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Recipe for the worlds oldest curry!

4th trimester & motherhood· Recipes

17 May

It’s been national vegetarian week this week and it’s always about enjoying the opportunity to get creative and try out some delicious plant based dishes. If you’re a meat eater, national vegetarian  week is a great opportunity to try out a new way of eating and if you’re already a plant based eater it’s a great chance to cast your culinary net out further or to simply share your love for vegetarian cooking! In fact while we are still living the lock down life it’s the perfect time to explore some new recipes and plant based cooking can be such a fun exploration. In my experience the vegetarian options at a lot of restaurants can be very uninspiring and vegan options even more so! So not having access to restaurants right now could give you the chance to fall in love with vegetarian cooking maybe? Once you start exploring you will likely find that most cuisines have wonderful vegetarian options but one place I return to often when cooking plant based is definitely the flavours of India, India is utterly DELICIOUS and in my opinion the vegetarian recipes of this place are the best and my vegetarian day today is a celebration of Indian flavours. This food is vibrant, wholesome, varied, layered and steeped in so much love and history, thousands of years of history in fact! I first tried Indian food at 15 years old. A friend invited me into her family's kitchen to introduce me on the way home from school and her mother (forcefully) offered to make me some food, I was told by my friend that I may as well oblige as her mother loved to feed and I would get out sooner if I took something! I remember feeling quite nervous as I had a VERY limited pallet at the time. Wow was I blown away, watching her speedily select vibrant spices and ingredients completely alien to me was fascinating, and the way I was being fed with such pride and passion was intoxicating, foreign and slightly overwhelming to me, a microwave meal kid! I probably don’t have to tell you that by the time I made it home I was far too full for my super noodles or anything else until the next day! 

India is a nation of foodies, no doubt about it! For years I thought that India was largely vegetarian but learned that that was actually incorrect, the majority of Indians eat meat. Some parts of India however are largely vegetarian. I read that 5 states that could be considered to be vegetarian Punjab being one of them. I think the myth of India being largely vegetarian maybe comes from the fact that India is so varied region to region and even from family to family. Writer Padma Lakshimi - ‘ Indian home cooking is really varied and regional. It’s like Europe joined as one. You may drive by car for an hour and meet people speaking a different language, praying to a different god and dressing a different way.’ When asked if she thought Indian food was largely underrated she replied: 

‘I think most people outside of India or those that haven’t stayed in India know mostly north western Punjabi food. If you asked 10 Indian people what Indian food was, you would likely get 10 different answers!’ 

I love curry!

I love all types of curry, it's that type of huggable bowl comfort food that has the ability to warm you while (depending on the type you cook) actually being very good for you. It's also that amazing type of dish that seems to taste ever better the next day!  I love Thai curries, Caribbean, Japanese Vegetable, fish or meat, all of it! In many ways the word curry is vague and it’s worth mentioning that curry has little to do with curry leaves and nothing to do with curry powder!  It is usually a saucy dish made up of a blend of many amazing spices and flavours, varied, vibrant, deep and changeable.  One thing that surprised me (though it shouldn’t have) is that the name curry was not Indian. It has colonial roots and was a generalised term for many dishes thought to be given by the British in the 1600s after the formation of the East India company. The men while there looking for spices etc ate and very much enjoyed the Indian food they were served and wanted to continue enjoying it at home, so they sent back the recipes for their wives or the servants they brought back with them to cook. Curry is the name we know this much loved dish by and I’m going to cook the worlds oldest curry today, which is Vegan. This wouldn't be my first choice of curry but I couldn't resist the urge to cook a 4000 year old dish!  This was a very exciting discovery if your food obsessed like me and you can read more about here worlds oldest curry

this curry is 4000 years old and was discovered in Farmana and of course has had a little liberty taken with it due to what's available to us ingredients wise now. If you can cook it in earthenware is preferable but if not that’s no big deal. 

Below is the recipe shared by Soity Banerjee 

Ingredients: 

6-7 small aubergines, washed and slit (I prefer to cube mine) 

1-inch piece of ginger, ground

1 fresh turmeric, ground, or ¼ tsp turmeric powder

Pinch of sea salt

1tbsp raw mango cut into cubes

2-3tbsp sesame oil

¼ tsp cumin

Dehydrated sugarcane juice to taste (available online) 

A few leaves of sweet basil 

Method:

Blitz the ginger, turmeric and cumin seeds together. If you don’t have a blender suited then grate the ginger and tumeric and use ground cumin. Heat sesame oil, add the paste and cook for a couple of minutes. Tip in the aubergines, add some salt and give it a good stir. Cover and cook until the aubergines are nearly cooked through; add some water, if need be. Now, stir in the mango and dehydrated cane juice. Simmer for a few minutes or until the mango is cooked. Check seasoning and serve with bajra roti (pearl millet flatbread).

