and fried in a huge vat with oil poured to the brim.
Most Indian cooking starts the same way. A small fragile woman in a colorful sari will first add oil to the pan, and then start conjuring with spices. I think nowhere else in the world do I use so many powders, seeds and herbs at the same time.
Here's a pinch of cardamom, heels of cloves, a spoonful of mustard seeds and a couple of curry leaves, fenugreek and fennel seeds, turmeric for color ... Each dish is like the result of the work of a skilled alchemist. To infuse flavor into a new dish, you need to be a bit of a magician.
Indian dishes: what to order in a restaurant
Chicken Masala or Chicken Tikka Masala
Chicken fried in tandoor and then braised in a sauce of tomatoes, ginger, garlic, cream and Indian spices. The prefix Tikka means that the chicken was marinated in spices before baking.
I also strongly advise you to try the same dish, only from lamb. It is called Lamb Masala . In good Indian restaurants, the meat is tender, it melts in your mouth.
Shakhi Paneer and Palak Paneer
Paneer is the name for Indian homemade cheese, which is somewhat similar to our Adyghe cheese. Uncooked from a neutral taste, not greasy, porous, so it perfectly absorbs any sauce.
Shahi Paneer is a cheese cooked in a creamy tomato sauce. Ground nuts are sometimes added to it. Palak Paneer - the same cheese, but in a spinach sauce.
We've also tried Paneer Makhanwala with a simple creamy tomato sauce. And Kadai Paneer - in yogurt sauce with the addition of green bell pepper.
Chicken Sagwala
Very tender chicken in spinach sauce. Usually it is prepared without the addition of hot spices, so the dish can be safely ordered for children. It can be eaten with flatbread or rice.
Dal
Lentil soup, more like puree. Boiled lentils are overcooked with fried vegetables and spices. Dal is spicy, spicy, hot and incredibly tasty. Be sure to order Indian cakes for it. It is correct to eat gave not with a spoon, but scooping mashed potatoes from a plate with a flat cake.
Aloo Gobi
A very simple vegetarian Indian dish. Alu is a potato and gobi is a cauliflower. Despite the simple ingredients, these dishes from Indian chefs come out just a masterpiece.
If you are not a vegetarian and are skeptical about meat-free dishes, then Alu Gobi will be able to convince you that a hearty meal can be without animal protein.
Biryani (Biriyani)
It is called Indian pilaf, although it has nothing to do with pilaf. The peculiarity of Asian pilaf is that rice is boiled in a broth of overcooked vegetables and meat. But when preparing Biryani, rice is boiled separately in ordinary water, and vegetables and meat with spices are fried in a pan. Then, all this is combined already on a plate, beautifully laying out the filling of meat and vegetables inside the rice. It turns out such a dish with a surprise. Sometimes, however, rice with vegetables is simply mixed in a pan and no surprise comes out. Biryani are vegetarian, with chicken, pork or lamb. Rice is usually made spicy, but if you do not like spicy, then ask for it without chili (no chilli).
Easy Step by Step Vegetarian Biryani Recipe
Momo
These are Tibetan dumplings.
If you do not know how to feed a child in India, order momo. There are vegetarian momos with cabbage, carrots and onions, there are chicken, pork and beef momos.
Proper momos should be freshly molded, steamed in special momos right before serving.
When the perfect momo enters the mouth, meat juice flows out of it, which simply makes you close your eyes in pleasure. If momo was prepared in advance, frozen, and after some time cooked, then you will immediately feel it. They will be dry and tasteless. One has only to find an Indian restaurant that serves delicious momo, and you will not notice how your legs will carry you there again and again. If you suddenly find yourself in Goa in Arambol, check out the beach Shiva Garden Restaurant . They make amazing momos there.
Raita
Vegetable or fruit salad generously seasoned with fermented Indian curd (curd is a drink similar to kefir). Some compare it to okroshka, because raita is usually liquid, because.
kerda there are more vegetables. Sometimes raita with onions, cucumbers and tomatoes, sometimes with small pieces of pineapple or other fruits. Raita with roti bread is the perfect dinner in the heat, when you do not want to eat heavy and fatty foods, but the body requires a light and cool lunch.
Masala Dosa
Dosa is an Indian lentil or rice flour flatbread. It is big and crispy. Dosa options can be many. The most famous vegetarian restaurant chain in India, Saravana Bhavan, serves 22 types of dosa. Masala dosa is the most popular of them. Spicy mashed potatoes are placed inside the tortillas, and sauces are served along with the pancake.
Pakora
This is the general term for batter-fried vegetables, cheese or meat. Pakora can be a wonderful beer snack, for example.
