Moong Dal Chilla for Kids 1 to 5: Chilla, Tikki and Daal Paratha

One cup of yellow moong, soaked for 3 hours and ground with a little water, makes about ten small, soft chillas, enough for a toddler’s breakfast for three days. Moong dal chilla for baby and toddler meals is one of the easiest ways to get daal into a child who pushes the katori away. Below are three soft, safe recipes (chilla, tikki and daal paratha), with changes by age, salt limits, bite sizes and how long the batter keeps.

Which age can eat what

These recipes are built for children aged 1 to 5, but parents search for them from 6 months, so here’s the full picture first.

For scale, 2 g of salt is less than half a level teaspoon, and that has to cover a whole day of roti, daal, biscuits and everything else. In practice, cook the child’s portion before salting the family pan, or add only a pinch to the whole batch.

Moong dal chilla for toddlers (and babies from about 8 months)

Yellow moong grinds smooth and cooks soft, so the chilla stays bendy rather than crisp, which is exactly what a new chewer needs. Did you know it needs no egg or besan to hold together? The ground daal’s own starch and protein set on the hot tawa.

1. Soak 1 cup (about 200 g) of dhuli yellow moong dal for 3 to 4 hours. Green moong needs 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
2. Drain and grind with about half a cup of water, a small piece of ginger and a pinch of haldi and jeera, to a smooth batter like thick pancake batter.
3. Add vegetables finely grated, not chopped: 2 tablespoons each of carrot, lauki or palak. Grated veg softens in cooking; chunks don’t.
4. Salt: none for under-1s. For older children, a pinch for the whole batch is enough.
5. Cook on a medium-low tawa with a few drops of oil or ghee (ghee is fine after the first birthday). Spread a small ladle thin, about 10 cm across, and cook 2 minutes a side, covered, until set but still soft. Don’t let it crisp.
6. Cut and cool: finger-length strips for 1 to 2 year olds, small squares from 2, and check the temperature against your own lip before serving.

Mix dal chilla works the same way. Soak equal parts yellow moong, dhuli masoor and chana dal for 4 hours (chana dal is firmer and may need 5), and grind a little longer so no grit remains.

Kala chana tikki for kids: soft inside, no whole chana

Parents search for “black chana tikki for baby” a lot, and it’s a great iron-and-protein food, as long as nothing in it stays round and whole. Whole chana is a choking risk for every child under 5.

1. Soak half a cup of kala chana for 8 to 10 hours. Discard the water.
2. Pressure-cook with 2 cups of fresh water for 6 to 7 whistles, then let the pressure fall naturally. The chana should squash flat between two fingers. If not, cook longer.
3. Mash completely with 1 small boiled potato. Use a masher or blender; no whole or half chana should remain.
4. Season with a pinch of jeera powder, haldi and chopped dhania, and a squeeze of lemon (it helps the iron absorb).
5. Shape into small flat tikkis, about 4 cm across and 1 cm thick.
6. Cook on a lightly oiled tawa, 3 to 4 minutes a side, until golden but soft. For under-2s, keep the crust pale and tender.

The same method works for kabuli chana. Rajma tikki is fine too, with one rule: soaked rajma must boil hard for at least 10 minutes before it’s safe, so pressure-cook it fully (see our rajma safety guide).

Daal paratha and daal roti for young children

Two easy routes, both good for fussy eaters who won’t touch daal in a bowl.

Leftover daal roti

Knead 1 cup of atta with about half a cup of thick leftover daal (moong, masoor or arhar) instead of water, adding water a spoon at a time only if needed. Roll thin, cook on the tawa like roti, and brush lightly with ghee for children over 1. Cut into strips or small squares. It’s softer than plain roti and hides a good quarter katori of daal.

Chana dal stuffed paratha

Soak half a cup of chana dal for 2 hours, pressure-cook with 1 cup of water for 3 to 4 whistles until very soft, drain and mash smooth. Season lightly with jeera and dhania. Stuff into small balls of dough, roll gently and cook on a medium tawa. For 1 to 2 year olds, keep the paratha thin and soft rather than flaky and layered, which can be harder to chew.

School-age leftovers and lunchbox packing are covered in our leftover roti and daal lunchbox ideas, so we won’t repeat them here. More pulses guides live in Grains, Daals & Pulses.

Storing chilla batter and cooked tikkis

• Chilla batter: covered in the fridge for up to 24 hours. It thickens overnight, so thin it with a spoon of water. If it smells sour or bubbly, it has started to ferment; throw it out for toddlers.
• No fridge: grind only what you’ll cook within 2 hours in hot weather.
• Cooked chillas: fridge for 1 day. Reheat on the tawa until hot through, then cool.
• Tikki mixture: fridge for 1 day, or freeze shaped, uncooked tikkis for up to a month and cook from frozen on a low flame.

Choking and the kitchen: safety for under-5s

Did you know a toddler’s windpipe is only about as wide as a drinking straw? That’s why one round chana, a peanut or a whole grape can block it completely.

Daal chilla and tikki for kids: parent questions