Homemade Baby Cereal (Cerelac-Style): Rice and Dal Recipe

Quick answer

For a baby who has completed about six months and is developmentally ready for complementary food, a thoroughly cooked rice-and-dal porridge can be one food in a varied diet alongside breast milk or correctly prepared infant formula.¹²

This page uses cerelac-style only because many families search that way. It describes an independent homemade cereal-pulse mix, not the branded commercial product, and the two are not nutritionally interchangeable.

The safer recipe is simpler than the long multigrain-and-nut mixes commonly shared online:

• start with rice and one dal the baby has already tolerated separately;
• roast and grind them coarsely like rawa, not into uncooked fine flour;
• make a small, dated batch rather than months of powder;
• cook each portion in water for 10–15 minutes;
• serve a soft, smooth, non-watery texture from a spoon; and
• discard food left in the baby’s bowl after the meal.

ICMR–NIN’s 2024 Dietary Guidelines for Indians describe a roasted cereal-pulse mix stored in an airtight container for 10–15 days at room temperature, then cooked for 10–15 minutes. The current Babynama article’s one-to-four-month storage claims are not supported by that guidance and have been removed.¹

Before making the recipe

Is your baby ready?

Age is only one part of readiness. On completion of about six months, look for the ability to:

• sit upright with support and hold the head steady;
• bring objects toward the mouth;
• open for food; and
• swallow some food rather than push all of it back out.

Those are orientation signs, not a developmental test. Ask your pediatrician before starting if your baby was born preterm, has poor growth, low muscle tone, a swallowing/airway condition, severe eczema, a known food allergy, or another condition that changes feeding.

Complementary food is added to milk feeding; it does not mark abrupt weaning. WHO recommends starting complementary foods at six months while continuing breastfeeding, and its guidance also covers children receiving formula or mixed feeding.² Follow the correct preparation instructions for infant formula; do not alter its water-to-powder ratio to make cereal.³

Introduce the base ingredients first

The batch contains two foods. Before combining them, offer rice and the chosen dal separately in a developmentally appropriate cooked form so that a reaction or intolerance is easier to identify. Do not use the old Babynama rule that every food must be fed for exactly three days; timing depends on the food, the baby’s history and professional guidance.

For a baby with severe eczema, egg allergy or another reason for increased peanut-allergy risk, obtain clinician advice before peanut introduction. Do not hide peanut or tree nuts inside a large first batch.

ICMR–NIN-based rice-and-dal dry mix

Recipe status

This scaled recipe is adapted from the cereal-pulse method and 6–8-month recipe pattern in ICMR–NIN’s 2024 guidance.¹ Household measures vary, so use the gram weights and judge the cooked texture before serving.

Ingredients for a small batch

• 75 g raw rice
• 75 g one dal: moong/green gram or masoor/red lentil

Use equal weights rather than equal cups. This 150 g test batch corresponds to five 30 g reference portions, although a baby may eat less than one prepared portion. Appetite—not the batch arithmetic—decides how much is offered and eaten.

Do not add nuts, seeds, wheat, ragi, sabudana, dates, dried fruit, sugar, jaggery, honey, salt, spice powder, milk powder or a supplement to the base batch. Each addition creates a separate allergy, choking, nutrient, cooking or shelf-life question.

Equipment

• clean, completely dry pan;
• clean plate or tray for cooling;
• clean, dry grinder;
• clean, dry airtight food container;
• kitchen scale;
• saucepan and spoon for cooking; and
• separate bowl and spoon for feeding.

Make the dry mix

1. Check the dry rice and dal. Remove stones, insects, damaged grains or other foreign material. Use ingredients that are within date and have been stored dry.
2. Keep water out of the stored batch. ICMR–NIN’s published method roasts cereals and pulses before grinding; it does not require soaking and cloth-drying. If you prefer to wash the grains first, make a fresh cooked porridge rather than storing home-dried powder.
3. Roast separately on low heat. Roast the rice and dal in separate dry pans, stirring continuously until dry and lightly aromatic without browning or scorching.
4. Cool completely and hygienically. Spread each roasted ingredient on its own clean, dry surface away from splashes, dust, pests and raw food. Do not seal warm ingredients, because condensation adds moisture.
5. Grind separately to a coarse rawa-like texture. ICMR–NIN specifically says coarse rather than atta-like. The grains must still become soft after the full cooking step; uncooked coarse particles are not ready to feed.
6. Combine by weight. Mix equal weights of the two cooled powders with a clean, dry utensil.
7. Container, date and limit the batch. Transfer it to a clean, dry airtight container and record the preparation date. Plan to finish it within 10 days, the cautious end of ICMR–NIN’s 10–15-day room-temperature statement.

This page does not claim that refrigeration or freezing extends the dry mix’s life. Moisture, heat, humidity, ingredient quality and household handling vary, and a home recipe has no laboratory-validated shelf life.

Discard the batch sooner if water or a wet spoon enters it, the container is damaged, insects or mould are visible, or the smell/appearance changes. Absence of a visible change cannot certify microbiological safety.

