Make a healthy kheer using poha, carrots and jaggery. This poha carrot kheer is ideal for babies, toddlers and kids.
Few days back one of my readers asked if I could post more dalia recipes. This lady has recently adopted a daughter who’s one and a half years old. She said her daughter is underweight and refuses to eat dalia. I suggested that if she doesn’t like dalia, feed her something that she likes. I made a few suggestions based on what I had heard from friends/relatives, content read on the net and what Devansh’s pediatrician had suggested regarding ideal food for weigh gain. I also promised her I’ll look up some recipes that will help her daughter gain weight. Kheer is one of the first options that came to my mind. But I had never made kheer before. So I turned to my ever-so-helpful friend Google to see if I could find any recipes of kheer for babies. :-)
When I searched for kheer recipes, there were many options for ingredients—rice, suji, dalia, even paneer. I was wondering which ingredient to go for. Then I remembered I had this packet of organic, unpolished poha that was just lying there. You must be familiar about my organic food obsession if you have read my earlier posts. I would like to reduce the amount of chemicals and pesticides that creep their way into my child’s food as much as possible. So I had bought this packet of organic, red-coloured, thick poha because my grocer had run out of thin poha. Devansh did not like the thick texture of this poha despite me soaking the poha prior to cooking it. Now visualize me with a light bulb popping out of my head with a picture of poha in it. While searching for recipes, I had come across a carrot kheer recipe. I thought let me add carrots to my kheer; it’ll make the kheer even more nutritious. So now there was carrot added to the light bulb. :-)
I searched for poha carrot kheer, and what do you know even that recipe was there. The only problem was this recipe had sugar and you know me, I will try to avoid using sugar whenever I can. I thought no problem I will use jaggery instead. I also read a few recipes for kheer using jaggery for a good measure. Now when I had read so many recipes, making a kheer should be a cakewalk right? WRONG. Turns out that milk cudles if you boil it with jaggery in it. None of the recipes warned me of that. After two unsuccessful attempts at boiling milk with jaggery, I cooked my kheer without jaggery and then added jaggery to it after turning off heat. The kheer turned out well, Devansh devoured three bowls of it. :-) But I couldn’t get over this milk curdling with jaggery bit out of mind. I asked mom and she said she always used sugar in kheer. I checked the Internet again and confirmed that most recipes had written boil milk with jaggery in it. Then I came across this recipe from a lady who had provided a simple solution. She had written boil some water and dissolve jaggery in it and then add it to the kheer in the end. Next time I made kheer—dalia this time—I tried this method and blending jaggery with kheer was much easier. So I’m gonna add that in this recipe. Dalia kheer recipe coming up next. ;-)
Poha for Babies, Poha Carrot Kheer Recipe for Babies and Kids
Ingredients
- 4-5 tbsp thick poha
- 2 medium-sized carrots (steamed and pureed)
- 2 cups whole milk (See note below)
- 1/4th tsp cardamom powder
- jaggery as per taste
- 1 tbsp homemade ghee
- 3-4 black raisins (optional)
Instructions
- Wash poha thoroughly.
- Boil milk in a pan, add poha, and then keep stirring the poha.
- Meanwhile heat another pan, add ghee, and then add pureed carrots.
- Stir the carrots for a couple of minutes and then turn off heat.
- After poha is completely cooked, add carrots and stir them for a couple of minutes.
- Add cardamom powder, mix properly, and then turn off heat.
- Boil a little water in a vessel and melt jaggery in it. (Don’t use too much water otherwise the kheer will turn watery.)
- Add this melted jaggery to the kheer and mix well.
- Keep the kheer in the freezer for about 5 minutes after it cools down and then garnish it with black raisins. (Devansh liked this cold kheer. You can choose to serve it hot or at room temperature as per your child’s liking. Also, for older kids you may add dry fruits in the kheer. For smaller ones, don’t add raisins. You can instead add powdered dry fruits like cashew nuts and almonds. I avoided adding dry fruits because Devansh doesn’t like it when I add pieces that need to be chewed properly to food that can be swallowed without chewing. So he ate the raisins first and then ate his kheer.)
Notes
- If you are making this kheer for older kids or grownups, who may not want very mushy kheer, use less milk.
