Proteins are the building blocks of a body. From hair to nail, every cell requires protein. Chicken is highly recommended for children as it is the richest form of proteins. Do not opt for skinless chicken for kids as they needed fats too.
Soup is firstly recommended for babies before feeding flesh. Soup extracts the nutritions from the meat and the liquid form eases digestion.
Do not skip sesame oil as it is used as a coolant to subside the heat generated by chicken. Traditionally, Chicken soup is prepared for Lactating moms every week when she and the baby have hair bath.
As I repeatedly emphasize, do not get Broiler chicken if there is a threat for injected antibiotics in your country. Prefer naturally grown country-side chicken(Naatu kozhi).
Give it as such or mix it with rice/idly. Vegans please excuse 😉
Chicken Soup for babies Recipe – Ingredients
Chicken – 250g
Turmeric powder – 1 pinch
Coriander/Dhaniya powder – 1 pinch
Peppercorns/Milagu – 1 pinch
Fennel seeds/Sombu- 1 pinch
Cumin seeds/Jeeragam – 1 pinch
Clove/Krambu – 1
Cinnamon/Pattai – 1/2 inch
Pearl Onions – 4
Tomato – 1/2
Ginger – a small piece without skin
Garlic cloves – 2
Curry leaves – Few
Coriander leaves – Few
Gingelly oil/Nallennai – 1/4 tsp
Water – 1 cup
Preparation
1. Wash chicken twice in plain water and then soak it in water mixed with turmeric powder and few drops of lemon for 5 mins. Then again wash it twice in plain water.2. In a pressure cooker, add chicken, turmeric powder and plain coriander powder.
3. Add few peppercorns, cumin and fennel seeds.
4. Add few coriander & curry leaves, chopped small onions, tomato, clove, cinnamon, crushed garlic & ginger, few drops of gingelly oil.
5. Add a cup of water and pressure cook for 8 whistles. This whistle count is for country-side chicken. I am not sure about broiler chicken(might be 2 to 3 whistles).
6. Once cooked, drain out the soup to a bowl.
Oily, frothy, healthy and aromatic soup is ready. Feed warm to the baby and you too have a sip with salt & pepper!
Tips/Tricks
- Select chicken pieces with bones for the soup. The bones and the marrow add taste and nutrition to the soup.
- Once soup is extracted, you shall use the remaining chicken pieces in the curry prepared for adults.
- Remaining soup can be consumed by moms with an addition of salt. It tastes too good with idly.
- If prepared in the morning, you can use for breakfast and lunch. If prepared in the afternoon, you can use for lunch and dinner. Consume within the same day. Heat well before the second use.
- After 1 year of age, you shall add some salt before cooking. Slowly you can add a pinch of chilli powder too.
- The same preparation applies to Mutton soup as well.
Nutritional Benefits
Chicken – Proteins, Iron, Calcium, Potassium
Shyam I tried this and it came out well. Thank you dear 🙂
I’ll make this for my 6 year old daughter. Your recipes are good!
@Lavanya, Thanks for visiting my space. For 6-year old, do not forget to add(as mentioned in tips) ginger, salt and chilli/sambar/any gravy powder. This soup tastes best with idli/dosa. Keep visiting 🙂
Hi Shyam,
It came out very well. My 8 month old son likes it very much. Thanks for posting it.
@Sharmila, Happy that you tried it and sooo happy that ur LO liked it 🙂
Thanks a lot shyam!!for this awesome chicken soup recipe..the whole house smelled wonderful and the taste was out of the world..varun loved it!!its a keeper recipe
Thanks Rev ji for trying it out and taking your time to write about it 🙂
Thanks for the delicious recipe. I tried this with my almost nine months old daughter. She seems to be fine with the soup for the first time. I also ground the cooked in chicken pieces and fed her with soup mixture. That was very helpful to introduce chicken and soup. Thanks much ! I hope she takes it regularly.
Glad to know that the lil one liked it 🙂