Cook one portion

Reference ingredients

• 30 g dry mix: 15 g rice plus 15 g dal
• 200 mL safe water, as used in the ICMR–NIN 6–8-month recipe pattern¹

The exact water remaining after cooking depends on the pan, heat and evaporation. The final food—not the starting millilitres—must be soft, thick and easy for the baby to swallow. Do not serve raw powder stirred into milk or water.

Cooking method

1. Put the measured dry mix and water into a clean saucepan and stir out dry pockets before heating.
2. Cook on low heat for 10–15 minutes, stirring regularly, as directed in the ICMR–NIN method.¹
3. Continue until the rice and dal particles are thoroughly cooked and soft and the porridge is smooth enough for the baby’s current eating skill.
4. The result should be semi-solid and stay on a tilted spoon rather than run like water. It must not be a dry, sticky lump. India’s NHM materials explicitly show thick food staying on the spoon and advise against watery dal/rice water.⁴
5. Move only the amount you plan to offer into the baby’s bowl. Cool it to a safe feeding temperature and stir before testing so there is no hot pocket.
6. Seat the baby upright, feed from a spoon, supervise continuously and follow hunger/fullness cues. Never put cereal in a bottle.⁵

ICMR–NIN says cooked porridge should be used within one to two hours under hygienic conditions.¹ Serve promptly after cooling, do not return the feeding spoon to the cooking pan, and discard anything left in the baby’s bowl.

How much and how often?

Do not use the old chart that prescribed this same cereal one to three times every day. WHO and Indian guidance describe the total number of complementary-food meals, not a requirement to repeat one porridge at every meal.²⁴

At the start:

• offer a small amount;
• let the baby decide whether to accept more;
• expect learning, mess, gagging or tongue-pushing without forcing completion; and
• build toward a varied set of foods and textures rather than a larger cereal target alone.

WHO describes two to three complementary-food meals per day for most breastfed infants aged 6–8 months, with gradual increases in consistency and variety.² A baby’s milk feeding, growth, health and appetite affect the individual plan. A pre-filled bowl is not a feeding quota.

Add variety without turning the jar into a mystery mix

Once the baby has accepted the base foods, vary the freshly cooked serving, not the whole dry jar. ICMR–NIN’s 6–8-month examples pair rice and dal rawa with freshly prepared carrot, pumpkin, spinach, potato or apple, and later examples use fully cooked egg or cooked mashed fish.¹

Use only a food the baby is ready for, cook it appropriately, and add it to the portion being served. Do not copy all options into one powder. A mixed jar makes a reaction harder to trace and can change moisture, fat stability, cooking time and shelf life.

The cereal should not become the entire diet. WHO recommends dietary diversity and notes that cereal grains alone are not good sources of several critical nutrients.⁶ Across meals, the child’s diet should progress toward suitable foods from different groups, including pulses; vegetables and fruit; and, according to family diet, eggs, fish, meat, dairy, nuts or seeds in developmentally safe forms.

Nuts and peanut

Do not add whole or chopped nuts, chunky nut butter or a spoonful of thick nut butter. These are choking hazards.⁷

Allergenic foods generally should not be delayed merely because they are allergenic, but the form, timing and the baby’s risk history matter. Peanut guidance is especially specific for babies with severe eczema or egg allergy.⁸ Introduce one new allergen in an infant-safe form separately from the batch and follow the pediatrician/allergist’s plan. This page does not provide a peanut dose or desensitization protocol.

Homemade and packaged infant cereal are not the same product

Question	Homemade rice-dal mix	Packaged infant cereal
Ingredients	Chosen and handled by the household	Read the exact product label
Nutrient composition	Varies with grain, dal, weights and cooking	Standardized/fortified only as stated on the label and applicable standard
Iron and micronutrients	Not automatically fortified	May contain added iron and other micronutrients; amounts vary
Shelf life	Short household process; no laboratory validation	Follow unopened/opened dates and storage instructions
Preparation	Must be cooked thoroughly unless a validated process says otherwise	Follow the product directions exactly
Main limitation	Hygiene, cooking, storage and nutrient variability	Cost, ingredients and product fit vary; packaging does not make every product suitable

FSSAI has specific standards for cereal-based complementary foods intended after six months.⁹ That does not make every package identical, and it does not make home food inferior. It means the page should not repeat the false comparison that homemade food has no preservatives while packaged food does, or that processed automatically means unsafe.

Choose based on the baby’s needs, the actual label or recipe, your ability to prepare/store it safely and professional advice—not guilt. Convenience is a legitimate family constraint.

Iron: do not promise that ragi or dal prevents anaemia

Iron-rich complementary foods matter after about six months, but this rice-dal recipe is not a complete iron plan. The amount absorbed varies with the ingredients and the rest of the meal. Adding ragi, spinach or dates does not let the page promise prevention or treatment of anaemia.

Packaged fortified infant cereal can contribute iron when the label confirms it. Other suitable foods can also contribute within a varied diet. Ask the pediatrician or pediatric dietitian about your baby’s overall iron intake, especially after preterm birth, low birth weight, restricted diets, known anaemia or growth concerns.

