Many devotees observe a fast during Navratri, abstaining from common foods like grains, lentils, and certain vegetables. While fasting during Navratri can seem daunting, there are many delicious fasting-friendly recipes to try using alternative ingredients like sabudana, singhara flour, and fruits and vegetables like potatoes, bananas, and coconuts.
One such ingredient is Sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are very versatile and can be prepared in many ways. They can be boiled, roasted, sautéed, or mashed. During Navratri, they are often boiled and seasoned with sendha namak and pepper or mashed with minimal spices. Simple preparations allow the natural sweetness to shine through. Sweet potatoes make for a healthy, energizing food to eat when fasting during the Navratri festival.
Be it tikkis or cutlets, fries, khichdi or kheer, with sweet potatoes, you can make snacks, mains, and desserts that are not just fasting-friendly but also delicious and satisfying. Try out these 7 sweet potato recipes for a flavorful fasting experience.
Sweet Potato Tikki
Sweet potatoes are boiled and mashed into a soft mixture. Spices like green chili, cumin seeds and rock salt are added to flavor the mashed sweet potatoes. The spiced sweet potato mixture is shaped into small patties called tikki and shallow fried in a pan until golden brown. These sweet potato tikkis make for a nutritious and filling snack option during fasting days like Navratri. They can be served with a cooling yogurt-based raita or mint chutney on the side. The sweet and spicy tikkis paired with the cooling chutney make for a delectable fasting food.
Image credit: Freepik
Sweet Potato Chaat
This simple Sweet Potato Chaat recipe requires just 5 ingredients. Quickly prepare this fuss-free, nutritious snack with sweet potatoes, pepper, lemon, sendha salt and mango powder. The balanced flavors of sweet, spicy, and tangy make an ideal Navratri dish you'll love. A super quick, low-fat snack to enjoy during fasting.
Image credit: Freepik
Sweet Potato Kheer
Shakarkand ki kheer is a sweet dessert made by simmering sweet potato, milk, honey, cardamom, and saffron together. The sweet potato is cooked first before adding the milk to prevent curdling. The kheer is stirred often while simmering until thickened. It can be served warm or chilled, garnished with nuts, raisins, and saffron strands.
Image credit: Freepik
Spicy Grated Sweet Potato
To make this tasty vrat dish, wash sweet potatoes thoroughly. Soak 15 minutes, then peel and grate. Cook grated sweet potatoes in pan with ghee and cumin until dry. Add roasted peanut powder and salt. Cook 5-10 more minutes. Garnish with coconut and cilantro. Serve with lemon.
Image credit: Freepik
Sweet Potato Khichdi
Heat oil and sauté cumin seeds and curry leaves. Add sweet potatoes, potatoes, cover and cook 8-10 minutes until soft, stirring occasionally. Stir in chilli paste, lemon juice, coriander, peanuts, sugar and salt. Cook 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve this tasty khichdi hot.
Image credit: Freepik
Sweet Potato Halwa
Boil sweet potatoes until soft. Mash the sweet potatoes once boiled. Heat ghee in a pan. Add the mashed sweet potatoes, jaggery, cardamom and pistachios to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Garnish with silver varq and serve the sweet potato dish warm.
Image credit: Freepik
Sweet Potato Laddoo
Make tasty sweet potato ladoos at home. Boil sweet potatoes, then peel, mash, and cook with sugar, rose water, and ghee.
Image credit: Freepik
Fry makhana, nuts, and raisins separately. Shape the potato mixture into ladoos, coat in makhana, and enjoy these sweet treats.