Chana, Gur and Til Kids Snack Plate by Age: Portions Decoded
Verdict: a chana, gur and til gajak plate is a decent school snack for children over 5, with real protein and some iron, but it carries more sugar than most parents guess. For younger children the chana must be ground, and the extra gur is the easiest thing to drop.
Quick facts
- The plate: 20 g bhuna chana, 10 g til gajak and 10 g gur.
- Per plate: about 160 to 170 kcal, about 5 g protein, about 1.5 to 2.5 mg iron, about 14 g sugar.
- Best for: school children from about 6, sitting down, as one snack.
- Not for: babies under 1; whole chana and hard gajak pieces not under 5.
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Cheap. It’s desi, it keeps a child going between school and dinner, and nani’s version is usually a handful of chana, a piece of gajak and a lump of gur “for strength”. The first two earn their place. Here’s what the plate gives against a child’s day, how the portion should change by age, and how to protect small teeth and airways. It’s part of our Desi Remedies series, written to the rules of Bachon Ki Sehat.
What one chana, gur and til plate gives
Add the three foods using standard food-table values. Bhuna chana is roughly 370 kcal, 20 to 22 g protein and 5 to 6 mg iron per 100 g, so 20 g gives about 75 kcal, 4 to 4.5 g protein and 1 to 1.2 mg iron. Til gajak is about half sesame, half sugar or gur, around 500 kcal per 100 g, so 10 g gives about 50 kcal, under 1 g protein and about 5 g sugar. Gur is about 380 kcal per 100 g, so 10 g gives about 38 kcal and 9 to 10 g sugar, with a variable 0.2 to 1 mg of iron.
| Per plate (approx.) | Amount | For a 6 to 10 year old’s day |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | about 160 to 170 kcal | roughly a tenth |
| Protein | about 5 g | about a quarter of roughly 20 g |
| Iron | about 1.5 to 2.5 mg | about 15 to 25% of roughly 10 mg |
| Calcium | about 25 to 70 mg | small, about 3 to 10% |
| Sugar | about 14 g, 3 to 4 teaspoons | over half a child’s ideal added-sugar day |
Calcium needs a note. Unhulled til is rich in calcium, but most gajak is made with hulled white til, which has far less, so the low end of that range is the likely one. A school child needs roughly 600 to 1,000 mg a day depending on age and which table you use, and a glass of milk gives about 250 to 300 mg. For children, the WHO’s ideal is to keep added sugar, gur included, to about 25 g a day or less.
Keep the chana, keep the gajak, and let the extra lump of gur go.
Portions by age band
| Age | What to give | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Under 6 months | Nothing. Milk only. | No water, ghutti or tastes. |
| 6 to 12 months | No plate. Cooked, mashed kala chana or besan cheela, no gur. | No sugar, gur, salt or honey under 1 year. |
| 1 to 3 years | 1 to 2 teaspoons of ground bhuna chana stirred into porridge or a soft laddoo; skip the gur. | No whole chana, no gajak pieces. |
| 3 to 6 years | 10 g ground or crushed chana and a thin, soft sliver of gajak, seated; whole chana only from 5. | Choking risk stays until 5. |
| 6 to 10 years | The full plate, or 20 g chana and 10 g gajak without the gur. | Teeth after sweets. |
| Over 10 | A bigger handful of chana is fine for active children; keep the sweet parts the same size. | Sugar creeping up. |
Whole bhuna chana is small, round and hard, just like a peanut, which makes it one of the classic foods that can block a young child’s airway. Under 5, grind it or crush it well, and at every age children eat sitting down, never while running, laughing or lying in a moving car.
What each part of the plate is doing
- Bhuna chana: most of the protein, fibre and iron. The real value of the plate.
- Til gajak: taste, some good fat and a small amount of calcium. A treat as much as a food.
- Gur: sweetness and energy, and a little iron that varies batch to batch. To teeth it’s sugar, full stop.
For a nut-based alternative, see our makhana dry fruit mix for kids, and for the adult chikki version, gur chana peanut chikki.
