Navratri is a festival of the Hindu religion where devotees worship different avatars of Goddess Durga for nine days.
Many devotees prefer to fast for nine days. During fast people avoid eating whole grains, alcohol, meat, onion, garlic, etc. These foods are considered to attract negative energies and should be avoided. There are four Navratris in a year but only two are widely celebrated - Chaitra Navratri (March-April) and Sharad Navratri (October-November).
There are 2 ways to Fast:
1. Falahar Vrat (Only fruits, dry fruits, milk, coconut, and No Salt)
2. Salt Diet (Special flours, limited spices, few vegetables, and no processed and refined food items)
Foods that can be consumed while fasting are :
1. Fresh Fruits
2. Coconut Water
3. Nuts (Makhana, Cashew, Almonds, Pistachio, Walnuts, etc)
4. Flour (Kuttu ata, Singhara ata, etc)
5. Potato, Sweet Potato, Raw Banana
6. Black Salt, Black pepper, green cardamom
A few dishes that are eaten while fasting are:
1. Sabudana Kheer
2. Sabudana Tikki
3. Vart Aloo
4. Kuttu atta puri and aloo
5. Lauki kheer
6. Shinghare ke pakore
7. Phirni
8. Kaju katli
9. Carrot halwa
10. Carrot kheer
Foods to avoid while fasting is:
1. Onion
2. Garlic
3. Alcohol
4. Meat ( chicken, egg, mutton)
5. pulses
6. Prossesd foods (including regular salt)
7. Grains (Besan, sooji, rice, whole wheat flour)