Delicious Navratri Fasting Food Recipes You Must Try This Festive Season

Navratri is a popular Indian festival that lasts for nine nights and ten days. It is a busy time all over India, especially for women. They have to handle numerous things, from religious activities and pujas to social interactions and fasting. There are several Navratri vrat recipes you can try at home.

Foods That You Can Have on Navratri Fasting

Foods for Navratri fasting are many! Here are some Navratri fasting foods you can try.

1. Buckwheat Flour (Anaaj ka Atta)

Buckwheat flour helps to detoxify the body as it is packed with high fibre. This fibre makes people crave less while fasting and helps keep hunger at bay. It is rich in B-complex vitamins, proteins, and minerals like magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, iron, manganese, and copper. The essential fatty acids are also good at reducing the risk of diabetes by lowering blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol. Haemorrhage caused by high blood pressure is also reduced.

2. Tapioca Pearls (Sabudana)

This is another amazing source of carbohydrates and will increase energy. It also cools down the body and is easier for the stomach to digest. Though it is low in protein and fat, it can be used with other ingredients like dals and milk, for making a variety of dishes like payasam and kheer.

3. Barnyard Millet (Samvat Chawal)

This millet is a good replacement for rice as it tastes a little similar to brown rice when cooked. It provides the person undertaking the fast with energy as it contains high levels of B-complex vitamins, fibre, and minerals like magnesium and iron. It also lowers cholesterol as it is rich in phytochemicals.

4. Legumes and Pulses

Pulses like Bengal gram, green gram, green gram dal, and red gram dal along with coconut are used during Navratri. Pulses are incredible sources of fibre and protein and have good amounts of minerals and vitamins.

5. Fox Nuts (Makhana)

This is a very popular food when fasting. It is rich in antioxidants and prevents wrinkles, white hair, and premature ageing. The high amount of fibre avoids constipation, prevents the accumulation of toxins and flushes out wastes. They are high in potassium and magnesium and helps in controlling diabetes, palpitations, high blood pressure, and insomnia. Makhana is also good at relieving joint pains and arthritis, helps strengthen the body, quenches thirst, and reduces burning sensation.

6. Fruits and Vegetables

A bowl of boiled vegetables and fresh fruits will provide you with enough energy and helps you get through your fasting. Vegetables like potato, yam, tomato, pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, spinach, and raw papaya are commonly consumed during Navratri.

7. Dry Fruits

A good way to gain energy is consumption of dry fruits. Pistachio, almonds, kishmish, and cashew nuts are all eaten during fasting. Dry fruits are also added to flavour desserts and sweets like payasam and halwa during Navratri.

8. Herbs and Spices

Since salt should not be consumed during Navratri, you could use items like tamarind, green cardamom, cumin seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon, green chilli, and peanuts to add a little flavour to your food.

9. Dairy Products

On auspicious occasions, dairy products are considered to be holy. This is why you can definitely consume natural dairy products like milk, paneer, ghee, curd, butter, condensed milk, and khoya.

10. Other Foods

You could also have foods like sugar, jaggery, honey, lemon, curry leaves, sugar, coriander leaves, coconut, and ginger during the fasting season.

Navratri Fasting Recipes That You Can Enjoy Eating

Check out these Indian Navratri vrat recipes.

1. Buckwheat Khichdi

The dish is famous for its amazing flavour and aroma.

Source: Pinterest

Ingredients:

• Buckwheat -1 cup
• Curd – 1/2 cup
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
• Potato cubes – 1/2 cup, raw
• Ginger-green chilli paste – 1 tbsp
• Rock salt
• Peanuts – 2 tbsp, roasted and powdered
• Lemon juice – 1/2 tsp

For Garnishing:

• Coriander – 1 tbsp, chopped
• Sesame seeds – 1 tsp, roasted

Time Required:

• 2 hours 20 minutes

Servings:

• 2 servings

Methods:

1. The buckwheat should be cleaned, washed, and soaked in enough water for about 2 hours. Keep it aside after draining.
2. Combine 1 ½ cups of water with curd in a bowl. Whisk well and keep aside.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and add some cumin seeds.
4. Add potatoes when the seeds crackle. Mix well and cover. Let it cook on a medium flame for around 3 minutes or till they are half cooked. Stir occasionally.
5. Keep the flame on low, and add buckwheat, ginger-green chilli paste, rock salt, and curd-water. Cover and cook for 6 minutes on a low flame. Stir occasionally.
6. Add lemon juice and peanuts. Mix well and cook for 1 minute on medium flame.
7. Garnish the dish with coriander and sesame seeds. Serve it immediately.

