The season of fasting and feasting is here. Chaitra Navratri 2024 will begin on April 9 and will end on April 17, giving us nine days of praying and fasting, and not to forget gorging on delicious vrat-friendly foods. Since we get the opportunity to enjoy these foods only twice a year, we look forward to eating them. Kutti ki puri, aloo ki sabzi, samak ki khichdi - our mouths are already watering at the thought of these vrat-special yet yummy delights. Are you ready to plan your Navratri menu? You should know that you first need to stock all the essential vrat-special foods to make a variety of meals during the fasting period.
Keep your Navratri shopping list ready and make sure that your kitchen is well-stocked with these common vrat-friendly foods.
Also Read: Chaitra Navratri: 7 Weight Loss-Friendly Vrat Snacks For Navratri
Navratri meals are full of vrat-special foods.
Photo Credit: iStock
Here're 8 Essential Vrat-Friendly Foods For Navratri 2024 Fasting:
1. Buckwheat Flour (Kuttu Atta):
Buckwheat flour is a gluten-free alternative to regular wheat flour and tastes good too. That's why kuttu ka atta is a popular choice for Navratri fasting. That's not all to it. This flour is rich in flavonoids and offers a good amount of protein to satisfy the stomach and energise the body for the whole day. Also, buckwheat is a whole grain, which contains soluble and insoluble fibres, which induce satiety and also aid digestion. Kuttu atta is used to make recipes which are normally made with regular atta. Here are some recipes you can cook with buckwheat flour.
2. Water Chestnut Flour (Singhara):
Singhara is another energy-dense flour, which keeps the body active during the fasting period. Like kuttu ka atta, singhara atta is also gluten-free and apt for vrat-friendly meals. Additionally, singhara is rich in antioxidants, which are known to boost immunity. Diabetics can easily include this flour in their diet as it is rich in potassium and low in sodium. Here's all you can cook with singhara atta.
3. Little Millet (Samak Ke Chawal):
Samak ke chawal (Sumac rice) is one of the best fibre-rich cereal grains. It is also a good source of iron, which provides a lot of energy to the body. Samak ke chawal works as a great substitute for regular rice during Navratri. It is mostly used to make vrat-special khichdi but you can experiment and make other dishes like these recipes.
4. Pumpkin (Sitaphal):
Now that all the flours to make rotis, cheela and rice dishes are sorted. It's time to think about sabzis to pair with them. Pumpkin vegetable is the most preferred option to make sitaphal ki sabzi. Pumpkin is loaded with vitamin C, which maintains immunity during the season change and also helps clear skin. Other than sitaphal ki sabzi, you can also make sitaphal pakode or roast vegetable cuts to make a filling snack.
Also Read: This Healthy Navratri Meal Plan Has 15 Vrat-Friendly Recipes To Try
5. Potatoes (Aloo):
Potatoes are the most common fasting-approved vegetable in the Indian diet. Potatoes offer a good amount of potassium, energy, and vitamin B6. The vegetable is widely consumed during Navratri, in fact, every day. That's because you can make several delicious dishes with it. From dry aloo sabzi to aloo gravy and khichdi, aloo is used in many vrat-friendly preparations. Here are some more aloo recipes you can try for Navratri fasting.
6. Rock Salt (Sendha Namak):
For fasting meals, rock salt replaces regular table salt. Since sendha namak doesn't go through any kind of processing or filtration, it is considered purer as compared to table salt. You should know that rock salt is cooling in nature, helps with digestion and increases metabolism. So you can season your foods with sendha namak to make vrat-friendly meals.
7. Fox Nuts (Makhanas):
Makhanas are just the low-calorie, high-protein food we need to make snacks for evening hunger during Navratri. Just roast them in some ghee and sendha namak, and enjoy the crispy and delicious nosh when untimely hunger strikes. Not just this, makhanas are also used to make delicious kheer for dessert. Here is an easy recipe for makhana kheer.
8. Sago (Sabudana)
Sabudana khichdi, sabudana kheer and sabudana tikki are some of the more popular dishes consumed during Navratri. Sabudana is light on stomach and tastes great in these dishes. So, sabudana is a must-have food during Navratri.
Happy Chaitra Navratri 2024!