A gluten free flatbread recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 cups millet flour bajri or bajra flour plus a little extra for dusting
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp ghee use coconut oil to keep it vegan
  • 2/3 cup water

Method

  1. In a medium bowl, mix together the bajri flour and salt.
  2. Add the water and mix with your hands or a wooden spoon until it forms a smooth dough that looks a little like clay. I use the dough attachment of my blender if I’m not in the mood to get messy.
  3. Divide the dough into six equal parts.
  4. Roll each piece of dough between your palms forming a ball and then press the ball between your palms to flatten, creating a disc shape.
  5. Line your surface with a sheet of parchment and dust it with flour, this helps to avoid sticking and makes it easy to transfer the rolled out flat bread to the pan.
  6. Take one disc of dough, make sure to cover the rest so they don’t dry out, and press both sides into the extra bajri flour.
  7. Place the disc onto the parchment or plastic sheet. Sprinkle some more dry bajri flour on top of the disc and roll it out into about a 6 inch disc. Add more dry flour as needed.
  8. Heat a 12 inch cast iron skillet or a non-stick skillet (if using non-stick, heat with a tablespoon of oil and wipe the oil away when ready to cook the flat bread) over a medium heat.
  9. Put a single rotlo on the pan. Brush the top with some water.
  10. After about two minutes, when the rotlo has a few bubbles and starts to brown underneath, flip the rotlo over.
  11. When evenly cooked on both sides transfer to a plate and brush with 2 teaspoons of ghee or coconut oil.

   

