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6 Min
09/01/2026
Vasant Panchami falls when the chronic spell of winter begins its slow transition into spring, which is usually between late January and early February. It coincides with the blossoming of mustard plants with their yellow flowers attracting little critters. This natural shift is why the colour yellow takes centre stage during the festival. More about this and the dishes that are associated with Saraswati Puja below.
Vasant Panchami is dedicated to the Hindu Goddess Saraswati, who embodies wisdom, learning, music, and the arts. It is believed that Goddess Saraswati favours yellow. Curiously, around this same time, the colours around the country, especially the mustard crops that ripen into yellow blossoms, embody this. Consequently, people wear yellow clothes, offer flowers that range from white to yellow (marigold), and prepare yellow-hued foods to honour the goddess and welcome spring. Yellow represents more than just the season – it’s a colour to mark new beginnings. This is why Vasant Panchami is considered auspicious for starting educational pursuits, creative projects, and even business ventures.
In colour psychology, yellow is linked to optimism, mental clarity, warmth, and energy. It is known to stimulate the mind, encourage focus, and uplift mood – which aligns closely with the intent of Vasant Panchami and Saraswati Puja. This psychological association is one of the reasons yellow is favoured in food and surroundings during the festival, as it subconsciously signals positivity, freshness, and new beginnings. So, dishes are deliberately made yellow using ingredients like turmeric, saffron, and gram flour, and are offered as prasad before being shared.
Before the sweets come the savoury spread with each dish carrying the signature yellow hue of the season, showcasing ingredients like turmeric, dal and ghee. Staples like khichdi, labra, and poori form the backbone of the festival spread, bringing warmth and comfort.
Pooris are something everyone looks forward to as bhog or prasad after the Saraswati Puja celebrations are over. These are deep-fried puffed goodness made with wheat flour or maida (for luchi) that pair well with yellow-hued curries like aloo dum and labra. For the best pooris, knead a dough using wheat flour, a pinch of salt, and just enough water. Add a tablespoon of oil for a softer dough, pinch out balls and roll into small circles and fry in very hot oil.
Out of the handful of mixed vegetable dishes that exist in the Bengali cookbooks, labra often appears on festive platters, including Basant Panchami or Saraswati Puja bhog alongside khichuri and other offerings. It’s a simple, vegetarian curry made by cooking a variety of seasonal vegetables with classic panch phoron (five‑spice blend) and mild spices, usually without onion or garlic, resulting in a delicious vegetable side dish.
Khichdi, or Bengali-style khichuri, is served during Saraswati Puja as one of the standard dishes of this occasion. This comfort food combines scented rice with split moong dal and vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, and peas. It’s often accompanied by dishes like the Bengali labra. The khichdi gets its distinctive flavour from garam masala, cumin, green chillies, and ginger-garlic paste.
Dishes like besan laddoo, meethe chawal, and upreta capture the season’s signature colour. You also get these dishes tinged with ghee, saffron, jaggery, and cardamom, and these sweets are rich yet simple, meant to be shared.
Meethe chawal is made with basmati rice, almonds, saffron, and sugar and is arguably the most important dessert for Vasant Panchami, often offered as the first prasad to Goddess Saraswati. First, the nuts, raisins and coconut are roasted in ghee until golden and fragrant. Then, go the spices in the same ghee, then water with saffron strands. Then the soaked basmati rice goes in and is cooked partially. Once half-cooked, sugar and roasted nuts go in and are mixed. You get a sweet, glossy and yellow-hued rice.
This one might not be as popular as the rest, but its deep-fried goodness strikes a balance between sweet and savoury. It is made with whole wheat flour, jaggery and flavoured with cardamom and jaggery and is perfect as prasad. This lesser-known delicacy has a crispy exterior and looks like lot like a mini laccha paratha but sweet. It has a pale yellowish hue that fits perfectly with the festival's theme.
Perhaps the easiest laddoos to prepare and symbolic as well, besan laddoos are made primarily with roasted gram flour, along with two to three other ingredients. Roasted gram flour slowly transforms into ghee, releasing a mouthwatering nutty aroma, while sugar sweetens it and binds it into spheres. While the plain versions are abundant, sometimes they might be garnished with chopped nuts. On Vasant Panchami, these laddoos are prepared as prasad for Saraswati Puja and offered as prasad.
Vasant Panchami isn’t just about wearing yellow – it’s about tasting it too. From comforting khichdi to melt-in-your-mouth besan laddoo, each golden-hued dish brings flavour, tradition, and symbolism to the table. Savoury and sweet alike, these foods celebrate prosperity, learning, and new beginnings, inviting positivity into your home.
