Masoor dal for babies: when to start and how to cook it

From about 6 months of age, alongside breast milk. The WHO recommends that infants start complementary foods at 6 months, beginning with pureed, mashed and semi-solid foods. Masoor dal suits that stage because it cooks soft and mashes to a paste. Start small and keep the texture semi-solid, never watery: the ICMR-NIN feeding guidelines say not to give watery food such as thin dal water, but mashed dals of a thicker consistency. Begin with two or three teaspoons of the mashed dal, as the guidelines suggest for early semi-solid feeds, and let the child's appetite decide after that. If the baby pushes the food out at first, that is the tongue learning to swallow, not a dislike of the dal.

IFCT 2017 puts protein in raw masoor dal at 24.35 g per 100 g, iron at 7.06 mg per 100 g and folate at 50 mcg per 100 g. A katori of cooked dal, made from 30 g of dry dal, holds about 7.3 g of protein, 2.1 mg of iron and 15 mcg of folate. A 6-month-old eats far less than a katori, so a baby's bowl gets only a fraction of those amounts; the numbers show the dal is a dense food, not that an infant needs a katori of it. The WHO's complementary-feeding guidance asks that complementary foods provide enough energy, protein and micronutrients for a growing child.

Pairing matters: ICMR-NIN notes that cereals are short of the amino acid lysine while pulses are rich in it, and a cereal-pulse combination in a 3:1 ratio can meet the requirement for every essential amino acid. Masoor cooked with rice follows that pairing, as in our masoor dal khichdi; for a baby, keep the salt, chilli and hing out of the pot.

Per 100 g raw, edible portion. Composition: IFCT 2017 (ICMR-NIN). GI: University of Sydney GI database. — means not reported. These are average values for the food; the label on a pack gives the values for that product.

Four steps, from the ICMR-NIN guidelines and the NHS.

• Wash. Foods should be washed well, but not repeatedly, before cooking (ICMR-NIN); the same applies to the dal for a baby.
• Soak. Soaking is one of the household methods the guidelines list for improving the digestibility of legumes.
• Cook. Boiling or pressure cooking destroys anti-nutritional factors such as enzyme inhibitors and makes the dal easier to digest (ICMR-NIN). Cook the dal until it is completely soft, using only the water it needs; the guidelines say not to cook in excess water and discard it after cooking.
• Mash. Mash or puree to a thick, smooth consistency. No salt: the NHS says not to add salt to a baby's food or cooking water, because salt is not good for a baby's kidneys. Cool to lukewarm before feeding.

Neither guideline gives a soak or cook time for masoor, so no minutes are given here; judge by the dal collapsing soft under a spoon. The masoor dal guide covers cooking it for the rest of the family.

Two worries dominate once the first bowl goes down. Gas: pulses carry sugars called galacto-oligosaccharides that the small intestine cannot digest, so they are fermented in the colon with the release of gas. That is the usual explanation in a 2019 review of pulse tolerance, which adds that it has recently been questioned. The review is about pulses and people in general, not babies, so it offers no feeding advice for an infant.

Allergies and intolerance: ICMR-NIN says to bring in one new food at a time and keep feeding it for 4 to 5 consecutive days, so acceptance builds and any intolerance or allergy shows itself. If an intolerance persists, it says to seek medical advice.

Better:

• Dal mashed thick enough to hold on a spoon, the texture the guidelines describe.
• Dal mixed into rice khichdi or masoor dal porridge.
• Plain dal, cooked with just enough water and no draining, which retains the folate.
• Freshly cooked dal, or a batch cooled and refrigerated within one to two hours.

Worse:

• Thin dal water in a feeding bottle; the guidelines ask for mashed dal, not watery feeds.
• Salt or sugar in the dal; a baby needs neither.
• Half-cooked dal; the cooking step is what makes it safe and digestible.
• A batch left out, or kept in the fridge past two days.

With the dal cooked soft, the risks are mostly in the additions. Salt is out, per the NHS, and so is sugar: ICMR-NIN says added sugar must be avoided completely below two years of age. Honey is out too; the NHS says not before age 1, because honey can occasionally carry bacteria that make toxins in a baby's gut, and those toxins cause infant botulism, a very serious illness. Whole nuts are a choking risk under five years. The NHS allows crushed or ground nuts added to food from the start of weaning, usually around 6 months, and asks families with a history of allergies to talk to the GP or health visitor before introducing any nut. For the bowl itself, plain dal is enough: the masoor dal porridge sets the baby's portion aside before any salt or tempering goes in.

Leftovers follow the usual rule: cooked dal keeps up to two days in the fridge, per the UK Food Standards Agency, so a batch made for the baby should be used within that, or frozen.

Every baby is different, and weaning advice bends around the child: prematurity, a family history of allergy, or a worry about growth changes when and how a food is introduced. Run your weaning plan for masoor dal past the person who knows your baby, and keep the paediatrician's number handy for the first tries of any new food. For anything from the right age to the right texture for your child, talk to your doctor or dietitian.

Does masoor dal have protein?

Yes. IFCT 2017 prints 24.35 g of protein per 100 g of raw masoor dal. A katori cooked from 30 g of dry dal carries about 7.3 g. A baby's spoonfuls carry only a fraction of that, so masoor is one first food among several, not the whole meal.

Can masoor dal cause gas?

It can. Pulses carry galacto-oligosaccharides, sugars the small intestine cannot digest, and their fermentation in the colon releases gas, a 2019 review of pulse tolerance explains. That review covers people in general, not infants. If a baby seems uncomfortable after dal and it keeps happening, ask your paediatrician rather than guessing at a fix.

Should masoor dal be soaked overnight?

It does not have to be. ICMR-NIN counts soaking among the household methods for making legumes more digestible, but prints no soak time. It calls boiling or pressure cooking the best way to improve the nutritional quality of pulses, because it destroys anti-nutritional factors such as enzyme inhibitors, so for a baby the step not to skip is cooking the dal fully soft.

Is masoor dal non veg?

No. Masoor dal is a lentil, the seed of the lentil plant, Lens culinaris, so it is completely vegetarian. For babies, ICMR-NIN lists lentils, with chickpea, kidney beans, cowpea and black gram, among the pulses that can be good sources of protein in complementary foods.