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❤️ Raw vegan brownie ❤️ Good fats & magnes ❤️ Raw vegan brownie ❤️ Good fats & magnesium a plenty here.
Date full and soooo good, the perfect birth room snack for energy and a perfect treat for your postnatal nest. So easy to prepare even for those who claim that they can’t cook, and this freezes well too. I make these for my love to take to work as well as for my clients. If I’ve served you you’ll likely recognise them! 
I’m not one for measuring but that doesn’t matter here as you just adjust this until you reach the right amount of squidgy ness for it to press into the pan. Today I used pecans for the base but have used other nuts and oats before. 
❤️Ingredients
2 cup pecan 
2 cup dates (I used medjool) 
6 tbsp cacao powder 
2 tbsp maple syrup 
100g bar dark choc 
❤️Method 
Line a square pan with grease proof paper.
Put 2 cup nuts in blender and blitz until fine.
Add the rest of the ingredients and blitz until it kind of comes together. Test it by scooping out a small amount and see if it all sticks together well. 
Spoon into the pan and press down with the back of a spoon until even. 
Freeze for 30 mins. 
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. 
Pour onto the brownie *optional* top with crushed toasted nuts, a sprinkle of sea salt and dried rose petals. 
I happened to have a little of the trail mix I made left so used nuts from that but I recommend you get playful with it. Grated orange zest and coconut is good, any edible flower looks divine, goji berries or nothing at all. 
#rawbrownie #rawvegan #postnatal #the4thtrimester #theforst40days #brownies #recipeshare #feedwithlove #fooddoula #postnatalpantry #easyrecipes
I am absolutely disgusted by todays news and my he I am absolutely disgusted by todays news and my heart goes out to the people of the US most of who do not want this. But here they are, forced back to a time that should never have to be experienced again, the rights that so many women fought for over so many decades undone . Abortion is health care and restricting access to it does not make it go away, it only makes it more dangerous and life threatening as history has already shown, definitely most dangerous to the most vulnerable in society. This is just criminal, cruel and inhumane, people will die thanks to this vile decision. Just chilling really, We could see it coming and yet I am still shocked. You know all this and everything else I want to say of course and many could put it more eloquently but wow. Maybe one day women in America will have as many rights as a man that wants to carry a gun on his waistband?? 
To echo @hannah.dahlen , to those who say ‘only in America’ Since when has America not influenced the world?
“We are not without actions that we can take. We need to have hope, but we need to hang on to this anger because we can use that anger to fuel change,” ~ Elizabeth Warren 
#abortionishealthcare #womenshealth #roevwade #reversingroe #abortionrightsarehumanrights #wombwisdom
❤️Horchata where have you been all my life!? L ❤️Horchata where have you been all my life!?
Likely the roots of the plant milks we use a lot these days Horchata is a popular and often vegan drink usually served over ice throughout Spain, Puerto Rico, Central America & Mexico. It’s essentially a spiced and sweetened nut milk, traditionally tiger nuts it seems and strained just like other plant based milks. It struck me that a lot of the healing, comforting recipes I love from around the world include milk and rice, how comforting this would be alongside congee. During my self nurturing time I got a little playful with it and prepared a herbal Horchata for lung health, energy and immunity. It takes a while with the overnight soaking but is so worth it, I had mine this morning in my smoothie and will likely incorporate it into a few different dishes! I look forward to experimenting with variations on this gorgeous creamy drink, rose would be divine! 
Herbal Horchata - 
make an 8 cup serving of Mullein tea/ tonic (6 tbsp mullein 1tbsp dried ginseng root 8 cup boiled water steep 20 min) strain and set aside
❤️Ingredients 
1 cup cooked white or brown rice
1 cup almonds
1/4 cup marshmallow root 
6 tbsp dried mullein 
2 cinnamon stick 
1tbsp dried ginseng 
8 cup boiled water for the tea
4 dates or a couple tbsp maple syrup ( I used magnolia syrup)
1 - 2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup coconut milk
❤️method 
Soak the rice, nuts, cinnamon marshmallow root in the strained tea in the fridge overnight. 
In the morning transfer all the ingredients except the coconut milk to a blender and blitz. 
Pour through a mesh then a plant milk bag (I found this easier and less messy!) Then whisk in the coconut milk. 
Taste and add sweetness to your own taste but for me this was perfect dusted with cinnamon to serve. 
Enjoy! 
#horchata #herbalhorchata #comfortfood #herbaltea #plantbased #healing #nurturing #plantwisdom #mullein #ginseng #selfnurture #selfcare #radicalselflove
Happy birthing day to this absolute goddess! The s Happy birthing day to this absolute goddess! The surprise, joy and bliss in these pictures says it all. She waited so long and worked so hard to achieve the home birth of her dreams and achieved it. During the peak of covid lockdown #1 no less! 
I’ll celebrate you every year @s1naed and your absolute glory as I know you’re going to be busy with the double birthday! (Yes this mama only likes to have her babies on June 22nd )😆
This queen waited so long to meet her baby. When your 1st born arrived unexpectedly early going ‘post dates’ feels endless! So she waited, so full of baby in the heat and with the unique never before experienced challenge of parenting during the restrictions of a pandemic. We joked about baby choosing his siblings birthday to arrive on and of course it happened, the birth goddesses have a great sense of humour 😆
To support you on your journey as you achieved the birth you deserved was an absolute honour. I remember you saying that your biggest wish was to just go about your day and meet your baby. No fuss, no interference and I’d say you exceeded that. You took what you needed, left the rest and birthed your way, like an absolute goddess worshipped by your love and served by us just as it should be. Sending some big love out to you today, 
@s1naed YOU. ARE. AMAZING! 
#homebirth #birthworks #empowered #empoweredbirth #positivebirth #birthstory #waterbirth #birthdoula #birthingday #sacredbirth #birthyourway
