7 Easy and Healthy Indian Recipes for Kids: Tasty and Nutritious Meals

7 Easy and Healthy Indian Recipes for Kids: Tasty and Nutritious Meals

Introduction

To ensure the proper growth and development of your little one, taking care of their nutritional requirements is an important requisite. Integrating healthy fruits, vegetables, and grains ensures that a child doesn't suffer from any nutritional deficiency or health-related problems. However, growing kids can be a bit choosy about what they want to eat. In such a scenario, parents can think of some creative ways of sneaking nutritious food items into their diet while also keeping it yummy.

A balanced meal consists of an adequate amount of carbohydrates, protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals for kids. While there are a lot of meal options that parents may choose for their kids, not every conventional food item fulfills this criterion. Hence, to balance nutrition and taste perfectly, you can find below a list of carefully selected dishes that are satisfying yet full of necessary nutrients.

7 Easy and Healthy Indian Recipes for Kids

Here is a list of some nutritious and healthy recipes that are easy to cook for parents and also offer a delightful flavor that kids may like.

Vegetable Pulao

This flavorful and aromatic concoction of fresh vegetables, rice, and some Indian spices is the perfect solution to your confusion about selecting a meal. The versatile dish can be made in a variety of styles by incorporating seasonal vegetables, and spices, such as daily leaves, cumin seeds, green, cardamom, cloves, and so much more. Rice is a good source of carbohydrates that gives energy to a child's body. One may include vegetables, such as cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, peas, and onions, to infuse the goodness of vitamins and minerals into the dish. It is also easy to make one pot of mail that gets prepared in under 30 minutes.

Masala Dosa

Dosa is a South Indian delicacy that is made from both rava and rice batter. Generally, it is stuffed with mashed potatoes that are mixed with onions and tomatoes. However, you may add any other stuffing of your choice. This can be paneer stuffing or soya stuffing for extra protein content. You may also add grated vegetables such as carrots and cabbage, along with peas for stuffing. As the dosa batter is fermented, it is naturally a very good source of vitamin C and vitamin B. The fermentation also helps with the digestion process. You may serve the dosa with coconut chutney or sambar.

Spicy Idli

Idli is made from either rice or rava and is like a small savory cake that has a perfect balance of nutrition and taste. These are soft and mushy and melt into the mouth instantly. Since Idly are made from fermentation, they are rich in antioxidants and vitamins A and C. Adding chopped vegetables, such as cabbage, capsicum, carrot, and peas makes them look more vibrant, and adds dietary fiber to the dish. Another great aspect of this meal option is that it is steamed, which means no oil is used in the cooking process. You may serve the vegetable Idlis with some ketchup or coconut chutney on the side.

Semolina Upma

A bowl of vegetable upma offers the optimum amount of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates to a child while keeping it yummy. It's made from a mixture of semolina, and various types of vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, onion, green peas, and much more. To give it a nice flavor, you may add spices like human seeds, mustard, seeds, red chilli powder, and curry leaves. Many people also like to add chana dal and urad dal to enhance the nutritional value of the dish.

Sprouted Moong Dal Chila

Sprouted moong dal chilla is a favorable breakfast and lunch recipe and can be a great alternative for parathas. These are made from green moong daal that is sprouted and mixed with chickpea flour and sooji. One can also add carrots, capsicum, and green peas to make the chila crunchier and more flavorsome. Add some water to the mixture to get a nice thick batter before adding spices, like red chili powder, salt, and cumin seeds. The chilla is cooked in a pan with some butter until it becomes properly crispy.

Khichdi

A khichdi is an easy-to-make one-pot meal that combines the goodness of dal and rice. It's highly digestible and is also enriched with the goodness of carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, and minerals. You may also add a plethora of vegetables to increase the nutritional value of the khichdi. The spice quotient of this dish is generally kept minimal. However, you may add the spices as per your liking. Generally, spices like turmeric powder, cumin, seeds, and salt, as per taste, are added to give it a nice and homely flavor. You may serve khichdi with some flavorful aachar to make your kid enjoy the meal even more.

Spinach and Corn Sandwich

A sandwich is an easy-to-eat meal that also provides multiple opportunities for parents to integrate healthy ingredients while keeping the dish yummy. These sandwiches are made by using multigrain bread that is stuffed with a filling of boiled spinach and corn mixed with hung curd. You may add some black pepper and salt along with oregano to add a nice and subtle flavor of spices. The sandwiches are good to go as they are, or you may also heat them in a pan with some butter before serving them to your child.

Conclusion

Nutritious food can be tasty. Parents must think of some creative recipes and keep rotating their everyday menu so that the child finishes everything that is served to them. Serving kids a variety of healthy and yummy food allows them to experience the flavor of different dishes while also eating a balanced diet.