Easy Aloo Paratha and Masala Poha ~ Breakfast ideas for Toddlers!

Since the boys take both breakfast and lunch to their school, deciding on the dishes has become even tough. To add to that, their teacher has asked us to feed them half of their breakfast at home and pack the rest to the school. This way they eat their full and also learn to eat on their own. So while packing their boxes, I also make half of it to be feed while they wait for their auto to come.

Few of the breakfast they like a lot is the Chapatis and Masala Poha. And since they like chapatis, I thought I could get some potato into it to make it more filling. This is very simple and unlike the regular Aloo paratha where you got to stuff it with masala, this is blended into the dough. It makes it easy to prepare and more tasty and soft to eat. I try to make this atleast once a week for their breakfast.

The other dish that they seem to like is the Masala poha made with beaten Rice. This is also a milder version made specially for the young ones. So it becomes a double work for me, when I decide to serve this for the adults in the family. But I guess its worth the effort that they like to eat this.

Aloo Paratha

Ingredients Needed:

Wheat flour / Atta - 1 cup
Boiled Potatoes - 2 medium
Salt to taste
Milk - 1/2 cup
Chili powder - 1/4 tsp or less
Ghee / Butter 1/2 tsp
Water as required
Oil for frying

Method to prepare:

Pressure cook the potatoes till they are tender. Mash it to a fine paste using potato masher or food processor.

In a wide vessel, take wheat flour, mix salt, chili powder and ghee. Then add the potato paste to the flour and knead well. Slowly add the milk and knead to a soft dough. Add water if needed.

Let it rest for 10 mins.

Then divide into equal balls and roll out into small rotis.

Heat a pan and cook the rolled out rotis over hot pan on both sides, sprinkling oil/ghee.

The cooked chapatis are very soft as the potatoes are blended into it.

Masala Poha

Ingredients Needed:

Beaten Rice / Atukulu - 1 cup
Onions - 1/2
Curry leaves - 2 -4
Turmeric powder a pinch
Green chilies - 1 small
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp or less

Method to prepare:

Wash Beaten rice in water, and soak for 5 mins.

Drain it in a sieve. Meanwhile chop onions into big squares and slit chilies into half.

Heat a pan with oil and splutter mustard seeds. Then saute onions till they are pink along with curry leaves and chilies. Then add salt and turmeric powder.

After 2 mins, add the drained poha into the pan and combine well. Simmer for 5 mins, till its all mixed.

Chopping the chilies into half and onions as squares makes it easy to be parsed!

Of course the poha won't taste good if curry leaves or onions are not added. But we can always remove them when the babies don't like them!