💖Summer solstice essences 🌞 There couldn’t 💖Summer solstice essences 🌞
There couldn’t be a more perfect morning than summer solstice morning to lovingly gather blooms and make some flower essences and plant remedies. I believe that there is so, so much nature wants to teach and gift us if we are open and curious. After all we do not just live in nature we are nature. Having missed a trip to London today to see an exhibition on the divine feminine I found it in my garden. 
The radiant nourishing energy of the rose and sun are what I need to embrace right now so in the gorgeous light of today these soft divine flowers sit with local spring water in this crystal bowl for a while before the quiet ritual of bottling the essence at sunset. The appropriately named queen of flowers, Rose is such a heart opening, feminine and divine flower, i’m quite in love with her! There are a few reasons, the scent being just one that this magical flower is used so heavily in sacred art legend and poetry. you’ll see it revered, honoured and appreciated throughout time and across the world, attached to mother Mary, Aphrodite, Venus, Joun, Lakshimi and more. This year I have resisted gathering my roses for all my recipes and remedies right away, I have instead practiced patience and appreciation but today felt right to gather… not to mention I finally had the energy after being unwell. The energy of the solstice certainly worked for me today! 
Some of you that have been served by me through summer months might remember these roses and their gorgeous scent as I would often gift them and treats made with them 💖
#roses #divinefeminine #floweressences #giftsfrommotherearth #flowerpower #thepowerofplants #youarenature #plantmagic #greenwitch #keepyourheartopen #plantremedies
Just some beautiful photography from the birth roo Just some beautiful photography from the birth room in honour of Father’s Day. 
How lucky we are in birth work that we get to witness such rare and precious moments of becoming. Sending love to all the dads out there that advocated and held safe space, surrendered, held tired birthing bodies, wiped brows and tears, bravely scrubbed up for c sections, held each other as they became dads together, crouched next to their nicu babes and waited, love to you all ❤️
1. Amelia Lyon - Having a chat with Daddy 
2. Brooke Walsh - “These dads waited for so long for their baby — born via surrogate at a birth center — that they were just completely overcome with joy when they finally got to hold him.”
3. Maggie Trice - “This mother had been laboring for about 12 hours at this point and was absolutely exhausted. She was entering into transition, so each contraction was getting even more intense. Mic, the father, leaned in to pull her in close as she came down from the last contraction, wiping her tears from her cheeks. It was truly one of the sweetest moments I’ve ever captured between a mom and dad.”
#fathersday #dadsinthebirthroom #birthofafather #riteofpassage #dadsinbirth #birthphotography #birth #doula
It’s a hot one today mamas! I’m re sharing tip It’s a hot one today mamas! I’m re sharing tips on how to stay cool if you’re pregnant during a heatwave, this year using a pic of the gorgeous pregnant Rihanna in Barbados! We can’t all take advantage of the sea… or escape to Barbados so do comment with your own tips if you have any! 🌞 Stay hydrated! Keep a bottle of water with you at all time’s and drink regularly even at night. I know frequent loo trips aren’t fun but neither is dehydration!
🌞 wear loose, light coloured clothing in natural fabrics like linen and cotton, synthetics don’t help with heat. if you want to be covered then floaty beach dresses are great. If you’re not too bothered and at home then a bikini, pants or nothing will do! 🌞 Avoid being in the sun for long periods, get shade often and keep a spray bottle or the mist spray fan (in pic 2) nearby. Keep your body spritz bottle in the fridge overnight, rose water is perfect to spritz yourself with on a hot day, a relaxing and luxurious scent and great for the skin on top of being refreshing! If not available then chilled water will do just fine. Relaxing like a beautiful mermaid in a paddling pool is also a fab way to keep cool! 🌞 pregnancy is tiring in normal weather, in a heatwave more so, take it easy and rest with your feet higher than your heart for at least an hour a day. If your ankles and feet are prone to swelling do gentle rotations of the joints and alternate with chill packs on the joints ( the gel kind) and the back of the neck, basically wherever feels good. If you have willing hands don’t be shy, ask for a massage!
🌞 A few tips for a more comfortable nights sleep. Freezer blocks in your sheets for a while before bed can be very refreshing. Putting your sheet folded in the freezer for an hour before bed. A hot water bottle filled with ice cold water on your feet in bed with you can be very soothing. A fan in front of a bowl of ice, its worth noting that thr breeze of the fan can be quite irritating on your skin while pregnant. 
Take care of you and take it easy you beautiful mamas! 
#keepingcool #heatwaveandpregnancy #pregnancytips #pregnantinthesummer #keepcool #pregnantinaheatwave #pregnantgoddess #doulatips #rhianna
Doula down! The Postnatal Pantry and face to face Doula down! 
The Postnatal Pantry and face to face appointments are shut for the week while I practice what I preach and nurture myself. 
I once again tried to ignore the whispers of my body until they became calls ironically in the form of me losing my voice. This is something I have to re learn often as a lot of us do I’m sure but this path is a spiral and theirs always a deeper lesson in the revisiting of lessons. 
In this day of self nurturing after last nights wise full moon 🌕 I’m dipping into my healing plants both fresh from the garden and dried, drinking lots of greens and giving my body some care in the way of gentle stretching, self massage and a good soak with flowers of course. 
How do you care for yourself when your run down? Do you power through until you crash? What little self nurturing practices can you add into your life? 
Something as small as this green smoothie inspired me to take some time to rest and recharge this week. 
#selfcare #selfnurturing #listentoyourbody #youmatter #greensmoothie #plants #healingplants

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