FOOD FOR THOUGHT By SARAH ALI CHOUDHURY

Sarah Ali Choudhury is a multi award-winning Indian food expert and columnist whose recipes and articles have featured in print and online publications locally, nationally and internationally including Forbes, The Sun, The Telegraph, iNews, The Guardian and various other publications.

Sarah was presented with an award by HRH The Princess Royal for her contribution to the catering industry and is listed in the F: Entrepreneur #ialso 100 List, recognising the top 100 Female entrepreneurs in the UK. She went on to receive a Recognition Award by The British Armed Forces and reached the BBPI British Asian Powerlist. Her work is featured on The Food Talk Show and Sarah is listed as one of the ‘Food Heroes”.

Sarah champions diversity, inclusion and equality through her work with Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Rotary International, Bournemouth Chambers of Commerce, The British Armed Forces and Dorset Police. Sarah is an ambassador for Macmillan Caring Locally and Patron of Tyler’s Friends Charity who offer financial support to families who are arranging the funeral of a precious child who grew their angel wings too soon.

www.sarahalichoudhury.com

As a mum of four, I used to experience a lot of difficulty getting my children to eat packaged baby food so would end up having to cook something myself just to get them to eat. There was always my favourite ‘go to’ recipes for resolving these eating issues. My mum taught me these special recipes and my mum had learnt these from her mum (and my daughters have just learnt from me)!

I wil be sharing the dhal recipe which I use that It is perfect for children and adults. Daal is cooked lentils but you may find it spelt differently. It may be dal, daal, all, dhal, dahl,,,but it all amounts to the same thing, cooked lentils.

The Health Benefits of Lentils

Lentils contain protein, iron, a myriad of minerals, vitamin B and is high in fibre, therefore offering important nutrients to your growing baby. It is also really simple to prepare as they normally have instructions on the package of the raw ingredient. There are so many types of lentils in many different colours and sizes, red lentils cook faster than the others which makes it suitable for soups, purees and baby food. Do not confuse red lentils with masoor lentils which are split peas and cook fast and mushy, masoor dhal also has a spicier flavour. I always use tumeric in my lentils which has been used in India for centuries. It is one of the most common spices and is used for medicinal purposes. It has almost 3 natural components including vitamin C, calcium, zinc, potassium, niacin and so many other highly nutritional components.

Tumeric should only be used in very small amounts as even for adults too much can cause stomach problems and is not suitable for new born babies although it is safe for infants who have started eating solids around 6 months old. Adding natural ingredients to your babies diet from an early age will go a very long way. Most of the benefits that come from tumeric is from the cur cumin component. Curcumin helps fight disorders in the system, it prevents inflammatory bowel disease and is a natural pain killer. It helps digestion too amongst so many other benefits. Adding tumeric as a spice while cooking is a great source of nutrition. Lentils can be made in quite a few different ways but heres the recipe I used to use for my children.