What it can’t do
It won’t fix a pale, tired child. Low iron in children shows as tiredness, pale inner eyelids, poor appetite, frequent infections or eating mitti or chalk, and it needs a doctor and a haemoglobin test; any iron medicine and its amount come from the doctor, by weight. And chai with the plate cuts iron uptake; our guide on chai for children and iron explains why to keep them apart.
Making the plate properly
- Weigh 20 g bhuna chana once, then use a small katori as your measure. Choose crisp, toasty-smelling chana; throw out anything musty.
- For under-5s, grind the chana in a dry grinder to a coarse powder, or crush it under a rolling pin in a clean cloth.
- Break 10 g of til gajak into thin pieces. For young children, choose soft, flaky gajak, not the hard brittle kind.
- Add the 10 g gur only if you want it, as a small cube, after the chana.
- Add a fruit: a small amrood, a few kinnow segments or half a banana, since vitamin C helps the chana’s iron.
- Serve at a table. Water to drink, and rinse the mouth with water afterwards.
Store bhuna chana airtight; it goes soft in humid weather within about two weeks, and keep gajak in a tin and use it within a few weeks.
Looking after teeth
Gur and gajak are sticky, and sticky sugar feeds the bacteria that make cavities, so give the sweet parts in one sitting rather than nibbling across the afternoon, and follow with water. Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste: a rice-grain smear under 3, a pea-sized amount from 3 to 6, and let an adult help until about 7 or 8.
What if you change the amounts?
- More chana (up to 30 g for older children): more protein and iron, more gas for some.
- More gajak or gur: more sugar, more calories, more cavity risk, very little extra nutrition.
- Remove the gur: about 38 kcal and 10 g sugar gone, almost nothing lost.
- Swap gajak for a spoon of roasted unhulled kala til: more calcium and less sugar, but seeds are a choking risk under 5, so grind them for little ones.
An optional better plate
Try 20 g bhuna chana, 10 g til gajak and a small amrood. About 160 kcal with the fruit, nearly the same protein and iron, far better iron uptake, and only about 5 g of added sugar.
Choking: no whole chana, nuts, seeds or hard gajak pieces under 5. If a child is choking and can’t cough, cry or breathe, it’s an emergency: start back blows and call for help. Sesame allergy: til is a common allergen; hives, face swelling, vomiting or wheeze after gajak means stop, and breathing trouble means emergency care now. Under 1: no gur, sugar, salt or honey. Diabetes in a child: count the plate’s carbohydrate with your child’s diabetes team. Coughing after a swallow that doesn’t settle, or noisy breathing afterwards, needs a doctor the same day, as an inhaled piece can hide in the lung.
Parents’ questions about chana, gur and til snacks
At what age can children eat bhuna chana?
Ground or crushed chana is fine from about 1 year in food, but whole bhuna chana should wait until 5, and even then children should eat sitting down.
Is gur chana good for kids?
The chana part is excellent, with protein, fibre and iron, while the gur mainly adds sugar, so keep it small or skip it.
How much gur can a child eat in a day?
As little as possible. Gur counts as added sugar, and the WHO’s ideal for children is about 25 g of added sugar a day or less, from all sources.
Can I give til gajak to a 2 year old?
Not in pieces, because hard gajak and seeds are a choking risk; crumble a little soft gajak into porridge if you want the taste.
Does gur chana increase haemoglobin in children?
It helps a good diet, but it can’t fix low haemoglobin, and a pale, tired child needs a doctor and a blood test.
Can I pack this plate in a school lunch box?
Yes, for children over 5. Pack a fruit with it and a water bottle, and keep the gur optional.
Is jaggery better than sugar for children?
Only slightly. Gur has trace minerals, but to teeth and to a child’s daily sugar total it counts the same as sugar.
My child is allergic to sesame. What can replace gajak?
Skip til entirely and use a small piece of soft fruit or a few roasted makhana instead, crushed for under-5s, and check labels, as many sweets contain hidden til.
Can children with diabetes have this snack?
The chana, yes, but the gur and gajak need counting as carbohydrate, so plan it with your child’s diabetes team.