End of the fasting “Feast”

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Navratri or Durga Puja as it is known, is a 9 day long festival celebrated in every corner of India. During this time, there are huge ‘Pandals’ setup with idols of Goddess Durga, and evenings start with the aarti and end late with folk dances – Garba / Dandia being the most popular one celebrate in Gujarat. Also during these 9 days, many people fast for many reasons, from getting a promotion at work to finding a prospective life partner. Even I fast during these 9 days but definitely not for the reasons mentioned above 😛 For me it’s more like endurance testing, how long can I stay away from food. And I’m on a strict “Fruit Only” diet during these days…

But the 9 day long fasting has become a Feast now with many restaurants coming up with special Navratri Thali having everything which is “allowed” to be eaten during fasting. From paneer preparation to Jeera Rice everything is on offer. Earlier people used to prepare something at home and would avoid eating out, but now a days they don’t shy away from dining out.

Also even the dishes prepared at home during fasting have changed a lot. It is no more limited to Jeera Aloo, Raita, Sabudana wada et al. With the home chefs read to experiment, new dishes have cropped up. Even at my home, I get to see a lot of experiments leading to some mouthwatering dishes. So some of the items that can be eaten during Navratri fasting include: 

• Sabudana Khichdi / Sabudana Vada
• Paneer
• Singhare ke Puri
• Singhare ki Kadhi
• Singhare ka Dosa
• Sawa ke Chawal

and the list can go on and on. Trust me I’ve tried all the items mentioned above and they taste amazing.

Now with such lip-smacking dishes available to eat during fasting, who wouldn’t want to fast. It has indeed become easier to fast with such amazing stuff around the corner. This has surely become a “Feast” for 9 days. Anyways with the fasting period coming to and end last week, its time to get back to the kitchen and come up with some unique items for the next fasting season !