Do not grind an iron tablet, adult supplement or unprescribed micronutrient powder into the batch. If iron drops or another supplement were prescribed, use the exact product and instructions from the clinician; do not let this recipe change the dose.

What not to add

• Honey before 12 months: it can cause infant botulism.¹⁰
• Sugar, jaggery, syrups or dried-fruit powder for sweetness: a sweetener is not needed to make the cereal acceptable. Dried-fruit powder also changes the recipe and storage assumptions, so it is not part of this validated base.
• A routine pinch of salt: keep added salt minimal and do not use adult taste as the target.
• Whole/chopped nuts or thick nut butter: choking risk.
• Raw milk, raw egg or undercooked additions: infection risk.
• Breast milk or formula in the storage jar: add no liquid to the dry batch. If a clinician advises adding milk to one cooked portion, handle expressed milk safely and prepare formula at its labelled ratio; do not cook or dilute formula based on this recipe.
• Herbal powders, digestive spices or supplements: do not turn a staple mix into treatment for gas, constipation, sleep, immunity or weight gain.

Responsive feeding and texture progression

Sit with the baby and keep the meal calm. Offer; pause; watch. Continue when the baby leans toward or opens for food, and stop when the baby turns away, closes the mouth or loses interest. Do not distract, restrain or force the baby to finish.

A smooth or mashed texture at the beginning is a short stage, not a goal to preserve for months. Gradually move toward thicker, lumpier and then suitable finger/family-food textures as skills develop.² Ask for assessment if the baby repeatedly coughs, chokes, becomes wet/gurgly during meals, has breathing or colour change, or cannot progress with texture.

When to get medical help

Seek emergency help

Use local emergency services if the baby has trouble breathing, becomes blue/pale or suddenly limp, has swelling of the tongue/throat, or is unresponsive after food. Choking and a severe allergic reaction require immediate action; do not wait for an online reply.

Contact the pediatrician promptly

Ask for prompt advice if the baby has:

• hives, facial/lip swelling, repeated vomiting, coughing/wheezing or marked lethargy after a new food;
• repeated coughing/choking or difficulty swallowing during feeds;
• persistent vomiting or diarrhoea, blood in stool, fever or signs of dehydration;
• poor weight gain or a meaningful drop in feeding; or
• a suspected reaction when more than one new ingredient was served.

This page does not diagnose allergy, choking, intolerance, infection, constipation or a feeding disorder.

Frequently asked questions

Can I start this on the day my baby turns six months?

Use both age and developmental readiness. For most Indian guidance, complementary feeding begins on completion of six months. A preterm baby or baby with a health/feeding concern needs an individualized decision.

Should the first cereal be watery?

No. It should be soft and easy to swallow, but not thin dal water or rice water. Indian guidance shows energy-dense complementary food staying on the spoon. The exact texture must match the baby’s skill.

Can I store the powder for one month?

This recipe does not support that claim. ICMR–NIN describes 10–15 days at room temperature for its roasted coarse mix. This version uses a conservative 10-day ceiling and gives no refrigerator or freezer extension.

Can I add almonds, cashews and peanuts to the batch?

Not to a first or multi-ingredient storage batch. Introduce allergens individually in a developmentally safe form, never as whole/chopped nuts or thick nut butter. Seek clinician guidance for severe eczema, egg allergy or previous reaction.

Is homemade cereal better than packaged cereal?

Neither category is automatically better. Homemade cereal gives ingredient control but has variable nutrients and a short, household-managed shelf life. A packaged infant cereal may offer standardized fortification and convenience; check the exact label and directions.

Does homemade cereal prevent anaemia or help weight gain?

No single recipe can promise either outcome. Growth and iron status depend on the whole feeding pattern and the child’s health. Seek assessment rather than concentrating or sweetening cereal to change weight.

What if my baby refuses it?

Stop without pressure and offer an appropriate food again another day. Complementary foods are nutritionally important after six months, so persistent refusal, feeding distress or difficulty advancing textures deserves pediatric or feeding assessment rather than “milk is enough” reassurance.

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This recipe provides general information and does not replace individual feeding or medical advice.

Sources

Footnotes

1. ICMR–National Institute of Nutrition, Dietary Guidelines for Indians 2024, Guideline 4, especially pages 26–33 and Figure 4.5. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. World Health Organization, WHO Guideline for complementary feeding of infants and young children 6–23 months of age, 2023, and Complementary feeding overview. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Infant Formula Preparation and Storage. ↩

4. National Health Mission, India, Home-Based Care for Young Child job aid, and Mother and Child Protection Card guidebook. ↩ ↩²

5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, When, What, and How to Introduce Solid Foods and Fingers, Spoons, Forks, and Cups. ↩

6. World Health Organization, WHO complementary-feeding guideline, Recommendation 4 on dietary diversity. ↩

7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Choking Hazards. ↩

8. NIAID-sponsored expert panel, Addendum Guidelines for the Prevention of Peanut Allergy in the United States, 2017. ↩

9. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, Food Safety and Standards (Foods for Infant Nutrition) Regulations, 2020, version II dated 4 January 2024. ↩

10. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Foods and Drinks to Avoid or Limit. ↩