Born to Indian immigrant dad and mom in Rochester, New York, Annika Dhariwal (17) says the early years of her childhood have been spent shuttling between america and Chandigarh, Punjab.
Apart from coping with the instability that education in two completely different continents dropped at her life, she recollects falling sick a few instances each month, finally receiving a analysis of Celiac illness on the age of 9.
“I used to be abnormally skinny for my age and the shortest in my class. In 2013, I used to be rushed to a hospital in Chandigarh after creating a temperature of 104 levels Fahrenheit and was misdiagnosed with Typhoid. It was solely subsequent 12 months, after I visited my pediatrician within the US, that I used to be made to endure a trans tissue glutaminase (TTG) blood take a look at. One’s thought-about to have Celiac illness if their rating on the take a look at comes above 20, and mine was 179,” she says.
Usually mistaken for merely being a gluten allergy, Celiac illness is an autoimmune disorder the place consumption of the protein causes harm to the small gut.
In line with Annika, it has over 200-odd signs, starting from diarrhea, stomach ache, migraines, eczema, zits, cramps and swelling within the fingers, amongst others.
She factors out that the situation, sometimes leading to malnourishment, has no identified remedy except for following a gluten-free diet, and taking month-to-month blood checks to make sure that TTG ranges are in sync.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) estimates that Celiac illness impacts anyplace between six and eight million folks in India.
When Annika was enrolled to the UK’s Cheltenham Girls School in 2015, she was pleasantly stunned at how accommodative its catering administration was of their college students’ dietary restrictions.
“Their frequent mess had a separate part for kids with meals allergic reactions, and it wasn’t tough in any respect to search out gluten-free choices at eating places or supermarkets both. However after I first returned to India after my analysis, there was just one retailer in Chandigarh that provided restricted options — a few gluten-free biscuits and one model of flour. Such assist techniques overseas are useful contemplating that about one in 96 persons are estimated to have Celiac illness. In India, there was basically no consciousness about its severity. Even now, folks have a tendency to take a look at a gluten-free food plan as a fad reasonably than [a requirement for dealing with an] an autoimmune dysfunction,” she tells The Higher India.
So in 2018, Annika, then 14, determined to launch ‘Gluten Free Jio’ (‘Stay Gluten Free’) to assist increase consciousness and improve sensitisation in the direction of Celiac illness in India.
It’s a web based repository of sources the place she helps folks adapt to a gluten-friendly way of life, whether or not at residence or whereas touring, by sharing suggestions and tips on-line in addition to through bodily workshops. Presently, the neighborhood has over 50,000 members throughout its web site and social media channels, she says.
A pan-India ‘Gluten Free Jio’ cellphone software can also be within the works, she provides, the place customers will have the ability to search for gluten-friendly eating places inside a 10-kilometre radius, close by ration shops that inventory gluten-free groceries, and entry tutorial pamphlets in 28 regional languages to assist them of their eating out experiences.
Addressing Misconceptions
Throughout her summer time break in 2018, Annika led discussions on Celiac illness at 5 authorities faculties in Chandigarh, finally ensuing within the analysis of 11 college students.
“The thought was that biology academics may introduce them to what Celiac illness was. We additionally tied up with an area pathology lab to conduct blood checks for kids who had been reporting signs persistently. After their analysis, I used to be capable of present them with data that helped them transition to a gluten-free way of life. However it was the COVID-19 pandemic that helped fast-track my work at ‘Gluten Free Jio’,” she notes.
“Throughout the 2020 lockdown, I organised a camp at an IT Park to distribute meals grains comparable to jowar, bajra, rice and selfmade gluten-free flour for slum-dwellers from the tri-city areas of Panchkula, Mohali and Chandigarh. However there have been many different individuals who weren’t capable of entry gluten-free options, and we additionally gave them pasta and canned sauces,” she says.
Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Annika has organised 5 webinars with Celiac illness consultants, comparable to gastroenterologists and nutritionists, to assist these recognized handle their lives higher.
Final 12 months, she acquired an appreciation letter from the Governor of Punjab in recognition of her efforts to teach folks about Celiac illness within the state. She additionally grew to become the primary Indian ambassador to Past Celiac, a US-based analysis and advocacy organisation working in the direction of accelerating a remedy for Celiac illness by 2030.
“My mom deserves the credit score for guaranteeing that our residence kitchen was freed from gluten elements. One additionally must be cautious about not utilizing the identical cookware for gluten and gluten-free dishes. In the event that they do, it’s really useful to not use the identical scrubber to scrub the utensils,” she says.
“The most typical false impression in India is folks equating wheat with gluten. However wheat is simply one of many many meals that gluten is part of. One additionally must be cautious about avoiding rye and barley merchandise. Except for rotis and parathas, recipes within the Indian delicacies are gluten-free by default,” she notes.
“As an illustration, one can simply eat dosas since they’re fabricated from rice, which is usually mistaken to have gluten. Sambhar, too, may be loved as it’s, except for including heeng (asafoetida), the one Indian spice that has gluten. Even desserts like motichoor laddoo and kheer may be loved by folks with celiac illness,” she says.