2. Doodh Paak

This is another dish that will have a royal taste to it.

Ingredients:

• Full-fat milk – 5 cups
• Saffron strands – a few
• Warm milk – 1 tbsp
• Long grain rice – 1 tbsp
• Ghee – 1 tbsp
• Sugar – 1/2 cup
• Cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp

For Garnishing:

• Almond slivers – 1 tbsp
• Pistachio slivers – 1 tbsp

Time Required:

• 32 minutes

Servings:

• 4 servings

Methods:

1. Combine 1 tbsp of warm milk and saffron in a bowl and keep this aside.
2. Wash and drain the rice well. Add some ghee to it and milk well. Keep this aside.
3. Boil the milk in a pan on high flame and in between, stir twice. This will only take around 5 minutes.
4. Add the ghee-rice mixture and mix well. Cook it for about 15 minutes on a medium flame while stirring occasionally. Scrape the sides of the pan.
5. Add the saffron-milk mixture, sugar, and cardamom powder. Mix all of these ingredients well and cook for about 7 minutes on a slow flame or till you notice the sugar has dissolved completely. Stir occasionally.
6. Let it cool slightly and then refrigerate for at least ½ hour.
7. Garnish with pistachio and almond slivers and serve when chilled.

3. Kalakand

Kalakand is an all-time favourite sweet.

Source: Pinterest

Ingredients:

• Fresh paneer – 2 ¼ cups, grated
• Milk powder – 1 ½ cups
• Fresh cream – 1 ½ cups
• Sugar – 3/4 cup
• Cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp

For Garnishing:

• Almond slivers – 1 tbsp
• Pistachio silvers – 1 tbsp

Time Required:

• 3 hours 17 minutes

Servings:

• 25 pieces

Methods:

1. Except for the cardamom powder, combine all the ingredients in a pan and mix well.
2. Cook on a medium flame till the mixture thickens or for 15 minutes. Keep stirring and scraping the sides.
3. Remove the mixture from the flame and then add the cardamom powder. Mix well.
4. Transfer this mixture into a greased thali. Spread the mixture evenly.
5. Garnish it with pistachio and almond slivers and pat it lightly so that the garnish sticks to the surface of the mixture. Keep this aside and let it cool for 3 hours.
6. You can now cut it into pieces and then serve.

4. Farali Dosa

This delicious dosa is an incredible diet food for Navratri fast.

Source: Pinterest

Ingredients:

• Sanwa millet – 1/2 cup
• Rajgira flour – 1/2 cup
• Buttermilk – 1/2 cup, sour
• Ginger-green chilli paste – 1 tbsp
• Rock salt
• Oil
• Peanut curd chutney – for serving

Time Required:

• 2 hours 20 minutes

Servings:

• 8 dosas

Methods:

1. The sanwa millet should be cleaned, washed, and soaked in enough water for at least 2 hours.
2. Drain and blend the millet in a mixer so that it becomes a smooth mixture using 2 tbsp of water.
3. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add some buttermilk, rajgira flour, ginger-green chilli paste, and rock salt. Mix well. Cover this with a lid and keep it aside so that it ferments overnight.
4. Heat the tawa and pour this batter on the tawa. Spread it into a circle of 125 mm in diameter thin dosa.
5. Smear a few drops of oil along the edges of the dosa until both the sides turn golden brown. Fold into a semi-circle.
6. Repeat the steps to make more dosas and serve immediately with some chutney.

5. Sabudana Kheer

This kheer has a very rich taste as it is made from fresh milk and sweetened with sugar.

