大象传媒

Preparation time

10-15 mins

Cooking time

25-30 mins

Serves

4-6 baby portions

Can babies eat curry?

Yes, they can! It's not necessarily true that babies don't like a little spice - this healthy veggie curry is the perfect introduction to stronger-tasting ingredients and is enjoyed by babies and adults alike!

by Miguel Barclay

Baby curry Ingredients

50g red split lentils

1 potato, about 110g, peeled and chopped into bite-sized chunks

1 carrot, about 120g, chopped into bite-sized chunks

400g can chopped tomatoes

125g canned peaches in fruit juice, drained and finely chopped

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp mild curry powder

black pepper

By now it'll be fun to give your baby a spoon themselves - you will want to be on hand with your own to make sure some makes it into their mouth!

Method

  1. Put the lentils in a sieve and rinse them really well under a cold running tap. Tip the lentils into a medium saucepan with the potato and carrot. Pour in enough hot water from a kettle to cover and bring to the boil.
  2. Turn down the heat a little, part-cover the pan with a lid, and simmer for 12鈥15 minutes or until the vegetables are softened and the lentils become mushy. During the cooking time, spoon off any foam that rises to the surface.
  3. Drain the vegetables and lentils over a bowl, saving the cooking water, and return them to the pan. Add the canned tomatoes and peaches, olive oil and curry powder and bring to a simmer. Cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes until cooked through.
  4. Season with pepper, and using a potato masher or the back of a fork, roughly mash. Add some of the saved cooking water if you need to.

Tip - For older babies, mash the mixture a little less. You could also try adding mashed hardboiled eggs or stir in some spinach when you add the tomatoes and peaches. Any leftovers can be frozen for up to 1 month or kept in the fridge for up to 2 days. You could serve with boiled white rice or slices of warm naan bread as a finger food.

Talk to baby about how it tastes 'spicy' and 'yummy'.

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