Annika shares 5 gluten-free recipes of conventional Indian dishes:
Butter Hen
Components:
1 kg rooster
2 tbsp refined oil
1 tsp pink chilli powder
6 pureed tomatoes
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 crushed cinnamon sticks
5 sliced & slit inexperienced chillis
4 cloves
500 gm butter
4 damaged and de-seeded pink chillis
1 tsp coriander powder
1 1/2 tsp kasoori methi powder
2 bay leaves
2 tsp salt
2 medium-chopped onions
4 handfuls of crushed, dried fenugreek leaves
For marination:
2 tsp onion paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 cup curd
3 inexperienced cardamoms
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp mace powder
2 black cardamom
1/2 tsp sugar
Methodology:
- Combine yogurt, onion paste, inexperienced chillies, ginger-garlic paste, sugar, salt, inexperienced cardamoms, black cardamoms and mace powder.
- Add items of uncooked rooster to this bowl and blend effectively. Permit the rooster to marinate in a single day, and roast it in a tandoor or an oven until completed three-fourth.
- Warmth butter in a kadai, and add bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, pink chillis and crushed coriander seeds. Sauté the elements for half a minute.
- Add chopped onion, pink chilli powder, coriander powder, kasoori methi powder and tomatoes. Sauté them for 5 minutes and switch the combination in a blender to make a puree.
- Warmth the remaining butter in a pan. Add the pureed combination and convey it to a boil. Add marinated rooster items, salt, contemporary cream and blend effectively. To guarantee that the consistency isn’t too thick, add some water to the combination.
- Now add sliced inexperienced chilies, crushed fenugreek leaves and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Deliver to a full boil.
- Switch the dish to a serving bowl and garnish with coriander leaves and cream.
Tomato & Coriander Puris
Components:
Gluten-free chapati flour – 1. 5 cups
Maize flour – 1/4 cup
Besan – 1/4 cup
Flaxseed powder – 1/4 cup
Tomato puree – 1/2 cup
Chopped coriander leaves – 3 to 4 tbsp
Oil – 2 tsp
Spices – salt, pink chili powder, dhaniya powder, ajwain, haldi powder
Methodology:
- Combine all of the elements in a bowl and knead the dough with a little or no water.
- Let the dough relaxation for 15 to twenty minutes.
- Fry the puris.
Sabudana Khichdi
Components:
1 cup sabudana (sago)
1/2 cup peanuts (shelled and coarsely pounded), roasted
2 tbsp ghee
1 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 sabut lal mirch (entire dried pink pepper)
1 spring of curry leaves
2 tsp sendha namak (white rock salt)
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp coriander leaves
1 tsp inexperienced chillies, chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
Methodology:
- Wash sabudana until the water clears. Soak in water about three cm above it, for about an hour.
- Drain in a colander, then unfold over a thick fabric for about an hour.
- Combine sabudana, peanuts, salt, and chilli powder very effectively, in order that it’s coated effectively with this combination.
- Warmth the ghee in a wok and add cumin seeds, pink chillies and curry leaves. When the pink chillis darkens a bit, add the sabudana combination and switch round over low warmth until cooked by way of. It takes a few minutes to prepare dinner correctly.
- Take it off the range, add the lemon juice and blend effectively.
- Garnish it with the coriander and inexperienced chillies.
Bhindi Fry
Components:
250 gms (1/2 lb) bhindi
2 medium onions, sliced
2 tbsp besan, roasted
2 tsp cumin-coriander Powder
1/4 tsp turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp pink chilli powder (non-obligatory)
1/4 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp cumin Seeds
1/2 tsp dry mango powder
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
1½ tbsp + 2 teaspoons oil
Salt to style
Methodology:
- Minimize head and tail of bhindi and slit it lengthwise into halves. Warmth 1½ tablespoons of oil in a pan or kadai. When the oil is medium sizzling, add bhindi.
- Shallow fry it till it turns darkish inexperienced and shrinks in dimension for round seven-eight minutes. Stir in between often to fry evenly and forestall sticking.
- Add turmeric powder and salt.
- Combine effectively and prepare dinner for a minute. Flip off the flame and switch it to a plate.
- Warmth 2 teaspoons of oil in the identical pan. Add cumin seeds; when the seeds start to crackle, add sliced onions and sauté till it turns gentle brown or for roughly two minutes.
- Add shallow fried bhindi, combine effectively and prepare dinner for two minutes. Add roasted gram flour and dry mango powder.
- Stir and prepare dinner for a minute. Add pink chilli powder, garam masala powder and cumin-coriander powder.
- Stir and prepare dinner till bhindi is evenly coated with all elements for round two minutes.
- Flip off the flame and switch ready bhindi fry to a serving bowl. Garnish with coriander leaves and/or onion rings.
Ragi roti:
Components:
3 cups ragi flour
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, grated
10 curry leaves, finely chopped
A small bunch of coriander leaves, finely chopped
1/4 tsp pink chilli powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
Methodology:
- Combine all elements besides water.
- Sprinkle water and blend the ragi flour. Add water till you get the dough to make it into balls.
- Take a clear square-shaped cotton fabric. You may take a brand new washed handkerchief and preserve it for this goal.
- Dip the material in a bowl of water, then squeeze the water out and unfold it on a flat platform.
- Now, put the ragi flour ball on the middle, and pat it together with your palm to make a round form.
- Warmth the tava on range and preserve it on medium flame.
- Raise the cotton fabric and place the roti on tava by flipping the material slowly.
- Put slightly oil across the roti, and shut the lid. Enhance the warmth.
- Take off the lid, flip the roti to different aspect. Cook dinner for one more one or two minutes.
- For those who see the change in colour, the roti is cooked by now.
For additional data, you’ll be able to attain Gluten Free Jio here.
