Chef Shazia Khan brings together her newly-curated recipes for healthy food consumption and some of her own experiences during her pregnancy for Mother’s Menu. By Chahak Mittal

How did you conceptualise the show, Mother’s Menu? What inspired it?

Motherhood is a beautiful journey and this has been my inspiration. A healthy and a balanced diet during pregnancy is essential to support optimal growth and development of the foetus. It’s also important for the physiological changes that a mother undergoes. Mothers can have a lot of questions in their mind, especially during the period. And Mother’s Menu is going to be a perfect guide where we aim to help to-be-mothers to follow a healthy schedule, not just through delicious recipes but also proper advices from nutrition and fitness experts and my personal experiences.

We will tell new and healthy recipes for expectant mothers, post-natal nutrition for both the mother and the baby and kids between three to nine years.

How do you aim to remove the misconceptions and notions about food-eating habits during pregnancy and childbirth?

When a woman announces her pregnancy to her family and friends, she is loaded with suggestions and advice, even from anonymous people. The overload of information from all quarters can be confusing at times and some of it might not even be relevant to the person concerned. Some people just give away popular myths, leaving it on the expecting mother to rely on them. On the show, we have busted such myths in our segment called Sachya Suspicious. We also share some easy home remedies coming from our nutrition expert in the Nanha Nuskha segment.

What are some of the new recipes and dishes that you explored while creating the show?

Although most women are aware that healthy-eating is important during pregnancy, it can become a challenge as expectant mothers face problems such as food aversions, sudden cravings, nausea, vomiting, tiredness, constipation, and heartburn. Taking cue from this, we have curated recipes, which can help a mother to ease out of these challenges and have a relaxed and happy pregnancy.

As the show proceeds, we have deep dived into recipes for newborns and toddlers in a way that is packed with nutrition and taste for these young eaters.

Which cuisine have you taken references from to develop the recipes?

The recipes showcased on the show are inspired by the wide variety of regional and traditional cuisines from India along with some of my family recipes. I have also featured some recipes that have been relished by my sons during their early years.

What was the research work that went into the making of this show? Some anecdotes from your experiences...

A lot of research has been done before selecting the recipes to be showcased on the show. However, all of them have been tried and tested and carefully selected by our nutrition expert, making them suitable trimester wise. We have researched a lot to present tips for child nutrition and recipes as well, keeping in mind aspects like brain development.

We have included meals which are high in protein, and have the essential fats and iron. The show offers tips for a balanced diet with some fun ideas for children’s lunch boxes.

One of my personal experiences that I drew inspiration from is that when I was pregnant, I faced frequent morning sickness.

Hence, my grandmother would always ask me to consume small meals instead of large ones. She would make sure these small meals are packed with required nutrition. And I have brought this learning to the show. I have also selected recipes that I enjoyed during my pregnancy or have seen my children enjoying in their growing up years.

Where have you sourced your material and ingredients from?

All ingredients used in the show have been freshly sourced from the local markets. We have tried to use ingredients that are easily available in most parts of India so that they can be easily replicated by the viewers.

How do you think the understanding of nutrition and food-choices during pregnancy has evolved over the years? Also, considering the ‘go online and google’ world that we are living in, how do we verify information?

With the current world that we are living in, where social media has become our first reference for information, understanding of nutrition has evolved massively as compared to what it was about 15-20 years ago. Mothers today are more aware and conscious of the food choices they make and hence, they  also seek the right information. However, women’s increasing access to delusional information, coming from various informal online sources, could significantly impact pregnancy and food-eating habits during the time. And a growing dependence on the medium could have adverse effects. It’s better to consult doctors or nutritionists at the time rather than trying out uncertified or unrecommended schedules and recipes themselves. This is also where a show like ours comes to the rescue.

Do you think a chef’s gender affects the taste of the food in any way? How is women’s cooking different from that of men?

I don’t think we can evaluate the taste of food based on gender. I’m sure there is no way you could guess if it is a male or a female chef who has prepared the food in the restaurant. There are certainly some pre-conceived myths. However, there is no way one could find a difference between two same dishes made by a woman and a man. Though yes, when it comes to ‘Maa ke haath ka khaana,’ I feel the food is the most special of all as it is made with so much love and care. It is always the tastiest, dil se jo banta hai (After all, it is prepared by heart).

(The show airs on Monday and Tuesday at 2.30 pm on Living Foodz.)