Nutritional Squares for Mothers To Be or New Mothers

Hello Friends,

Motherhood is a beautiful journey in a woman’s life. The day a mother conceives her baby, her life starts to change. The day the baby starts kicking in her womb, she creates the connection with her child. Everyone takes care of woman during her pregnancy. She gets advice from young and old, what to do or not do during pregnancy, during child’s birth or how to raise a child. Raising a child is a tireless job for any mom so she needs to be strong.

In Gujarati family, when a woman is pregnant we prepare special food for her and also after baby’s birth. There are many things pregnant weman can not eat during pregnancy but when she reaches the last trimester or say start of 9th month, we feed her certain food to prepare her for baby’s birth. Pregnant woman drinks warm milk mixed with a spoon of ghee which makes giving birth easier (that’s what grandma told 😀 😀 ). She also drinks ganthoda (pimparimul) powder with water. Another ingredient is ginger powder. I still remember when I was going through my labour or child’s birth, my mom fed me mix of ginger powder, ghee (clarified butter) and jaggery to help with the process. This recipe is a tradition Gujarati dish, it can be eaten when women is in her 9th month of pregnancy and has no other health problem (but I would highly suggest her to follow up with doctor) . I make 2 kinds of bars, with  or without gund or gundar (edible gum). We don’t feed pregnant women edible gum until after she gives birth so these squares are good before or after baby’s birth.

This dish is not only good for new mother but also good for everyone during winter. It has many spices which helps to beat the cold. This recipe makes around 35-40 squares.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cup wheat flour
2 cup ghee/clarified butter
1 tsp dry ginger (adrakh) powder
1 tbsp pimpramul (ganthoda) powder
1 tbsp caraway (suva) seeds
1 tsp carom (ajwain) seeds
2 tbsp dry coconut powder or shredded coconut
1 cup jaggery (break in tiny pieces)

Procedure

1. Make powder of caraway seeds and carom seeds using dry grinder. Mix all spices like dry ginger powder, pimpramul powder, caraway and carom seeds powder in small bowl.

2. In a wide heavy bottom pan, heat 2 cup ghee. When ghee is slightly hot, add flour (sieve flour before using). Cook on low to medium stirring continuous. If mixture feels dry then add little more ghee. The mixture should look runny. Let it cook until mixture turns golden brown and house is filled with aroma. It will take about 10-15 minutes. When flour is almost cooked, add shredded coconut (keep some on side for garnishing) and cook on low stirring continuous for 1 minute. Remember, coconut burns quickly, so you only need to cook on low for a minute.

3. Turn off the heat and add spice mixture and then jaggery. Do not move away pan as heat from the hot coil helps to melt jaggery. Mixture will start to thicken while stirring. Tip: If you melt jaggery in the flour mixture while heat is still on, then chances are jaggery will over cook and these squares will be hard to break when done.  

4. Spread this mixture immediately in greased tray or thali. I used 10″ thali. Level the mixture with flat bottom bowl or flat spatula. Sprinkle some shredded coconut on top and flatten with spatula. After few minutes when mixture cools down slightly, make square cuts using knife.

5. When it cools down completely, remove all the pieces carefully from the tray and store in airtight container (remember to eat before you store, they taste the best when still slightly warm 😛 ). You don’t need to put this in fridge, it will stay good for at least 2 weeks at room temperature.

These nutritional squares has amazing health benefits and wonderful flavours from all the spices. It is so soft that it melts in the mouth. This sweet is favourite among all age group but kids will thoroughly enjoy it :). You can add poppy seeds, some fenugreek seeds and sesame seeds. You can also adds nuts of your choice.

It is a very rich dish. Share and enjoy with your family and friends.

Please do leave a comment or let me know if you have any questions regarding this dish. .

You can check out similar recipe ideas.
Besan Ladoo/Magaj
Besan Burfi/Fudge
Churma Ladoo
Puran Poli / Sweet Stuff Roti
Gol Papdi/Sukhadi

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