Hey Mums-to-be, Pump Up on Folic Acid with Delicious Peanut and Almond Ladoos!

As soon as you are expecting a baby, the whole world converges to give you diet gyaan! Isn’t it? But how to pack those nutrients in food that you are craving to eat, is the question you are left with.

Of all those vitamins needed for a problem-free pregnancy, folic acid needs to be stocked up on the most. Within 16 days of conception, the neural plate or the foundation of the baby’s brain and spinal cord, are formed. Folic acid reserves are crucial for the proper development of these organs. It is, therefore, necessary that a woman builds up on her folic acid stores even before she conceives.

While you are expecting, your doctor will give you a lot of folic-acid supplements. Apart from those, look for recipes which have ingredients high in folates. A good amount of folic acid is found in many natural foods. Here a few in the descending order of density!

Folic acid – rich foods

• Chickpeas
• All kinds of yellow legumes (moong dal, chana dal, tur (arhar) dal)
• Soya Beans
• Sesame seeds (til)
• All kinds of green vegetables (spinach, cluster beans (gavar), french beans, chawli leaves, ladies finger (okra), mint leaves)
• Peanuts
• Almonds

Here we have a folic acid-rich recipe which works great as a mid-morning snack. It is sweet but sugar-free which makes it healthy!

These ladoos are easy to make and require very few ingredients. The quantities can be changed as you like. Let’s get started:

Peanut and Almond Ladoos (Makes about 5) 

Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut, grated
• ½ cup almonds
• ½ cup peanuts
• 1/4th cup jaggery (gur)

Method

In a hot pan, dry roast the coconut till it turns light brown and gives out an aroma. Remove from flame and keep aside.

In a hot pan, roast peanuts, remove and cool.

De-skin the peanuts and grind them along with the almonds to a fine powder.

Grind the toasted coconut to a fine powder.

Mix the ground almonds, ground peanuts and coconut powder in a pan and slightly heat the mixture.

Remove from flame and immediately mix in the jaggery. While the mixture is hot, work to mix everything together and roll into balls.

Store these ladoos in an airtight container for a week or refrigerate for a fortnight.

Serve these treats to yourself! Folic acid will get taken care of on its own 🙂

Wish you a rocking pregnancy ahead!

#pregnancyfood