The nine-day-long festival of Navratri starts on 3rd October. Navratri is a Hindu festival that celebrates the Hindu Goddess Durga and her nine incarnations. Each day of Navaratri is dedicated to one avatar of Durga or Navdurga, and on day one, it is the ‘Shailputri’ or the daughter of the mountains who is worshipped with great fervour. Throughout these nine days, countless devotees wake up and offer their prayers to the goddess, they also conduct poojas, prepare bhog and prasad and observe the ritualistic fasts called Navratri Vrat. While fasting for Navratri, one cannot eat meat, fish and eggs, they also have to refrain from pulses, cereals and grains. That’s right, so something as simple as dal-chawal is also a strict no-no.
There are several vrat-friendly pseudo-grains and flour that you can bring to use in Navratri. For instance, the Amaranth flour. Made by grinding the seeds of the amaranth plant into a fine powder, amaranth or rajgira is a gluten-free flour that is easily available in your local grocery stores. You can use it to make puris, parathas and even Gulab Jamun.
That’s right, there is no limitation on sweets in a Navratri fast, but you have to ensure that they are made of Vrat-friendly ingredients only. This Gulab Jamun is an excellent way to kickstart your Navratri on a super sweet note.
Gulab Jamun is a popular Indian sweetmeat. These are deep-fried Khoya and paneer balls that are dipped in sugar syrup or chashni, and the chashni is often flavoured with kesar. More often than not. The dough of the Gulab Jamun needs semolina for binding purposes, now since semolina is off bounds in Navratri, this is where Amaranth flour comes to play. It ensures that your dough is nice and firm, and that when you are frying the Gulab Jamun balls, they do not disintegrate into pieces. The cardamom powder and pistachios, add an aromatic and crunchy touch to the sweet making it all the more tempting.
Here is the complete recipe of Vrat-Friendly Gulab Jamun for your Navratri fast, let us know how you liked it.