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Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
6 Min
13/03/2026
Navratri upvas food can be delicious even though light in flavour, given the restrictions around this period. Vrat food has its own rules, which emphasise a sattvic diet that calls for pure vegetarian food. That means no onion, garlic, common salt and avoiding grains and pulses. Instead, you cook with tapioca pearls, buckwheat flour, barnyard millet, foxnuts, and rock salt, and what comes out of those restrictions is genuinely good food.
Navratri is observed twice a year: Chaitra Navratri in March-April and Sharad Navratri in September-October. During both, millions of Indians observe an upvas, which in Sanskrit means ‘staying close to God’, not merely avoiding food. The fasting rules vary by family and region, with some households permitting tomatoes, while others avoid them. Some use regular salt; most insist on sendha namak, or rock salt.
What is almost universally consistent is the exclusion of wheat, rice, regular lentils, onion, and garlic. What fills that space is Navratri upvas food, a set amount of ingredients creating wholesome dishes relying on pseudo-grains, root vegetables, dairy, nuts, and a short list of approved spices. The dishes below are staples eaten by people who fast all nine days and need food that is genuinely sustaining.
Sabudana is tapioca pearls, which are the single ingredient most associated with Navratri upvas food across India. It is made from cassava root, naturally gluten-free, and high in carbohydrates, which makes it an effective fasting ingredient. The two most common preparations are sabudana khichdi and sabudana vada, and they behave quite differently from each other.
Sabudana khichdi originated in Maharashtra and is popular in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat. Overnight soaked pearls are drained, then cooked in ghee with cumin seeds, green chillies, potatoes, and roasted peanuts. Sabudana vada is the fried cousin made with a mixture of soaked sabudana, mashed boiled potatoes, crushed roasted peanuts, and spices, which is shaped into flat patties and deep-fried.
Buckwheat flour, known as kuttu ka atta, is the dominant grain substitute in North Indian Navratri upvas food. Kuttu comes from the seeds of a fruit-bearing plant, and the flour has a subtle earthy flavour and a dark beige colour. It is naturally gluten-free, rich in fibre, protein, magnesium, iron, and zinc, and has a low glycaemic index, which helps keep blood sugar stable during long fasting periods. Kuttu ka paratha is the most loved preparation, with mashed potatoes added to act as a binder.
Every paratha needs a side dish, and jeera aloo is possibly the simplest dish in the Navratri upvas food spread. Diced boiled potatoes are cooked in ghee or oil with cumin seeds, green chillies, ginger, and rock salt, for a simple vrat-friendly aloo sabzi. Aside from kuttu paratha, it goes well with kuttu poori, sama rice khichdi, or even just curd and fruit. Potatoes are one of the most important ingredients in upvas cooking because they provide bulk, carbohydrates, and energy without breaking any fasting rules.
Samak or sama ke chawal is actually barnyard millet that is turned into a nutritious, vrat-friendly khichdi. Used as a rice substitute during Navratri upvas food preparations, it is one of the few grains considered acceptable during fasts. Sama rice khichdi is made by cooking the millet with ghee, cumin seeds, green chillies, grated ginger, boiled potato, and rock salt; some recipes use curry leaves or fresh coriander. The texture is lighter and starchier than regular rice khichdi, and it cooks quite quickly.
Every planning of Navratri upvas food eventually circles back to fruit, and fruit chaat or fruit salad is the most common way it is eaten during the fast. During Navratri, the ones who are stricter and eat only once a day, fruits and dairy make up the bulk of their diet. A fruit salad during upvas is kept simple with banana, apple, pomegranate, papaya, and seasonal fruits cut and mixed with some rock salt.
Also called phool makhana, foxnuts, or lotus seeds (there are some debates on the variations), is one of the most nutritionally dense ingredients among Navratri upvas food. It is rich in calcium, has anti-inflammatory properties, is low in fat and high in protein relative to most vrat ingredients, and is completely grain-free. It can be roasted and eaten as a snack, added to curries, or cooked into desserts. During Navratri, makhana kheer is one of the most popular dessert choices.
Bottle gourd halwa, or lauki ka halwa, is the underrated dish on this list. Lauki (bottle gourd) is a permitted vegetable among Navratri upvas food. When grated and slow-cooked in ghee with milk, sugar, cardamom, and a handful of dry fruits, it transforms into a soft, mildly sweet halwa with a texture quite different from gajar ka halwa. It is lighter on the stomach than most sweet dishes, easy to digest, and is nice as a dessert or a sweet mid-morning meal.
Light, nutritious and providing quick energy without the energy crashes, upvas food, though using limited ingredients, can be delicious too. This list covered some of the most common vrat-friendly dishes from sabudana khichdi to lauki ka halwa that have been prepared for Navratri fasting periods, time and again for aeons.