Uthappam
Another vegetarian Indian dish. These are pancakes made from rice or lentil flour, in the dough of which small pieces of vegetables were added. It is very similar to our omelette with vegetables, only instead of eggs, the basis of the dish is dough.
Uttapams are served with sauces as an appetizer for meat, dal or as a main dish.
Mostly uttapam is homemade and street food, but these pancakes are also served in restaurants above the roadside cafes.
Malai Kofta
Mashed potato patties with paneer cheese, stewed in a creamy nut sauce with cashews and raisins. Very gentle, sweet taste. A hearty dish that goes well with flatbread or rice.
Veg Jaipuri
Veg Jaipuri is a mixture of vegetables in a special spice cocktail. There are coriander seeds, and cashew nuts fried in butter, as well as ginger and garlic, tomatoes and a special blend of spices Garam Masala. Boiled vegetables are stewed in this Jaipuri sauce, a little cream and Paneer cheese are added and voila - the dish is ready!
This is one of my favorite dishes in India. It's simply superbly cooked in a small restaurant in Arambol called Gods Gift .
Idli (Idly)
Another variety of Indian cakes made from rice, lentil or wheat flour.
They are steamed and usually served with vegetable sauces. This everyday Indian meal is perfect for a light breakfast.
Soup Sambar (Sambar)
Famous Indian soup with lentils and vegetables. It is spicy, spicy, sour and sweet at the same time. There are a lot of vitamins in this soup, as it contains an incredible amount of different vegetables: eggplant and carrots, tomatoes and pumpkin, tamarind and green beans. Mustard seeds, coconut flakes, cumin, turmeric, curry leaves and ground coriander help to add a spicy Indian touch to this dish.
Chicken Kebab (Chicken Kebab)
Kebabs can also be vegetable or meat. Chicken kebab is a mixture of minced chicken with rice and spices. A sausage is formed from minced meat, strung on a skewer, and then fried in a tandoori oven until cooked. Served with sauce.
Thali (Thali)
If you want to try everything at once, then you won't find a dish better than Thali. This is a real big lunch or dinner in which just a little bit.
For example, in this picture in meat Thali there are several dishes at once (from left to right): vegetable Raita, Shahi Paneer cheese, Dal soup, vegetable Biryani and Naan flatbreads.
Each cafe or restaurant has its own Tali with its own set of dishes. Here, for example, fish Tali, which cost us as much as 2.5 dollars.
And here is the vegetarian Tali.
Indian sweets
Yes, India also loves sweets and here are the main desserts:
Jalebi - fried dough spirals soaked in syrup.
Burfi - small squares made from coconut or cow's milk. Milk is boiled for a long time to evaporate excess liquid, and then mixed with sugar, butter, coconut, vanilla and chopped nuts.
Rasgulla - curd balls boiled and soaked in sugar syrup.
Fruit salad - there are a lot of fruits in India, so fruit salad can be the most delicious and healthy of all desserts.
Indian bread
Flatbread is simply an integral part of any Indian meal. There are so many varieties that you need to seriously try to remember everything.
Rotti or chapatti
The most popular and inexpensive Indian bread. Flatbread made from unleavened dough, fried without oil in a cast-iron pan. They are not greasy and are quite harmless for the figure. Rotti and chapatti are not fried for the future. As soon as they cool down, they become tasteless. So if you ordered dinner at a restaurant, then order rotti to it as needed so that the bread is always hot.
Naans
My favorite delicacy is Naan cakes. They are made from a special airy yeast dough with the addition of butter and yogurt, and baked in a tandoori oven. In addition to simple naans, you should definitely try Butter Naan with butter, Cheese Naan with cheese and Garlik Naan with garlic.
Paratha
Stuffed flatbread. The most popular is Alu Paratha, which is no longer even bread, but a whole pie with potatoes.
Puree is simply added to the dough and the cake is rolled out, and then it is fried in a pan.
Puri
Fried dough balls, hollow inside. They are deep-fried and then allowed to drain off the oil. Puri is eaten with chutneys. This is a simple food that is sold not only in small cafes, but also vendors on the street. Puri can be eaten while sitting on a park bench.
Pava (Pawa)
Flatbread made from flour with bran. Peacocks are transported on bicycles in the morning by street vendors. One flatbread costs only 3-5 rupees ($0.05-0.08). These buns make amazing vegan burgers with cheese and vegetables. And for those who eat meat and eggs, burgers with scrambled eggs or fried meat will be prepared.
Indian drinks in restaurants
What to order as drinks in an Indian restaurant?
Masala tea - the famous black hour with milk and spices.
South Indian coffee - hand-brewed freshly ground coffee.
