Carrot payasam or carrot kheer recipe – one of the variety kheer that I have been making for my kids since they were 10 months old. This is not any baby food but certainly tastes great to prepare on any occasions. Carrots are high in fiber and hence when made to a carrot kheer, it looks curdled. So it is best to cook it with a starchy ingredient. Hence I choose to use sabudana also called as Tapioca pearls, sago or saggubiyam in telugu, sabakki in kannada, javvarisi in tamil. These are used widely to make pudding or kheer/payasam.
They can be used to make baby and toddler foods too. They are high in carbs and lacks other nutrients in them. So the best way is to combine them with other nutritious vegetables and cook. Carrot payasam makes a very good breakfast for toddlers and kids. Consuming this regularly, kids become energetic and healthy. I have used milk, if your kid has allergies, you can prepare this even with plain water. The taste doesn’t differ much.
If making for babies, use jaggery that is free from impurities else melt the jaggery in water. Filter to remove impurities and boil till it thickens. Cool it completely. After it cools you can mix it with the kheer. If you pour hot jaggery syrup in the kheer, it will curdle.
You can check more kheer recipes,
paneer kheer
badam kheer
vermicelli kheer
pumpkin kheer
Step-by-step photos
How to make carrot kheer or carrot payasam
1. I have used almonds in this recipe, you can also skip them. If using soak them for 3 to 6 hours, remove the peel. Add them to a blender along with chopped carrot, cardamom powder and milk.
2. Blend to a smooth puree.
3. Wash and cook sabudana until tender and soft. If you have some time you can also soak them and cook.
4. Add the blended carrot puree to the sabudana. Mix and cook until it begins to bubble.
5. Add sugar, palm sugar or jaggery. Mix and switch off the stove. Fry nuts in ghee and garnish.
Recipe
carrot payasam | carrot kheer recipe | kheer recipes
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
- 1 cup carrots tender, chopped
- 6 to 8 almonds blanched soaked (optional)
- 1 cup full fat milk
- 1 cup water
- strands saffron Few, optional
- 1 Pinch cardamom powder
- 2 tbsp sadubana sago or javvarisi
- Sugar or palm sugar or jaggery (as needed)
- 2 tsp ghee
- pista Few, or cashews as needed
How to make the recipe
- This step is optional. Soak almonds for few hours and remove the skin.
- Grind carrot, almonds if using, saffron and cardamom powder with milk to smooth consistency. Set aside.
- Wash and cook sabudana in water till they turn translucent.
- Add the carrot milk and cook on a medium flame till it begins to bubble up.
- Add sugar or palm sugar, mix and switch off. Do not overcook after adding carrot.
- Fry nuts in ghee and pour it to the payasam.
- Serve warm or chilled. Add more milk to adjust the consistency.
NUTRITION (estimation only)
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
If you are new to cooking, follow my detailed step by step photo instructions for best results.
Sunitha says
Hi swasti,
Nice recipe…learnd a lot healthy ayurvedic principles from ur posts….i just have a doubt on vegetable milk combination….lik th incompatiblity between milk and fruits does any mismatch exist between vegetables nd milk….
swasthi says
Hi Sunitha
Thanks for reading the blog. Yes some combinations of veggies & milk or curd are incompatible.
Firstly, adding curd or milk in any food that we cook creates vata in the body. Sometimes is okay but eating such combinations regularly is not good. – like in biryani. Cooking curd or milk in salted foods creates vata in the body.
Secondly, potatoes, yam, dal, lentils, besan etc should not be cooked with milk or curd.
I make such foods very very rarely may be once or twice in a month.
You can have carrot with milk, dried sweet figs with milk.
veggies like tomatoes, cauliflower, cabbage, beans, should not be consumed with milk. f you have a doubt with any particular combo then you can leave a comment here.
Hope this helps
Sunitha says
Thnks a lot for ur timely revert dr…it was really informative…just a doubt on pumpkin/ lauki and milk combination as thy r used to make kheers…can v combin these veggies with milk….
swasthi says
Welcome Sunitha
I guess pumpkin with milk is okay as we dont have it often. Its okay to have once in a while. But lauki with milk is not good. But in olden days, most veggies were cooked with milk. Lauki with milk, ridge gourd with milk , pumpkin with milk. It depends on how frequently we consume it.
ambika says
Good
swasthi says
Thanks
Samiksha says
Hi Swasti ji…
My daughter is 13 month old but she is not eating anything I have tried to follow your chart but no use..her waight is 8kg…suggest how to feed her proper meet.