- If you are making this kheer for babies less than one year old, don’t use cow/buffalo milk. Instead cook this kheer in little water and then when it is cooked add breast milk or formula. Also, don’t add raisins in the kheer.
Wow!! Innovative, will try it this weekend and update u on how my lil one found it. Thx!
Thank you sharing such a great collection of great recipes. I am glad to came across such a impressive website with interesting information. It is pretty cool.Summer Sausage
Instead of a carrot Kheer… How about a Carrot Halwa Instead :)
Smaller babies may not be able to chew the halwa properly Bhuvan. My target audience is babies, toddlers n kids remember :)
Actually target audience are their moms…they're the end users :)
Hey, I liked your blog and thanks for sharing the recipe. You did really great job. I will come back soon for more…
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Can you please specify food for 6 to 8 month baby?
Hi…If you check the Labels section below the Blog Index in the left-hand-side pane, you'll find the recipes labeled as per the age (Food for seven month old baby etc)…there are 8 recipes in the age range you've specified…I'm planning to provide a page which lists the recipes age-wise but it'll take some time :)
Your recipe is looks awsme, you give the easiest way to prepare this recipe, from your recipe tips many people gets advantage. Regards, Poha
My 10 month old is keeping me on toes the whole day so I don't get much time to cook while he is awake but some how I managed to cook this poha and he liked it a lot. This is my first recipe I have tried from your blog but I'm sure to try other recipes. I usually make daal and khichadi in bulk and freeze, do you think I can freeze the dairy food like poha as well? Your blog is helping me a lot and I' ve recommended your blog to my friends also. Thanks for sharing such awesome recipes.
Thanks so much for appreciating my blog Khushi :-)
As for freezing this poha kheer, I would suggest making pureed carrots and freezing them in bulk and then making the kheer fresh each time…you can cook the poha in cooker to cut down on the cooking time if you like…I suppose you could freeze this kheer but I haven't really tried that so it would only be guesswork…you could try by storing small amount of kheer initially and see how that goes…let me know too :-)
Although I must add reheating food makes it lose its nutritional value so for khichis etc you can roast the grains in advance to save time…freeze your cooked vegetables in bulk..with roasted grains khichdi won't take more than 10 minutes to cook…after it is cooked add the vegetables so as to not cook them too much. I understand moms of babies and toddlers are hard-pressed for time…but hang in there it does ease up after a bit :-)
And sorry I forgot to thank you Karan…thanks so much :-)
Thanks for your ideas Mukta.
I actually didn't freeze the kheer but refrigerated it and tried it the other day. It got too slimy (I like kheer cold so I didn't reheat it) and wasn't tasty at all. So it's better to cook fresh :)
Thanks for letting me know Khushi :)
Fantastic blog.. I’ve tried few of your recipes and my son likes them. You saved me and my son from going mad :) I used to repeat the same recipes every week.
Thanks so much Sunita…your comment made my day :D
Btw how old is your son?
Hey n I have a Facebook page too…click LIKE if you want to get my blog's updates…and some other interesting recipe links n stuff..check it out ;)
i tried it today my toddler really liked very much. thanks for such wonderful and innovative idea
Glad your kiddo liked it Vijetha. Your comment made me realize that I haven't made this for Devansh for quite some time now. I should make again, he used to like this. :-)
Hi. Can I give poha to my 7 month old? How should I alter the recipe as I don’t give cows milk yet.
Hi Abha. Poha is flattened rice and is easy to digest. You can definitely give it to your 7 month old. You can cook this kheer in water and then add formula or breast milk to the kheer for your baby. Add the milk after you take the kheer off the flame and put it in a bowl. Use less water because you’ll be adding milk later on. Don’t add raisins of course. Also, I would suggest using organic poha and jaggery. Use homemade ghee and since your baby is small, you can use 1 tsp instead of tbsp.
Add the formula or BM after you take the kheer off the flame, I meant. Don’t use cow/buffalo milk before your baby turns 1.
Hello.. Banana roundies.. Super recipe for my three yr old.. I always try and experiment new one for my kid.. Found ur webite with innovative recipes .. Pls post some more recipes on kids regular meals too.. Thanks
Hi Nimi. Glad you liked my blog and this recipe by a fellow mom. Plenty of recipes in the blog for regular meals including sabzis, dals, salads, soups, healthy desserts. Browse around. I’m sure you’ll find something you”ll like. :-)