We can start her on soft cooked tomato, peeled and deseeded, then mashed smooth. A ripe tomato cooked soft slips out of its skin easily, and once you scoop out the seeds, it mashes to a smooth purée. If it is thick, a little of its own cooked juice loosens it.

Once she is taking it, you can also stir that soft tomato through her dal or khichdi. Keep it plain, with no added salt while she is little.

Now she can pick up soft pieces herself, like thin slices or large soft wedges of ripe raw tomato, or take it cooked into her food. If you offer cherry tomatoes, always quarter them lengthways and never serve them whole, as their round, slippery shape can block her throat.

Pinching up these small pieces is good practice for the pincer grasp that self-feeding needs. Watch for any loose skins, and show her how to spit them out.

From around a year, tomato joins her family meals, chopped soft into her dal, sabzi or khichdi, or cooked into the everyday base the family eats. Lift out her portion before the salt and whole spices go in.

Cherry and grape tomatoes are still quartered and never served whole, right through the toddler years. A little tomato most days sits happily alongside her other foods.