Source: Pinterest

Ingredients:

• Sago (sabudana) – 1/2 cup
• Full-fat milk – 4 cups
• Sugar – 1/2 cup
• Saffron strands – a pinch
• Cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp
• Ghee – 1 tbsp
• Cashew nuts – 2 tbsp, chopped
• Raisins – 1 tbsp, chopped

Time Required:

• 1 hour and 26 minutes

Servings:

• 6 servings

Methods:

1. Combine ¾ cup of water and sabudana in a bowl and keep it aside for an hour.
2. Heat the milk in a pan and boil for 4-5 minutes on a medium flame.
3. Add the sabudana that was soaked. Mix well and cook for 12 minutes on a medium flame and stir occasionally.
4. Add some saffron, sugar, and cardamom powder. Mix well for 2 minutes on a medium flame while stirring occasionally. Switch the flame off and keep aside.
5. In a small non-stick pan, heat the ghee and add some cashew nuts with some raisins. Sauté this for 1 to 2 minutes on a medium flame. Pour this mixture over the sabudana kheer that was prepared and mix well.
6. Serve when chilled or warm.

6. Shrikhand

This dish is really something to yearn for.

Ingredients:

• Full-fat curd – 1 ½ cups
• Powdered sugar – 5 tbsp
• Cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp
• Saffron strands – a few
• Warm water – 1 tbsp
• Almond and pistachio slivers – 1 tbsp, for garnish

Time Required:

• 2 minutes

Servings:

• 1.25 cups

Methods:

1. In 1 tbsp of warm water, dissolve the saffron strands. Keep them aside.
2. In a muslin cloth, place the curd. Squeeze the curd so that all the excess water gets removed and it can be discarded.
3. Transfer this hung curd into a bowl and add some powdered sugar. Mix this well inside the bowl using a whisk.
4. Add the saffron-water mixture and cardamom powder and mix the contents again with a whisk.
5. Pour this mixture into a serving bowl. Garnish this with pistachio and almond slivers. Place this in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
6. Serve this dish when chilled.

7. Rasmalai

This is one of the recipes that include paneer recipes for Navratri fast.

Ingredients:

For the Saffron Flavoured Milk:

• Full-fat milk – 5 cups
• Warm milk – 1 tbsp
• Saffron strands – 1/2 tsp
• Sugar – 1/4 cup
• Cardamom powder – 1/2 tbsp

For the Rasgulla:

• Cow milk – 5 cups
• Lemon juice – 1 ½ tbsp
• Sugar – 1 cup

For Garnishing

• Pistachio slivers – 1 tbsp
• Almond slivers – 1 tbsp

Time Required:

• 45 minutes

Servings:

• 5 servings (10 pieces)

Methods:

To Make Saffron Flavoured Milk:

1. Boil the milk on a high flame in a pan while stirring twice in between. This process will only take 4-5 minutes.
2. Reduce the flame to medium. Now, cook for 15 minutes or till the milk has become half of its quantity. Stir occasionally while scrapping the sides.
3. Combine the warm milk and saffron in a bowl and mix well. Keep it aside.
4. Add sugar to this milk. Mix and cook for 1 minute on a medium flame.
5. Turn the flame off and add the saffron-milk mixture with some cardamom powder. Mix well.
6. Keep aside to cool for around 30 minutes. Refrigerate for almost 1 hour.

For the Rasgulla:

1. Boil the milk on a high flame in a deep non-stick pan while it should be stirred twice in between. This will take only around 5 minutes.
2. Turn the flame off and add some lemon juice gradually. Keep stirring gently till the milk curdles. When the paneer and the greenish water (whey) separate, it is completely curdled.
3. Strain this using a muslin cloth. Discard the additional water.
4. Place this paneer filled muslin cloth in a bowl of fresh water and mash it gently for about 2 minutes.
5. Repeat the same steps and change the water two or more times.
6. Tie it and then hang it for 30 minutes so that extra water drains out.
7. Squeeze the cloth so that water comes out. Place the cloth on the flat plate and open it. Knead the paneer well for 3-4 minutes so that it becomes smooth.
8. Divide this paneer into equal parts and roll them into small balls and then flatten gently. Keep this aside.
9. Fill the steamer with 5 cups of water and add some sugar. Bring it to a boil while occasionally stirring it so that the sugar dissolves completely.
10. Put these paneer rolls in sugar water and for 7-8 minutes; let it steam.
11. Switch the flame off and let it stay in the steamer for 30 minutes.

