Spice Route for Babies

In India ,when u travel from north to south,wud see that the food changes dramatically here but one thing remain constant ie, SPICE.

"We live in a land of spices,so how come our babies eat bland food?"

 Indian food and spices, u can't seperate these two words.Spice is an integral part of our cuisine.

This spice is also one of the reason that we have to think abt cooking seperate dinner for baby.One question that comes to all mums mind is when to introduce baby with spice.There are different schools of thought.Some believe in introducing spice as early as possible so that baby can eat the same food as us. other feels,we shud wait unless baby's system can handle it.

One day my cousin came to my house while i was giving dinner to my baby ,it was a steamed veggie with sprinkled cheese and pinch of salt.

my baby is used to eating bland food  from begining ,and she can eat without salt too.My cousin saw this and made fun of me.

"Is this even a food? Who eats boiled things."

I said nothing coz I know people in our country generally think that anything which is not deep fried and filled with plenty of  spices is not even a food.
then she told me her daughter don't eat any sabzi(vegetable dish) coz they didnt started giving spicy food to her since from the begining. And u shud give ur baby spicy food from begining.

well i wud say she was not wrong entirely......................
and I do agree a little spice shud be added to our little one's food to.
but hey by spice i don't  mean peppers and chilles only.

Then what shud be the spice route for babies?

One can start adding spice to baby's food after eight month.
But u might find ur MIL or mother giving some sort of spice to baby as early as one or two months ,esp if she believes in home remedies more than medicines,some of these are-

Asfoetida(hing)- Some people start giving hing to babies whn they are not even six months.It helps in digestion of food easily and provide gas relief  to colicky babies.I won't suggest  anyone to give it at that age but after u have introduced solids,one can easily add hing powder to dal and veggies.

Nutmeg(jaiphal)-Nutmeg is used as natural cures for stomach upsets in newborn babies for generations.some give jaiphal daily to babies after they had their bath, so that they won't catch cold or have tummy upset.(but again i say it is advised not to give anything except milk to babies before six months)
once ur baby is 8 months ,u can add nutmeg in rice porridge(kheer) .

other spices that u can introduce ur little taster with are-

Turmeric(haldi)- It can be introduced as early as six month, has antiseptic value and is antioxidant in nature

Cumin(jeera)-can saute ur babies dal or veggies with it in little oil.

Garlic -adding garlic to dal or sauting with it .

Ginger-Though ginger have strong taste and babies dont like it . ginger ale can be given to babies whn they have cold.

Cardomon(elaichi)

Fennel(saunf)

Cinnamon(elaichi)

Mustard(sarson)

Coriander(dhaniya)

Mint(pudina)

Carom(ajwain)

Cinnamon(dalchini)


When to give pepper and chillies?It is advised to give this after 18 months or when baby can handle it. Don't give green chilles directly only add li'l bit of red chilli powder in food initially.

let's see whether our babies sensitive tongue can handle this real spice of our Country.