Navratri is the time nature sheds the old, and life rejuvenates itself emerging back afresh in spirit. These 9 days, rest. Allow your body to detox, and let your mind and soul rejuvenate. These nine days of fasting have a deeper physical and psychological impact on our body, and should not be merely reduced to a religious practice.
"You don't fast to please God. Eating the type of food that purifies the body is fasting. We fast to give some rest to our stomach, liver and other internal organs. People keep eating boiled potatoes and lots of sweets during Navratri! If you eat too much, it makes you sleepy. Neither should you stay hungry. Fasting is done to cleanse the body. When the body is purified, the mind also gets purified," says Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of The Art of Living, on why one fasts during Navratri.
Here are 5 recipes from the delectable cuisine of Gujarat for a great fasting experience:
1. Gujarati Kadi
Ingredients
- Curd - 500 ml
- Rajgira (Amaranth) flour - 2 1/2 tbsp
- Rock salt - 1 tsp
- Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp
- Green chillies - 1/4 tsp
- Jaggery - 1/2 tsp
- Ghee (clarified butter) - as per requirement
- Curry leaves
- Water - 300 ml
Method for Preparation:
1. Mix curd with the Rajgira flour. Add the green chilli paste, rock salt, and jaggery. Mix well.
2. Add ghee in a pan. Once it melts, add cumin seeds and curry leaves and cook until it splatters.
3. Now add water. Once the water starts to boils, add the curd mixture and cook for around 10 minutes on low flame. Turn off the gas.
4. Garnish with some coriander leaves.
5. Serve hot with sama rice.
2. Steamed Dhokla
Ingredients
- Water chestnut flour (Shingada) - 1 cup
- Curd - 1 1/2 tbsp
- Green chilli paste - 1/4 tsp
- Rock salt - 1/2 tsp
- Eno - 1 1/2 tsp
- Oil - 1 1/2 tsp
- Water - 1/2 cup
Method for Preparation
1. Mix the flour, curd , water, green chillies, and rock salt. Rest this mixture for at least 4 hours.
2. Now add 1 1/2 tsp of Eno into the batter.
3. Heat 1 tsp water and 1 1/2 tsp oil and add to the batter. Stir until all ingredients are nicely combined.
4. Pour the batter on to a steel plate and steam it for 15 minutes.
5. When cooked, serve with a chutney (sauce) of your choice.
3. Khandavi
Ingredients
- Water chestnut flour (Shingada) - 1 cup
- Buttermilk - 4 cups
- Ginger-green chilli paste - 1/4 tsp
- Rock salt - 2 tsp
- Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
- Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
- Asafoetida - a pinch
- Oil - 2 tbsp
- Coriander leaves - 10 nos.
- Grated coconut - for garnishing
Method for Preparation
1. Sieve the water chestnut flour into a bowl.
2. Mix the flour with the ginger-green chilli paste. Add salt, turmeric powder and buttermilk to it and combine until no lumps remain.
3. Cook this mixture in a thick bottom pan for about 8-10 minutes on medium flame. Keep stirring continuously until it becomes a smooth thick batter.
4. Quickly spread portions of the mixture over inverted plates or a marble table top, as thinly as possible while the batter is still hot.
5. Once it cools down, cut into two inches wide strips, and roll them tightly and place each piece on a plate.
6. Take a small pan, add the oil and heat it, add a pinch of asafoetida and mustard seeds and keep on heat till they splutter.
7. When they splutter, pour the oil over the pieces of the khandvi. Garnish with scraped coconut and chopped coriander leaves.
Wish you a happy fasting and a happy Navaratri!
(With inputs from Art of Living's Ayurvedic Cooking expert Kaushani Desai, Author of the bestselling 'Sattva- the Ayurvedic Cook Book')