Navratri is perhaps the holiest Hindu festival celebrated by Indians. This is a 9 nights long festival that is part of Shree Ram Navam, during which people worship nine different avatars of Durga, the Goddess of Power. Each avatar of the Goddess signifies a particular power, ranging from the power of wisdom and education to the power of wealth and good luck. Indians celebrate Navratris twice a year, once in the beginning of the autumn, and once in the beginning of the spring season. Both these are considered to be sacred times to worship any God. One way of showing devotion to the Goddess is to keep a fast for 9 days and nights. During this fast, people do not eat any passion inducing food, like onions, garlic, hot spices etc. There is a very limited variety of ingredients that you can use during Navratri fasts. Read this oneHOWTO article to know how to make Navratri food without using the prohibited ingredients. Here are a few ingredients that fasting people can use during this festival.
Aloo or potatoes
This is a common side dish that people usually accompany with kuttu rotis or puris. Aloo or potatoes are allowed to eat during Navratri fast. So, you can make a fried aloo sabzi by frying potatoes and mixing allowed spices in it. You can boil potatoes, cut or mash them, and mix ghee and rock salt to eat with curd or kuttu roti.
Kuttu flour or buckwheat flour
Most grains are also not allowed during Navratri fasts. Kuttu flour is buckwheat flour that fasting people can eat. You can make rotis with this flour by kneading dough and making a roti on a hot tawa. You can also use this flour to make puris, pakodas or tikkis with this flour.
Falahar or fruits
Almost all fruits are allowed during Navratri fasts. As people are fasting, the food that they eat needs to be nutritious, healthy and energizing as well. What can be the better option than a fruit salad? You can take a wide variety of fruits, and cut as much as you can. Click here to know how to keep fruit salad fresh for longer, so that you don’t have to cut the fruits every time you want to eat.
Vrat wale chawal or barnyard millet
Normal white and brown rice are not allowed to eat during Navratri fasts. Indians use Barnyard millet as a replacement for rice, as it is filling and energizing. You can make a variety of rice dishes with this ingredient, including khichdi, kheer, pulao, tikki etc.
Sabudana or sago
Sabudana is sago that is allowed to be eaten during Navratri fasts. There is a variety of dishes that you can make with sago, including khichdi, tikki, pakodas, vada, kheer etc. You can boil, steam, fry or roast them, and make a variety of dishes as per your personal preferences. It is tasty as well as nutritious and filling at the same time. So, sabudana is one of the most popular ingredients used during Navratri fast.
Rock salt
Common salt is prohibited during Navratri fasts, just like most other spices. If you really want to add some taste to your dishes, you are allowed to add rock salt instead of common salt. It tastes almost the same as common salt, and allows you to enjoy your fasting food without making it tasteless and saltless.
If you want to read similar articles to How to Make Navratri Food, we recommend you visit our Festivities & Celebrations category.