Toor dal for babies: when to start and how to serve

From about six months of age, alongside breast milk. The WHO recommends starting complementary foods at six months of age, and it asks that the first foods be pureed, mashed or semi-solid. Toor dal fits because it cooks completely soft and mashes smoothly. The ICMR-NIN guidelines say to start with a thin but not watery porridge such as dal gruel for 4 to 5 days, then gradually thicken it to a well-mashed, pureed consistency, and to begin semi-solid feeds in small quantity, two or three teaspoons. The same guidelines tell families not to give watery food such as dal water in its place, but mashed dal of a thicker consistency. Parents asking about arhar dal for babies are asking about the same dal under its Hindi name.

The toor dal for babies benefits worth knowing come down to three nutrients. Per 100 g of raw toor dal, IFCT 2017 counts 21.7 g of protein, 3.9 mg of iron and 108 mcg of folate, plus 9.1 g of fibre and 331 kcal. One katori, cooked from 30 g of dry toor, holds about 6.5 g of protein, 1.2 mg of iron and 32 mcg of folate. A baby of six months eats far less than a katori, so these are density numbers, not a target.

The guidelines give red gram dal amounts: their sample meal for 6 to 8 months pairs 10 g of rice with 5 g of red gram dal, spinach and a little oil or ghee; at 9 to 12 months red gram dal stays at 5 g in the mid-morning feed and any dal appears at 10 g with 15 g of cereal in the afternoon, and after the first year red gram rises to 15 g at lunch and 10 g at dinner. Pairing is the point. Cereals run short of the amino acid lysine, pulses carry plenty of it, and the guidelines find that a cereal-pulse mix at a 3:1 raw-weight ratio can meet the need for every essential amino acid. One 2019 study of complementary diets in Indian children aged 1 to 3 calculated that adding egg or milk would, in theory, lift the diet's protein-quality score from 80 to 100; toor itself was not among the foods tested. The table below gives the per-100 g numbers.

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, drawn from the ICMR-NIN guidelines together with the NHS.

• Wash. Wash the dal well, but not repeatedly, before cooking; the guidelines say this removes contaminants such as pesticide residues and parasites.
• Soak. Soaking is on the guidelines' list of household methods that improve the digestibility of legumes. They print no soak time for toor, so no minutes are given.
• Cook. Boiling or pressure cooking destroys the anti-nutritional factors in pulses, the enzyme inhibitors that block digestion; phytic acid also drops with that heat, freeing minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc. Cook the dal to complete softness, in just enough water with no draining, which keeps the folate in the pot; do not overcook, because long cooking costs lysine.
• Mash. Mash or puree to a thick, smooth paste. No salt, because the NHS warns that salt taxes a baby's kidneys, and no sugar: the guidelines say added sugar must be totally avoided below two years of age. Cool to lukewarm before feeding.

Our toor dal khichdi recipe is the family version of the same dal-and-rice mash; for a baby, skip the tempering and the salt and serve the plain cooked dal, and the toor dal page covers cooking it for everyone else.

Two worries follow the first bowl. Gas: pulses carry sugars named galacto-oligosaccharides, raffinose, stachyose and verbascose; the small intestine cannot digest them, so they pass to the colon and ferment there, releasing gas. That is the explanation a 2019 review of pulse tolerance gives, and it notes the explanation has recently been questioned. The review covers pulses and people in general, not infants, so it offers no feeding advice for a baby.

Allergies and intolerance: add new foods one at a time, give each one for 4 to 5 days in a row, and watch whether a food brings on an intolerance or allergy; seek medical advice if it persists. If a baby shows a rash, swelling, vomiting or trouble breathing after a meal with dal, stop the dal and get medical help straight away.

Better:

• A thin but not watery dal gruel for the first 4 to 5 days, thickened gradually to well-mashed dal, the order the feeding guidelines set.
• Dal folded into rice khichdi, the cereal-pulse pairing the guidelines describe.
• Plain dal cooked in just enough water with no draining, which holds the folate.
• Freshly cooked dal, or a batch cooled quickly and used the same day.

Worse:

• Dal water in a bottle instead of mashed dal on a spoon; the guidelines ask for the mash, not the water.
• Salt, sugar or jaggery in the dal; a baby's kidneys do not need the salt, and nothing here needs sweetening.
• Dal pulled off the flame while still hard; serve only dal that is fully cooked and soft.
• Honey before the first birthday; the NHS says honey can carry the bacteria behind infant botulism, a very serious illness.

One baby's weaning map is not another's. Prematurity, a family history of allergy or slow weight gain are all reasons to bring your plan to the person who weighs and measures your child, before the first spoonful of dal. A paediatrician can also set the texture and the pace. For the portions and timing that fit your baby, talk to your doctor or dietitian.

Does toor dal have protein?

Yes. IFCT 2017 puts protein in raw toor dal at 21.7 g per 100 g. One katori, cooked from 30 g of dry toor, works out to about 6.5 g of protein. A baby's share of dal is a few teaspoons, so it adds a small but real slice of protein to the day; with rice in the same bowl, the cereal-pulse mix the guidelines describe can meet the need for every essential amino acid.

Can toor dal cause gas?

It can, like other pulses. The sugars behind it are galacto-oligosaccharides: the small intestine does not digest them, so they ferment in the colon, with gas as the result. A 2019 review of pulse tolerance adds that most people with flatulence adapt over a few weeks when the intake continues, though the review is about people in general, not babies. Serve the dal fully cooked and in small spoonfuls, and if the baby stays uncomfortable, ask your paediatrician.

Can toor dal be soaked overnight?

It can be. The guidelines list soaking among household methods that make legumes easier to digest, though they print no soak time for toor. What matters for a baby is the cooking: boiled or pressure cooked until completely soft, the dal is safe and mashes smoothly. If a soak fits your routine, that is fine; the cooking is the step that cannot be skipped.

What is toor dal?

Toor dal is split pigeon pea, dehusked, the seed of Cajanus cajan, and the yellow dal behind sambar and dal tadka. Hindi speakers call it arhar; Telugu, Kannada and Tamil kitchens know it as kandi pappu, Thugare bele and Tuvaram paruppu. Per 100 g it carries 21.7 g of protein, and it cooks soft enough to mash for the smallest eaters.