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Embrace a Nutritious Navratri: A Guide to Fasting Foods

Savor a Balanced Satvik Diet with Delicious Recipes for a Fulfilling Fasting Experience.

Embrace a Nutritious Navratri: A Guide to Fasting Foods

The Navratri fasting period is a wonderful time to focus on a nutritious, satvik diet that excludes grains and certain spices, emphasizing wholesome and easily digestible foods. A well-curated fasting platter during this sacred festival offers energy, nourishment, and variety, ensuring that your meals are satisfying and spiritually uplifting.

The Healthy Navratri Fasting Platter

A healthy Navratri fasting platter typically includes fasting-friendly dishes such as cucumber sabzi and upvas poori, complemented by refreshing coconut or green chutney. This platter provides a balanced mix of carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats, keeping you energized throughout the festival. With light, fresh ingredients and simple seasonings like rock salt (sendha namak) and cumin, your Navratri meals can be both nourishing and delightful.

Cucumber Stir-Fry Sabzi

During the auspicious nine days of Navratri, many devotees observe fasts, consuming only specific ingredients considered “satvik” or pure. One of the most popular fasting ingredients is cucumber, renowned for its hydrating properties and subtle flavor. Cucumber sabzi (stir-fried cucumber) is a simple yet flavorful dish that is perfect for those observing fasts. It is light, easy to digest, and packed with nutrition. Made with fasting-friendly spices and ingredients like rock salt (sendha namak) and ghee, this sabzi offers a refreshing alternative to the usual fasting fare, ensuring you stay nourished and energized.

Ingredients:

  • 2 green cucumbers (peeled and grated)
  • 2 green chilies (finely chopped)
  • 1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter)
  • 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 2 tablespoons roasted peanut powder
  • Red chili powder (optional)
  • Rock salt to taste
  • A pinch of sugar

Method:

  1. Heat the ghee in a pan and add the cumin seeds. Once they start to crackle, add the finely chopped green chilies.
  2. Sauté the chilies briefly, then add the grated cucumber. Cook for about 2 minutes until the water evaporates.
  3. Add the red chili powder (if using), rock salt, a pinch of sugar, and peanut powder. Mix well and cook for another 2 minutes or until the ghee separates from the mixture.
  4. Your cucumber stir-fry is ready! This dish pairs beautifully with variche bhaat (barnyard millet rice), varicha pithacha dasmi (barnyard millet flatbread), or fasting bhajani thalipeeth (fasting flour flatbread) or puris.

Fasting Flour Pooris

Upvas Bhajni Flour Poori is a delightful and crunchy deep-fried bread made using a special blend of fasting-friendly flours. Commonly enjoyed during fasting periods like Navratri, this poori is crafted from bhajni flour, a mixture of grains such as amaranth (rajgira), buckwheat (kuttu), and water chestnut (singhara). These nutrient-dense flours provide essential energy and sustenance while adhering to the guidelines of a satvik diet. Lightly spiced with rock salt (sendha namak) and cumin, these pooris are fried in ghee or oil, making them both crispy and satisfying. Typically served with yogurt or a light sabzi, Upvas Bhajni Pooris offer a fulfilling option for those observing fasts.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups fasting flour (Upwas Bhajani flour)
  • 1 boiled potato, peeled and mashed
  • Rock salt to taste
  • A pinch of sugar
  • 2 crushed green chilies (optional)

Method:

  1. Mix all the ingredients to form a smooth dough.
  2. Take small portions of the dough and flatten them to form small pooris.
  3. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the pooris until golden brown.
  4. Serve hot with cucumber sabzi and coconut chutney.

Coconut Chutney

During Navratri, when devotees adhere to a satvik diet, fresh coconut chutney serves as the perfect, fasting-friendly accompaniment. This chutney is crafted from freshly grated coconut, green chilies, and a hint of rock salt (sendha namak) to align with fasting guidelines. It offers a refreshing, flavorful dip that pairs beautifully with dishes like sabudana khichdi, upvas thalipeeth, or bhajni puri. Naturally hydrating and rich in nutrients, coconut chutney enhances your fasting meal while maintaining a deliciously balanced taste without using restricted ingredients.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup fresh coconut pieces
  • 2-3 green chilies, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • A pinch of sugar
  • Rock salt to taste
  • 1 tablespoon yogurt

Method:

  1. Combine all the ingredients and blend them into a smooth paste.
  2. For tempering, heat 2 teaspoons of oil and add 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds. Once they crackle, pour the tempering over the chutney.

Note: While grinding, you can add a little water to achieve a smoother consistency. Your coconut chutney is now ready to serve!

By embracing these nutritious dishes during Navratri, you can ensure that your fasting experience is both fulfilling and spiritually enriching. Enjoy this sacred time with wholesome meals that nourish your body and soul!

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Written by Bhakti D

Bhakti is a dedicated full-time certified yoga instructor and follows yogic teachings as a way of life rather than a fitness goal. Yoga has helped her lead stress-free life for herself as well as has a calming influence on the family. After she realized the goodness of Yoga, she decided to pursue Yoga more seriously by building on Yoga related competencies. She has done a number of classrooms as well as one to one teaching sessions in Mumbai, helping her clientele achieve a happy and healthy lifestyle.

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