Zainab Jagot Ahmed - Indian SuperMeals: Baby & Toddler Cookbook

Writing this book has been a long journey and wonderful learning experience that I would have struggled to complete were it not for the support of my family.

Omar for all of your support and help looking after A and the house while I was busy scribbling away day and night.

Mum, dad, Zeenat and Zaheera for your support, making the salad and words of encouragement throughout this journey.

Saf, for the amazing creative work that has gone into this book love it!

I'd also like to thank my publisher Autharium, in particular my friend Simon for your support, making the publishing process very straight forward and for publishing my book!

Last but not least, I cannot forget my little bambino Aaliyah. Thank you for inspiring me to write this book. It would not have been possible without you.

Thank you all

xxx

Every parent wants to feed their baby nutritious food to ensure their little one has the best start in life. So, being a new mum myself, I was extremely cautious about the types of food I was feeding my daughter Aaliyah, when I began weaning her at 6 months. Which Im sure every woman can relate to at some point during their career as mum.

After reading books, numerous websites, and seeking advice from family and friends about weaning and the best weaning foods, my anxiety about where to begin?! settled, and her solid food journey began with iron-fortified baby rice (with her usual milk), pureed fruit and vegetables and her regular milk feeds. That seemed straight forward enough. However, only a month later when Aaliyah turned 7 months old, she was already set for Stage 2 feeding (soft lumps, new tastes, flavours and textures). The confusion and panic of what should I feed her now?! started all over again! Buying bland, processed, lumpy baby food was not appealing in the slightest! Particularly as the more processed the food, the more additives it contains which ultimately means the nutritional content is reduced.

Buying processed food is tempting if you are a frantic, busy parent, but feeding your little one nutritionally inadequate food will be detrimental to health as babies need nutrient-rich food for healthy growth. Its important to shape healthy eating habits as early as possible, and to maintain these habits . With one in three children in England (33.4%) being either overweight or obese in their final year of primary school (Year 6), according to the National Child Measurement Programme 2010/11, it is imperative to act now, as obese children are increasingly likely to grow into obese adults leading to diabetes, high blood pressure and joint problems later in life. For obese children there are additional psychological effects such as low self-esteem due to the possibility of being taunted at school.

Therefore home-cooking was the obvious choice for me because I could cook with nutrient-rich foods; know exactly what ingredients were in Aaliyahs meals, it would be cost-effective, fresh, healthy and tastier. By planning ahead, I could also cook and freeze meals for the forthcoming week, saving valuable time too.

So Aaliyahs Stage 2 feeding began with steamed vegetables and cheese all blended to a soft lumpy consistency. But then I thought, why am I feeding my daughter such bland food? Being from Indian origin myself, I wasnt raised on steamed veggies and cheese and neither are billions of other ethnic people across the world!

Wanting Aaliyah to be in touch with her roots, I searched for Indian baby food recipes online and for any cookery books I could buy, but surprisingly I didnt find much. I also asked family and friends if they knew of any good Indian baby food cookery books, and they didnt know of any either. We were all in the same boat! One day, deep in thought I felt a flicker of inspiration and then PING!... Light bulb moment! I decided to create my own healthy adaptations of traditional Indian recipes.

My first attempt was Gajar Halwa (carrot dessert), simply because the main ingredient is carrot, a very tasty sweet root vegetable which is extremely healthy for babies. I cooked up a batch following a conventional recipe but stripped it right back to remove all the bad stuff. I avoided overcooking the carrots as some recipes suggest maintaining their moisture and natural sweetness, and the sugar was replaced with raisins. I served it up to my daughter and SUCCESS! Her little eyes lit up with delight after the first mouthful as though it was her first trip to a sweet shop, she wanted more, and more. Then suddenly PING!... Light bulb moment! I thought WOW, she loved it! Im going to write an Indian baby and toddler food cookery book!

After the success of this recipe, I spent a period of months researching and detailing the health benefits of culinary spices, also known as SuperSpices , food groups and SuperFoods , to ensure I provided Aaliyah with all of the vitamins and minerals she needed for healthy growth and development. After collating this information, I experienced yet another PING! Light bulb moment, and came up with the concept of creating SuperMeals for babies, toddlers and the whole family.

And that my fellow mummy, is the story of how this book came to be.

The Super of SuperMeals refers to the extra health benefits associated with these meals over and above normal meals, due to the inclusion of carefully selected foods, SuperFoods and SuperSpices. When fused together they produce scrumptious meals, chock-full of nutritional value for babies and toddlers. In other words:

Ive used my Banana and Cinnamon Roti Baaboro recipe, as an example of how SuperMeals work in this cookery book:

The roti(Indian flatbread or chapatti) fulfils the basic starchy food requirement to provide much-needed energy for baby; the banana, an excellent high-energy fruit provides potassium vital for heart function, healthy muscle growth and helps the body to absorb calcium; the cinnamon contributes towards a healthy immune system, is great for digestion and brain function, as well as offers a warm fragrant sweetness. All of these health benefits wrapped up into one tasty snack that your little one will wholeheartedly munch on. So rest assured I have created some simply delicious recipes that are powerful, energy-packed and well-balanced SuperMeals, boosting the antioxidant levels on your little ones colourful plastic plate.

Indian SuperMeals is a useful culinary guide for any parents looking to ditch the bland baby food, to move on to yummy, adventurous baby food. Expectant mums (for future reference), new mums, existing mums with their second, third or fourth baby, stay at home dads, or anyone interested in Indian baby food.

It is essentially for any parents who not only want to provide their little ones with tasty, wholesome recipes; they are also interested learning about the health benefits of foods and spices for baby and the rest of the family. Making Indian SuperMeals a handy reference guide for years to come.

Initially all vegetarian, meat, fish, dessert recipes (and so on) all have their own dedicated chapters. Purely because in the early stages of feeding, babies requirements are very specific, and I want to share my experiences with you to ease any concerns you may have and offer other useful advice.