Navratri Special: From Makhana to Lassi, common vrat Foods for You

Keeping nine-day fasts? So, what about your eating variety of good food? A major part of the nine-day Navratri festival is fasting where devotees abstain from non-vegetarian foods, eggs, onion, garlic, common salt, lentils and legumes, rice flour, wheat and all-purpose flour, to name a few. Instead, people switch to a satvik diet and use limited ingredients to make vrat foods.

Each of the ingredients that comprise Navratri-special foods have particular health benefits. Celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar recently took to Instagram to talk about how a typical Navratri thali benefits women’s health.

“The diverse Navratri meals empower the women with nutrients that make them not just physically stronger but helps bring about a balance at the hormonal level too,” she wrote on Instagram.

Some of the common ingredients in a Navratri thali include milk and products, dry fruits, sabudana, water chestnut flour, buckwheat flour, and banana, among other foods.

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Here are each of their health benefits.

Dry fruits, milk, paneer:

Consumed in abundance during the festival of Navratri, these protein-rich sources help prevent wear and tear in the body.

Alu-ki-kheer (potato pudding)/ Shakarkhandi-ki-chaat (sweet potato salad)/ Sabudana khichdi (tapioca stew):

Tuber vegetables like potato and sweet potato provide energy to the body and aid in easy digestion.

Rajgira ki roti:

The flour of rajgira contains a good amount of lysine that aids in the absorption of calcium. It is rich in fibre, and the phytosterols and oils in it help in reducing hypertension, cholesterol and inflammation.

Singhare atte (water chestnut flour) ki roti:

Singhara flour is rich in vitamins B and E, potassium, zinc, etc., which are excellent coolants and detoxify the system. Usually this flour is used to make puris (fried flatbread) or pakoras (fritters).

Kuttu-ki-kadhi (gravy-based buckwheat flour dish):

A delicious as well as a nutritious ingredient, buckwheat flour contains detoxifying properties and improves fertility too.

Mordhan (barnyard millet) pulao:

Round, white grains of barnyard millet are used in several preparations during the festival.

Banana-ka-atta:

Raw banana or green banana is a part of many Navratri dishes. It can be stir-fried, boiled, steamed, deep-fried, curried or mashed. This ingredient is rich in fibre and an excellent food choice for those with digestive or bowel problems. The flour made of raw banana is a delicacy too.

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Makhana (fox nuts or lotus seeds):

An ideal snack during Navratri, makhana is low in fat, sodium and cholesterol. Its low sodium content helps lower blood pressure and its low glycemic index is beneficial for diabetics. As per Ayurveda, makhana has astringent properties that keep the kidneys healthy.

Shikanji (lemonade), Lassi (buttermilk):

These beverages contain antioxidants that aid in detoxification and boosting immunity.”

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