Name: A Porridge To Help Nursing Mothers
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: One
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: rice; moong dal; fenugreek (methi) seeds; coconut; garlic; salt

Prep10 mins

Cooking30 mins

Category Rice

CuisineIndian

SERVINGS One

NUTRITIONal

VAlues

Calories

423

FATS

Cholesterol

This fenugreek porridge is just what every nursing mother needs to help boost the supply of breast milk

Almost every nursing mother is anxious about how her breast milk is working for her baby - both in terms of quantity and quality. The mother’s diet is an important element in the quality of breast milk, and almost every nursing mother falls back on ancient grandmothers’ recipes to ensure that she is doing her best to give her baby the nutrition the infant needs. Often the traditional dishes offer just the boost that is needed to ensure that both mother and baby are kept nutritionally balanced.

This recipe for Vendhaya Kanji (fenugreek porridge) comes from Greata Sherene Robinson, Executive Nutritionist with the Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, Chennai. “Lactation is a phase where liquids are emphasised more because breast milk is 88% composed of water,” explains Robinson. “So incorporating adequate liquids before feeding the baby boosts the milk supply. This porridge is rich in energy, is also a good source of protein, fat and calcium, and makes an excellent lactation food for nursing mothers. Do incorporate this nutrient-dense porridge anytime of the day between meals.”

Vendhaya Kanji (Fenugreek Porridge)

Ingredients
½ cup raw rice
1 tbsp moong dal
2 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)
½ cup grated coconut
12 to 14 small cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
Salt, to taste

Method

Wash the rice, moong dal and fenugreek seeds (methi seeds) and place in a pressure cooker.
Add two cups of water to the cooker, and the sliced garlic, and pressure cook for four to five whistles.
Once done, open the cooker, and mash the mixture well.
Meanwhile, grind the coconut with half a cup of warm water. Squeeze the paste through a metal strainer to get coconut milk.
Add hot water, the coconut milk, and salt to the rice.
Adjust the consistency of the porridge by adding more hot water, if required.
Reheat the porridge on a medium flame to get the required consistency.

Serve this porridge as an evening snack to boost your milk supply.

Image: Shutterstock | used for illustrative purposes only

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