Meena says
Thanks for sharing
swasthi says
welcome
Daisy says
Hi Swati,
Thanks for wonderful blog. I have a 10month old daughter. I have a small doubt like which milk I should use. Is it good to introduce cow milk at this age? She has colic if am introducing new food like apple, moong dal etc. Am really worried about her diet. Could you please help.
Daisy says
Hi Swasthi
Sorry for wrong name in Earlier comment
swasthi says
Hi Daisy,
It is good to wait until she turns 1 year. Just follow the correct food combos to avoid colic. Fruits must be served alone. Milk must be served alone. There must be a gap of at least 2 hours between every feed. This will fix the problem most times. For more details read all the comments posted on baby food chart post. Hope this helps
Daisy says
Hi swasthi,
Thanks a lot for the information.
Neeta says
Hi swasthi,
I was looking for milk based Kher for my 10.5 months baby for weight gain. Glad I found your blog.
I would like to know when can I serve this to my baby. As breakfast.? Or lunch or as snack?
Right now she just takes a fruit snack in evening along with 3 meals.. It won’t be a complete meal if I give in lunch and I don’t want her to miss the fruit serving. Please suggest me. Also any specific reason to not to serve after 5? You think this will help in weight gain?
Also I have heard sago helps in lose motion. So will it constipate my baby if I give her?
Ohh before I forget to tell, I love your baby food recipes. I wish I could find your blog little earlier when I was cooking adults food. Now I don’t get time to cook for us. My humble request for you. Plz plz plz blog more baby recipes.. Thank you.
swasthi says
Hi Neeta,
sorrry for the delay. best time to serve this is for breakfast or evening 4 pm during snack. sabudana is very cooling to the body hence i suggest not to feed this after 5 pm. Feeding this in the late evening especially in the winters can cause runny nose in babies. it should be served warm always. yes it constipates, so i suggest using almonds for the milk. Soak the almonds, remove the skin and blend them with milk and use for this recipe. I will surely post more babies and toddler recipes. Thanks for the feedback
Madhavi says
Hi swasthi! While adding milk to grind carrots and almonds can we add the raw milk or should we boil the milk and keep it aside and add it after it cools down? Please advise.
swasthi says
Hi Madhavi, raw milk is fine to use for the recipe. But if the jar is an exclusive one for making baby food, then i suggest using pasteurized or boiled and cooled milk. Since raw milk will have bacteria and it may contaminate the jar.
Madhavi says
Hi swasthi! Thank you. I tried this and my baby enjoyed drinking it. Only thing was he had a bit of cough while drinking it. Guess i should make the almonds to a very fine texture and may be try boiling the carrots too. But he dint feel like stopping. 🙂 thanks again. also another doubt why do we have to soak rice for couple of hours? Any specific reason? I usually cook rice and dal with lil more water and wait for 5 whistles. Kindly advise.
swasthi says
Hi Madhavi, I am glad the little one liked it. yes almonds and carrots need to be blended very smooth otherwise it irritates the throat. Boiling the payasam for longer may curdle, it did happen to me many times.I suggest you try. Soaking lentils helps to digest better. Usually baby are born with colic and they tend to have this till 2 years. so soaking lentils and rice especially the brown rice is good for the stomach.
moulika says
Hi swasthi
My baby age is 1 year 3 months he is not drinking milk and eating food also.plz suggest me Wt I have to do .
swasthi says
Hello Moulika,
Babies often react to various changes in their body or environment and the impact of it is on the food or milk.
changes in the body can be like teething problems, indigestion, no appetite or lack of activity. At 15 months age, they need some sort of activity like crawling, moving around or walking or trying to walk. They feel hungry due to this and eat or drink enough.
Changes in the environment, a change in the place or people taking care of them. The baby finds everything new and takes some time to get accustomed.
First check if it is teething issues. Try some homeopathy for soothing the troubles. with in a week or so you can find the change.
Also read the comments on the following posts. it might help you.There are mums with similar issues who have written.
almond milk for babies
read pallavi’s comment and my reply on Indian baby food chart
After you try everything if nothing helps, visit a pediatrician and if everything is normal, go ahead using some homeopathy for appetite. but fruits work the best for increasing the appetite.
Hope these suggestions help you
vishali shankar says
Can i give this to 10 months old baby
Swasthi says
Hi Vishali!<br />use the small variety of sago. make sure they are cooked very soft, almost mushy.Avoid giving it after 5 pm
Swasthi says
Thanks Prathibha and PT.
PT says
new recipe.. good going…
PrathibhaSreejith says
Hi there, Sago in coconut milk n palm sugar sounds just fabulous :-)<br />I'm ur new follower now, Best Wishes 🙂