Cooking and Pregnancy

29th July Entry:

Nausea is a common symptom of pregnancy. Watch any Indian movie where the heroine is married or raped, there will be a scene where she runs to the backyard and pukes. That alerts the audience to the next scene - either it will be a scene of happy celebration or a scene of wholesale shaming of the woman.

I have vomited only twice in the past three months. Lucky me! The nausea is always there though. It has reduced considerably from the past two weeks. The second time I vomited, I was already in the shower. Tanvi came running with a glass of water. I was sitting there with my head in my hands. It completely drains you of every last ounce of energy. I came out and plonked on the bed. 

And then you suddenly realize that your man hasn't lifted his eyes off the phone/TV. That's when you muster all your Naari Shakti (women power) and throw the first curse of the pregnancy at your man. 

May he be born a woman in his next life and may be puke every single day of his first trimester!! 

 

I am also hungry all the time. Every two-three hours I eat something. I have to. Otherwise I feel this biting, slicing pain. Luckily, since I am not working and I have so much time on hand, I have developed (hold your breath) a never-before-felt love for cooking!! 

Yes, I have started enjoying my time in the kitchen!!

When I was with Tanvi, I used to simply order Hallimane meals every single day, in the office. It was Rs 18/- back in 2005. I ate that throughout the pregnancy. Long live Hallimane! Oh they are from South Canara too. See....we always find our own! 

These past three months, I have spent a lot of time cooking. YouTube videos are a Godsend. I start cooking at 11 and finish by 1. I make one curry, one palya, and rice. Some days, I take hot lunch for Tanvi to her school which is 4 minutes walk from our house. As soon as I am done cooking, I hear the loud rumbles from my tummy and I immediately attack my plate. And so I have never clicked any pictures of my 'masterchef' talent. Hot, tasty, home made lunch slipping down your food pipe, I now know, why we Hindus consider Anna as Brahma (food is life, food is God) and those who serve food are called Annapoorneshwari. 

I mostly follow 'Kabita’s kitchen' and 'nisha madhulika' for North Indian style quick and simple sabzi recipes or 'swayampaka' and 'vaishnavi' for South Indian style sambar (curry) recipes. So far, I have made rava sheera (turned out ok, no one else ate, I had to eat it alone!), vanilla ice cream cake bread (flopped big time), bhindi rava fry (success), souhtekai huli mangalore style (super success), aloo paratha (super success), moong dal halwa (flop), gobi sabzi (success). 

I also made Marie biscuit cake. It was a success. But Tanvi and Sathya didn’t like it or eat it. They mocked me saying, "Can't you just eat Marie biscuits directly? What is all this cake nonsense? It smells and tastes of marie biscuit from a kilometer away." But it was a hit in Tanvi’s lunch box. I had sent four big pieces and her friends devoured it. Nowadays, Tanvi's lunch box is a much sought after one in her class. Her friends love what I cook and even make demands saying, "Ask your mother to make that bhindi rava fry again ya."  

I even made radish palya (sabzi) once. It turned like how they serve in Hindu functions. Radish was not a vegetable on my radar before that! I also made Vangibath powder. It is a breakfast item made with those long, thin, green brinjals. I have also introduced myself to dill leaves! I made dill leaves parathas. Both Tanvi and Sathya not only ate it but asked for more which is the ISI mark for saying it was good. I once made Malabar spinach curry (basale saar we call it in Udupi). I once made the North Karnataka style badnekai yennegai gojju (brinjal gravy). I had put 6 brinjals in it and since both Tan and I don't eat brinjals, poor Sathya had to eat them all. Paapaa!!