Maha Shivratri is one of the most significant Hindu festivals celebrated in honour of Lord Shiva. People fast on Maha Shivaratri. While there is 'nirjala' vrat, where people consume no water or food through the day, devotees can also observe a lighter form of fasting where they are allowed to eat fruit, milk and certain vegetables and grains.
Here are some vrat friendly recipes to try on Maha Shivratri.
Dhokla
The soft, spongy and light dhoklas can be made from samvat ke chawal instead of gram flour or regular rice. Also, regular salt can be replaced with rock salt to make it vrat friendly.
All you need to do is roast the rice in a pan and prepare the batter by mixing rice, rock salt, chilli paste, ginger paste and yogurt.
Let the mixture ferment overnight. Then grease a tin with little oil and transfer the batter into it and put the tray in the steamer to cook for 20 minutes. Let it cool and enjoy.
Sabudana khichdi
Sabudana ki khichdi is made with potatoes, peanuts and sabudana. It is consumed during fasting days like Navratri, Ekadashi, Mahashivratri etc.
To make it, rinse a cup sabudana and soak them in water for 2-3 hours till they soften. Boil the potatoes and roast and grind peanuts into a coarse powder. Chop the cooked potatoes and fry them in a pan with ghee. Add the peanut and sabudana mix in the pan and saute. Add a tbsp of lemon juice and serve.
Sabudana vada
Sabudana patties are deep fried patties made of sabudana, potatoes, roasted peanuts, spices, herbs and seasonings. To make sabudana vada, boil and mash the potatoes for the binding mix.
Roast peanuts and grind them into a chunky powder. Add the potatoes, soaked sabudana, chopped coriander leaves, lemon juice and the peanuts together with some rock salt. Create vada-like patties from the mix, deep fry and serve hot. You can also grill the patties on an greased cast iron or non-stick pan.
Fruit chaat
This Delhi-style fruit chaat is a spiced, savory, sweet and tangy snack which can be easily enjoyed while fasting. To make fruit chaat, all you would need is chopped, fried potatoes, seasonal fruit mixed with fruits like banana, mango, papaya, sweet potatoes, apples, etc. For the chaat-like taste, you would need pepper, lemon juice and rock salt.
Dice all the fruits and fried potatoes and mix them with the pepper, lemon juice and rock salt to serve fresh chaat.