How to Proceed:

1. Remove the rasgulla one at a time from the syrup and squeeze gently with your palms. Now, add them to the saffron flavoured milk. Stir them.
2. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Serve chilled after garnishing with almonds and pistachios.

8. Doodhi Halwa

This dish is a charm because of its rich texture and flavour.

Ingredients:

• Bottle gourd (doodhi) – 2 cups, grated
• Ghee – 3 tbsp
• Crumbled mawa – 1/2 cup
• Sugar – 3/4 cup
• Cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp
• Warm milk – 2 tbsp
• Almond and pistachio slivers – 1 tbsp

Time Required:

• 27 minutes

Servings:

• 4 servings

Methods:

1. Heat the ghee taken in a pressure cooker and add the bottle gourd along with mawa. Saute for 2 minutes on a medium flame.
2. Add cardamom powder, sugar, 2 tbsp of warm milk, and 2 tbsp of hot water. Mix them well and pressure cook for 2 whistles on a high flame.
3. Allow this steam to escape and then open the lid.
4. Cook for 5 minutes on a medium flame. Stir occasionally.
5. Serve after garnishing.

9. Piyush

Piyush is like nectar, especially during the hot summer days.

Source: Pinterest

Ingredients:

• Kesar-flavoured shrikhand – 2 cups
• Buttermilk – 3 cups
• Sugar – 2 tbsp
• Cardamom powder – a pinch
• Nutmeg powder – a pinch
• Pistachio slivers – 2 tbsp
• Saffron strands

Time Required:

• 5 minutes

Servings:

• 4 servings

Method:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix and refrigerate for 2 hours.
2. Garnish it with saffron and pistachios and then serve.

10. Dry Fruit Stuffed Dates

This is another easy food for fasting in Navratri.

Ingredients:

• Dates – 22, seedless
• Mixed nuts – 1/4 cups, chopped
• Mawa – 1/2 cup, grated
• Sugar – 2 tbsp, powdered
• Cardamom powder – 1/4 tsp
• Saffron strands

Time Required:

• 5 minutes

Servings:

• 22 stuffed dates

Methods:

1. Divide the stuffing into equal portions of 22.
2. Stuff each date with one of these portions of separated stuffing.
3. Keep refrigerated or serve immediately.

11. Sabudana Khichdi

This is a light dish that is lightly spiced.

Source: Pinterest

Ingredients:

• Sabudana (Sago) – 1 cup
• Peanuts – 1/2 cup
• Jeera – 1 tsp
• Ghee – 2 tbsp
• Dried red chilli – 3-4
• Curry leaves – 1 sprig
• Salt – 2 tsp
• Chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
• Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
• Green chillies (chopped) – 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp

Time Required:

• 10 minutes

Servings:

• 4 servings

Methods:

1. Rinse the sabudana till the water clears out. Now soak this sabudana in water (level approximately 3 cm above it), for around an hour.
2. After an hour, drain the sabudana well using a colander, and spread them out over a thick cloth for about an hour. This is done to drain out the water. It’s important to drain out the water very well. If it isn’t completely dry, the sabudana will stick together and form lumps while cooking.
3. Take a bowl and mix the sabudana, peanuts, chilli powder, and salt very well, so that the sago is coated well with this mixture.
4. In a pan, heat the ghee. Add jeera, the dried red chilli, and curry leaves. When the chilli darkens a little, add the sabudana mix you have just prepared, and mix it over low heat till it’s cooked thoroughly. This entire process just requires a couple of minutes.
5. Once cooked, take it off the heat, sprinkle the lemon juice, and mix well.
6. Your dish is now ready! You can garnish it with coriander leaves and green chillies.

Navratri festival is the time to celebrate with your loved ones and enjoy special Indian delicacies. During Navratri, we pray to Goddess Durga and take part in cultural events like recitals, chanting of scriptures, and folk and classical dances. These Indian Navratri vrat recipes are sure to make you and your guests happy and satisfied. So, enjoy these wonderful Navratri fasting recipes and make sure you spread cheer and joy to your family and friends!

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