This is my first post on this blog and my first post on being pregnant! The idea of making this blog arose out of a conversation I had with my aunt, Gowri Mami, who lives in London and is a practitioner there. After having worked in the NHS for many years, and seeing the number of c-section births she decided that there must be a better way for a woman to have her baby. Ever since, for over 30 years plus she has been doing extensive research on how a woman can feel her best at childbirth. Ofcourse, feeling your best at labour comes with preparation, and it is this time of preparation that gave birth to her Gentle Birth Method (GBM) Program. The Gentle Birth Method arose after many many years of experience, knowledge and research. It combines the best practices of the east and the west, reflexology, creative healing and ofcourse a strict diet and exercise routine, to make sure that right through your pregnancy you feel on your toes, full of beans ready to face that labour day with confidence that you'll deliver naturally.
So on that quest, I start my blog as a diary to document my second pregancy. For my first birth in 2009, I was in the US, and I failed to be as strict as I should have been. I ended up having a long labour and a c-section at the end of the long wait. I was so dissappointed, as I had dreams of having a natural birth. I didn't ask for an epidural till the pain was unbearable. Finally, I succumbed to having an epidural and that was the end of my natural birth! Anyway, this time around, I have hope and my aunt, Gowri, has promised she will be there for my birth. So I feel that if I'm really good and follow the GBM program, I might just be lucky and have a normal vaginal birth.
The GBM program makes mothers go on a strict 'No Sugar', 'No Gluten' diet, so I've been trying out some recipes that might be useful for other expectant mothers as well. My husband and I, have been trying to go off wheat and grains in general, and move towards a millet based diet. Not only are millets high in fibre and nutrition, its glycemic index is much lower than that of grains making you full for longer. You don't get hunger pangs in the middle of the day and you feel so good as there is no feeling of bloating.
Today I made some great dosa/idli batter using just millets and urud dal. Here is the recipe:
1 cup whole bajra (pearl millet)
1 cup whole thinai millet
1 cup whole jowar millet
1 cup whole samai millet
1 cup urad dal
1 tablespoon fenugreek seeds
Salt to taste
1. Soak the four millets in some water overnight.
2. Soak the urad dal and fengreek seeds together overnight.
3. In the morning empty the millets mixture and the urad dal mixture into two different colanders and wait till they sprout. They should normally start to sprout in 12 hours time. In a grinder or blender, grind the urad dal mixture with one cup of water first. Remove and set aside. Then grind the millet mixture till smooth with a little bit of water (again 1-2 cups). Mix the two, add the salt, and allow it to ferment for a few hours. You must then, put the mix in the refrigerator. The millet dosa mix should last up to one week if refrigerated. If you do not want to wait for it to sprout, then you can grind it straight away in the morning after it has been soaked overnight.
I got very crispy dosas and great idlis from this batter. I also give my 4 year old son this and he loves it.
I also made some yogurt millet rice (thayir saadum) using samai millet. It tastes just like rice, but has all the goodness of millets. Samai reminds me of quinoa. It looks alot like quinoa and is very light on the stomach. It is grown locally and is 1/10th the price of quinoa if bought in India.
I use 1 cup of samai millet and there's quite alot that comes from it. We often have leftovers. Here is my recipe:
2 cups yogurt
1 cup samai millet
a little ginger chopped
1 green chilly chopped
a few coriander sprigs
1/4 cup milk or water if the consistency is too thick
salt to taste
In 2 - 3 cups of boiling water put the samai millet and let it cook till soft. Then drain excess water and while it is still hot, mix in with the yogurt. If it's too thick you can add a little milk or water. Then add the remaining raw ingredients and the salt and voila, you have your thayir saadum!
