Navratri Special Vrat Recipes: 11 Easy Dishes for Every Fasting Meal

These Navratri special vrat recipes answer the question that arrives every evening of the fast: what will I cook tomorrow? Here are 11 short recipes for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dessert, plus a nine-day menu that makes planning easy.

Navratri Fast Recipes: Three Rules Every Dish Follows

These Navratri special vrat recipes follow three simple rules, and the same rules suit any upvas recipe. First, use rock salt (sendha namak) in place of regular salt. Second, choose fasting flours such as buckwheat (kuttu) and water chestnut (singhara), or sama rice, in place of wheat and rice. Third, cook in ghee or a traditional oil.

Navratri Special Vrat Recipes at a Glance

Choose a dish by meal and cooking time. Two of them use sama rice, one of the many types of millets.

Navratri Nasta List: Breakfasts Ready in 15 Minutes

A calm morning starts with a breakfast that needs little effort. Both of these Navratri special vrat recipes suit a busy day.

Sabudana Khichdi

Soak 1 cup of sabudana overnight, then drain it well. Roast crushed peanuts in ghee, add cumin, green chilli and diced boiled potato, and fold in the pearls with rock salt. Cook for 5 minutes and finish with lemon juice.

Kuttu Cheela

Whisk 1 cup of kuttu flour with water into a pourable batter, then add rock salt, cumin and chopped coriander. Spread it thin on a pan greased with gingelly oil and cook both sides until golden. Serve it with curd.

Kuttu Paratha Recipe and Two More Dishes for Lunch and Dinner

Navratri special food for the main meals should be warm, filling and simple to prepare, and these three Navratri special vrat recipes meet all three goals.

Kuttu Paratha

Knead 1 cup of kuttu flour with 1 boiled, mashed potato, rock salt and warm water. Roll the dough gently between greased sheets and cook it in ghee on a medium flame. The potato keeps the dough soft and smooth.

Sama Rice Khichdi

Knowing how to cook millets begins with a thorough rinse, so wash 1 cup of sama rice twice. Heat ghee, add cumin, green chilli, peanuts and diced potato, then stir in the rice with 2 cups of water and rock salt and cook covered for 12 minutes.

Aloo Jeera

Sauté boiled potato cubes in ghee with cumin, green chilli, black pepper and rock salt for 5 minutes, then finish with coriander leaves. It pairs well with paratha or khichdi.

Vrat Snacks for the Late Afternoon

Vrat snacks fill the gap between lunch and dinner, and these four Navratri special vrat recipes are quick to prepare.

Singhara Pakora

Mix singhara flour with water, rock salt and cumin into a thick batter. Dip slices of potato or raw banana in the batter and fry in groundnut oil until crisp.

Sabudana Vada

Combine soaked sabudana, mashed potato, crushed peanuts, cumin, green chilli and rock salt. Shape into small discs and shallow-fry in coconut oil until golden.

Roasted Makhana

Roast 2 cups of makhana in 1 tablespoon of ghee on low heat until crisp, then toss with rock salt and black pepper.

Sweet Potato Chaat

Roast or boil sweet potato cubes, then toss with lemon juice, rock salt, black pepper and chopped coriander.

Two Sweet Vrat Dishes for the Festival

A festival day feels complete with dessert, and these Navratri special vrat recipes use only fasting ingredients.

Sama Rice Kheer

Simmer ¼ cup of rinsed sama rice, also called barnyard millet, in 1 litre of milk until creamy, then add sugar, cardamom and chopped almonds.

Singhara Halwa

Roast ½ cup of singhara flour in ghee until fragrant, then stir in warm milk, sugar and cardamom until thick.

Navratri Menu Ideas: A Nine-Day Plan You Can Repeat

Rotate the dishes above for variety. These Navratri menu ideas turn the Navratri special vrat recipes into a simple plan for each day, with whole grains such as sama rice forming the base of the main meals.

• Day 1: Sabudana khichdi, kuttu paratha with aloo jeera, roasted makhana

• Day 2: Kuttu cheela, sama rice khichdi, sweet potato chaat

• Day 3: Sabudana khichdi, kuttu paratha with aloo jeera, sama rice kheer

• Day 4: Kuttu cheela, sama rice khichdi, singhara pakora

• Day 5: Sabudana khichdi, kuttu paratha with aloo jeera, sweet potato chaat

• Day 6: Kuttu cheela, sama rice khichdi, singhara halwa

• Day 7: Sabudana khichdi, kuttu paratha with aloo jeera, sabudana vada

• Day 8: Kuttu cheela, sama rice khichdi, roasted makhana

• Day 9: Sabudana khichdi, kuttu paratha with aloo jeera, sama rice kheer

Easy Vrat Recipes Made Better: Five Kitchen Tips

Easy vrat recipes become even easier with a few kitchen habits that apply to the Navratri special vrat recipes above.

1. Soak sabudana overnight and drain it well so the pearls stay separate.

2. Add mashed potato to kuttu dough for soft parathas.

3. Rinse sama rice twice for fluffy khichdi, and keep it in regular rotation, since barnyard millet benefits include fibre and iron.

4. Roast makhana on low heat for an even crunch.

5. Replace peanuts with roasted makhana for anyone with a nut allergy.

Takeaway: Plan the Nine Days With Ease

Navratri recipes made from pure organic foods stay light, filling and simple to plan. With these Navratri special vrat recipes and the nine-day menu, every fasting meal has a plan. Start with the dish that looks easiest, then add a new one each day.