Easy Indian SuperMeals for Babies, Toddlers and the Family - Review

When I saw there was a baby/toddler cooking book dedicated to Indian food, I knew I had to try it out. I received a copy of the Easy Indian SuperMeals for Babies, Toddlers and the Family cookbook by Zainab Jagot Ahmed a month ago, and have been testing out quite a few of the recipes since. In this review I'll talk a bit about my impressions of the book, and what I thought about the recipes.
 

I loved the concept of this book - Indian food for babies and toddlers. I really like Indian food, but I have never cooked it home (unless you count mixing those ready-made sauces with a bit of chicken). So I was quite excited to try the recipes in this book.  I loved the thought of feeding my baby flavoursome, interesting food, something I wouldn't normally cook, to expand her palate. My daughter, now 17 months, seems to enjoy strong flavours so I was sure she would like the recipes. 

I've managed to try quite a few recipes, such as: 

Creamy Sweet Potato Dream (sweet, coconutty, great for a dessert)
Coconut Chicken Curry (we ate this as a whole family, and loved it)

Aloo Gobi (my little one loved this)

Matter Paneer (really flavoursome)

Mum's Chicken Karahi (very tasty, ate this with the whole family, and great with couscous too)

Classic Keema Curry (lovely with a dollop of natural yoghurt)

Classic Gajar Halwa (so moreish!)

 

There are still plenty of things I want to try, such as Saffron Date Kheer (rice pudding), Chicken and Saag Pasanda, Fruity Lamb Tagine, Tarka Coconut Dhal, and Masala Fish Curry. They all sound seriously yummy!

The best thing about the book was that we, as a whole family, could use it. The recipes were enticing enough for adults, suitable for babies and toddlers, and easy to prepare. I made a bigger batch of quite a few of the recipes, so we as a family could all eat the same thing. Makes life easier if you can just cook one thing I think! The recipes were really flavoursome and tasty, and we didn't need to use salt or chilli to spice our (adult) doses either, which was a plus. We as adults really enjoyed the meals we had, and our little one loved the flavours. She is going through a difficult phase now, but when she did agree to taste the food, she was quite enthusiastic about eating it. So thumbs up from our toddler too.

Another thing I liked about the book was the level of information contained within. There was a lot of information about different weaning stages, how to do weaning, and why certain ingredients and spices are good for you - e.g. what is the idea behind the "supermeals". The recipes ranged from things suitable for 7 month olds to 3-5 olds, with everything in between. So while we used this book as a family cooking book, and a toddler cooking book, this is perfectly suitable for families with small babies at the very beginning of their weaning journey.

The recipes were also varied, with plenty of things to choose from. There were the traditional Indian recipes, which were more appealing for us, but then there are the spiced-up English recipes, if you want to try to ramp up some of the more everyday dishes. There were sweet pudding recipes, as well as  savoury recipes, so something for every occasion. All in all, I really liked this book, and would definitely recommend it to other families too. 

You can get the Easy Indian SuperMeals on Amazon. I think it is such a lovely book it would be great as a gift for any family with small children. It is a great weaning book, but is perfect also for families with toddlers. 

And - if you like the look of this book, you could win it! Enter below, and good luck! 

*Book received for purposes of the review