In this guide
Quick answer
A pregnancy in the family changes what a household orders, reliably and in the same direction every time. Almonds, dates, figs and walnuts go up; the gift grades go out of the basket. This is what gets bought, what is in it, and where a dry fruit shop’s opinion should stop.
Where does a shop’s advice stop?
Here, and it is worth saying first. We sell food. What is right during a pregnancy depends on the person, and iron, blood sugar and weight are all things a doctor is watching and we are not. Nothing below is medical advice, and anything you are unsure about belongs in the next appointment rather than in a shopping list.
What a shop can usefully say is what is in each item, what quantity is normal, and how to buy it well. That is the whole of this page.
What do households usually buy?
| Item | Mainly carries | Usual amount |
|---|---|---|
| Khajur | Iron, natural sugars, fibre | Two to four a day |
| Anjeer | Iron, calcium, fibre | Two, soaked overnight |
| Badam | Protein, vitamin E, folate | Five to seven, soaked and peeled |
| Akhrot | Omega-3 fats | Two to four kernels |
| Munakka | Iron | Four to six, soaked overnight |
Dates and figs do most of the work in this list, which is why both tend to double in a household order. Anjeer runs at today's shop rate at our counter today and dates run at today's shop rate, both read off the shop as this page loads.
Why does everyone say soaked?
Three practical reasons rather than any mystical one. Soaking softens a dried fruit that has gone firm, which matters when appetite is unreliable. It makes almonds easier to peel, and the skin is the part most people find hard on the stomach. And it makes anjeer and munakka easier to chew, which is the difference between a habit that lasts and one that does not.
Overnight in plain water is all it takes. Most households here drink the water the munakka soaked in, which is habit rather than science, and does no harm either way.
Appetite is the other thing that decides what a household ends up buying. For weeks when nothing stays down easily, the dried fruits win, because two soaked dates go down when a bowl of nuts will not. For weeks when appetite is back, the nuts do more work per bite. Most families end up keeping both and reaching for whichever suits the day, which is a more useful way to stock a shelf than picking one list and sticking to it.
How should it be bought?
- Buy small and often. Freshness matters more here than in any other month, and a kilo bought cheap in month three is stale by month six.
- Buy whole rather than ground or powdered. You cannot tell when a powder was made.
- Buy from somewhere that will tell you the grade and the pack date, and wash or wipe anything that is eaten without cooking.
- Skip the heavily sweetened items — sugared cranberry, coated mukhwas, candied fruit — which are mostly sugar.
- Keep everything sealed and cool, and in a humid city keep the nuts in the fridge.
How to tell a good fig from a tired one is in the guide to buying anjeer, and the same for dates in the guide to judging khajur. Both are worth five minutes if you are about to buy a few months of either.
What about quantity over a month?
For a household where one person is eating this way daily, a month comes out at roughly half a kilo of dates, a quarter kilo of anjeer, half a kilo of almonds and a quarter of walnut kernels. That is an ordinary order rather than a large one, and our orders start at ₹1,000 and every order ships free, so a month’s worth usually clears the minimum by itself.
Resist the urge to buy the whole nine months at once, however good the rate looks. Walnut turns fastest, almonds next, and the point of this list is that it is fresh. Today’s figures for everything named are on the shop page, and the dried fruit shelf is on the dry fruits page.
Questions people ask
How many dates a day is usual in pregnancy?
Two to four is what most households here settle on. They are sweet, so the right number is a question for the doctor watching your blood sugar rather than for us.
Should almonds be soaked and peeled?
Most families do both. Soaking softens them and the skin is the part people find hardest on the stomach. A dry almond is not harmful, only firmer.
Which is better, anjeer or khajur?
Households usually keep both. Figs bring calcium and fibre, dates bring quick energy and iron, and they are eaten at different times of day rather than instead of each other.
Are there dry fruits to avoid?
That is a doctor’s question, not a shop’s. What we would say generally is to skip heavily sugared and candied items, which carry more sugar than fruit. The seeds shelf is on the seeds page.
Written at our counter, where these questions get asked every week.
