Baby’s First Daal (lentils for your baby)
Baby's first lentil dish: a baby friendly daal that takes just 10 minutes to prep! This cozy Indian staple, Moong Daal, works beautifully for spoon feeding or baby led weaning. We've even been told "it tastes just like my mom's."
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"I made this for supper, it was DELICIOUS. My 5 year old ate it up and my baby ate an entire bowl. So warming and comforting!" -Megan
I (Nita) still remember it, it was the summer of 2017. I was a little nervous but also pretty excited. This was was the day I was going to start my baby on solid foods. Or so I thought!
You might be wondering, what did this Dietitian mama serve as her baby as his first food? I thought about it fairly strategically. I knew that I wanted to offer my baby of food that was iron rich since that's a really important nutrient of concern for young infants who are getting ready for solids. I also knew that I didn't want his first few foods to be meat, to respect requests from my family. We eventually offered my son meat after a ceremonial haircutting he had at 7 months.
After a bit of consideration, it dawned on me. I would feed my baby homemade daal that I would purée myself. So I went ahead and did just that. I remember adding a pinch of cumin and a pinch of garam masala. So what's daal, you might be asking? Daal is both an ingredient and a dish that typically has lentils as the main ingredient, which means it can be a great first food for your baby since it's a part of the legume family.
You could also say that daal is the Hindi or Punjabi word for 'lentil'! There are a variety of different daals that are enjoyed in India, Pakistan, and other countries; the dishes made from daal, or, called daal appear to look a lot like western soups.
Why this recipe works
⏱ Only 10 minutes prep time
❄️ Great to freeze in baby meal size portions
🔥 Stovetop or Instant Pot - you choose!
👶 Great for babies 4 months +
Why is daal a great first food?
As clarified above, daal is essentially lentils! And lentils are so so so wonderful in terms of their nutritional benefits. They contain a great source of iron, fibre, complex carbohydrates and other trace minerals like B vitamins and magnesium.
The other bonus is that lentils can be easily mashed or puréed, making it perfect for a baby that is being spoonfed.
What type of lentil can I use for my daal?
Ultimately, you can choose any lentil that you desire. But, it's important to keep in mind that the amount of water and cooking time required varies from lentil to lentil. For example red split lentils can cook in no time, about 20 minutes on the stove top. Whereas green lentils can take a little longer!
It's also your choice if you'd like to use canned lentils versus dry. If you go the route of purchasing canned lentils do your best to source something that is low sodium or be sure to rinse the lentils underwater. Also note that most canned lentils are green lentils. Red split lentils would turn to solid mush if they underwent canning!
Personally, I like to keep it traditional and use dry lentils for my cooking.
For this particular recipe, you'll need two different types of lentils.
- Red split lentils are kind of a salmon or pink colour if you will. These are very common in western stores.
- The second lentil you'll need is called moong daal - it's a tiny little yellow color. Where I live, we tend to find it in the international aisle with all of the other imported Indian foods.
Daal takes time
Have you ever read a really cute children's book called, Bilal Cooks Daal? It's written by Aisha Saeed. My children (Jessica's too!) love reading it. The overarching message in this cute book is that daal takes time. And boy oh boy is that ever correct!
When you prepare this recipe, you want to be particularly patient as you build what is known as the masala - it's essentially the base of the soup that includes onions, tomato, aromatics like ginger and garlic along with spices. Trust me when I tell you this, your daal is only as good as your masala.
I have a feeling Bilal would say the same, he he.
How to serve daal at each baby stage (6-12 months)
4-6 months (and developmentally ready to start solids): For your baby, all you need to do is serve the daal as is or you can blend it up further depending on your baby's ability. I find this daal to be a little bit more on the runny side, so you are welcome to thicken it with something like mashed potato, mashed rice, or infant cereal!
6-9 months: At this age your baby may be interested in self-feeding! A great handheld way to offer daal is to mix it with some rice and shape it into a ball. You'll need to work and work and work the rice in with the daal but eventually you will get there.
9-12 months: At this age you can serve it with rice on the side or with roti, a traditional flatbread. Naan is also a great option.
12 months+: Your baby has graduated to toddlerhood (and fully developed kidneys) and you can now season your baby's daal lightly with salt.
For the rest of the family: In case daal is new to you, you can enjoy it with a spoon. But it's also traditional for Indians to use a piece of roti to scoop some up and enjoy it that way. Oddly enough, it's not messy at all. My mother always reminded me "your hands are your first utensil". I think she was right about that when I reflect on how my babies learned to eat. Moms...they're always right.
Allergen info
Since this daal recipe is free from the top food allergens in Canada and the top dietary allergens in the United States, it makes a great first food for your baby! For the most up to date guidance on introducing food allergies to babies, make sure to visit the corresponding lesson in Start Solids Confidently, our signature e-course.
Recipe FAQ
This baby friendly moong daal is great to keep in your freezer for a quick meal for your baby. To freezer in baby-size portions, pour the daal into ice cube trays! Daal can be kept in the freezer for up to six months.
This daal should only be kept in the fridge for up to three days if you're planning on feeding it to your baby. To extend its life, freeze it!
Digestion is an adaptation process in both babies and adults! What this means is that the more often we eat a particular food, the better our digestive system is able to handle it. If your baby has never eaten lentils before, start with a small amount and repeat frequently.
Since lentils are a great source of non-heme iron, we would suggest serving it with a fruit or vegetable that's high in Vitamin C. Pairing non-heme iron and vitamin C can help the body maximize the iron absorption, which is a key nutrients babies need to get from solid food!
Play + books that match this recipe
To get your toddler excited about daal, get the Bilal Eats Daal book and read it often!
Other baby friendly Indian recipes
Alrighty, the main attraction of this blog post. My recipe for Moong Daal.
Enjoy!
If you tried this Moong Daal recipe or any other recipe on our blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Ingredients
- ¾ cup yellow moong lentil also known as yellow petite lentils
- ¾ cup red split lentil
- 3 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 tablespoon whole whole cumin seed
- 1 large onion finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 tablespoon ginger minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 roma tomatoes diced (about 1 ½ cup)
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne (you can use ⅛ teaspoon or omit if you want to reduce the spice level)
- 2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoon salt *do NOT add salt for baby (see note below)
- 6 - 6.5 cups water
- ¼ cup cilantro *optional for garnish
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
Instructions
INSTANT POT version:
- Sift through lentils to ensure there are no other particles! Rinse thoroughly - draining about 4 or 5 times until water runs fairly clear.
- Leave the lentils soaking in some water, enough to cover it while you prepare your masala (onion and tomato mixture).
- Heal oil for one minute over medium heat in a small pot. Once the oil is shimmering, add whole cumin seed. You want to just lightly toast the seeds, not burn them. After about 30 seconds add onion, garlic and ginger.
- Cook onion mixture for 10 - 15 minutes. They should be very well cooked and almost on the brink of caramelizing!
- Add diced tomatoes, cayenne, turmeric, black pepper and salt if using (if baby is > 1 year of age) and sauté for another 10 - 15 minutes. The mixture should basically look like a wet mush! You want to be constantly stirring it. At this point you may need to turn down the heat to prevent burning on the bottom of your pan. This is where the magic of patience takes place.
- In the meantime, rinse the lentils one final time and add into Instant Pot with 6 cups of water.
- Add your masala into the Instant Pot and give this a final stir.
- Secure the lid, place to SEALING and cook on Manual setting for 25 minutes.
- Once completed, natural release for 10 minutes and then quick release.
- Taste and adjust seasonings as you wish or add more water to thin out.
- Garnish with cilantro and garam masala.
STOVE TOP version:
- Sift through lentils to ensure there are no other particles! Rinse thoroughly - draining about 4 or 5 times until water runs fairly clear.
- Leave the lentils soaking in some water, enough to cover it while you prepare your masala (onion and tomato mixture).
- Heal oil for one minute over medium heat in a small pot. Once the oil is shimmering, add whole cumin seed. You want to just lightly toast the seeds, not burn them. After about 30 seconds add onion, garlic and ginger.
- Cook onion mixture 10 - 15 minutes. They should be very well cooked and almost on the brink of caramelizing!
- Add diced tomatoes, cayenne, turmeric, black pepper and salt if using (if baby is > 1 year of age) and sauté for another 10 - 15 minutes. The mixture should basically look like a wet mush! You want to be constantly stirring it. At this point you may need to turn down the heat to prevent burning on the bottom of your pan. This is where the magic of patience takes place.
- In the meantime, rinse the lentils one final time and add into a large pot with 7 cups of water.
- Add your masala into the pot with lentils and give this a stir.
- Bring to a light boil and cook for 25 - 35 minutes stirring every few minutes. You want to boil this until your lentils are softened - the water will evaporate so you can also add more if you'd like but you definitely want this to reduce and thicken.
- Taste and adjust seasonings as you wish or add more water to thin out.
- Garnish with cilantro and garam masala.
Notes
Nutrition
Looking for more baby-friendly recipes? Browse all our baby & toddler healthy recipes here.
Cannot wait to try this! Thank you!
Would love to know what you think!
the by line is incorrect it says moong dhal.
Thanks for noticing the typo! We've fixed it.
I made this for supper, it was DELICIOUS. My 5 year old ate it up and my baby ate an entire bowl. So warming and comforting!
Yay! We're glad you and your family enjoyed it!!
Such a great recipe! Unfortunately my baby wasn’t really into it at first. I tried mixing hers with some mashed up avocado to tone down the spices and she loved it like that, so I think she just needs to get used to some of the new flavors. I on the other hand thought it was delicious!
That's a great way to gently expose baby to new flavours!
Could you use yellow split lentils and have a similar result? I have a bunch of those sitting in a jar not being used from making a daal recipe years ago.
This is Jessica replying. I'm not the daal expert here BUT you could use those. Just know that the recipe won't be true to its authenticity.
I’ve tried many daal recipes over the years but this was by far the best! I only had red lentils on hand so that’s what I used and I served it with a scoop of yogurt on top. My 15 month old really enjoyed it and so did my husband and I! I’ll definitely be making this again.
Aww, thanks for sharing! This warms our hearts 🙂
If I were to cut the instant pot method recipe in half (4 servings), how long should I cook for? Thanks! This was great!
Same amount of time!
Truly, this recipe like a hug in a bowl. I usually make it in my instant pot and it turns out perfect every time.
So glad you enjoy this family recipe, we agree, it's definitely like a warm hug.
Have made this many times when the kids were babies and now school aged, they still love it and it’s a family favourite.
So glad to hear that it's a recipe you and your family enjoy! We love this recipe too and it's the best when we get to freeze a bit for our future tired selves. Thanks for trying the recipe over the years!
Love that this is a good recipe to expose babies to new flavors!
Comfort food at its finest!
Is 25 minutes correct for the instant pot. I love the ingredients in this recipe and want to try it!
Yup the 25 minutes is accurate!
I made this for my 7.5 month old and he devoured it!! I almost took him out of the high chair early because he was screaming and I thought he was done/overtired… but turns out he was screaming for more daal! Shared the recipe with my mom friends who were looking for more iron rich options.
More daal for baby! We love to hear that. This recipe is also freezer friendly so definitely set some aside for your bub. Thanks for trying the recipe and leaving a comment - it means a lot to us!