Navratri's 9 days of fasting with healthy feasting
With the festive season starting well in earnest, traditions are raising their homely, comforting and delicious head — it’s a season of going back to family recipes and taking lessons from what nani and ajji dished out ever so lovingly. Many households are busy getting the Navratri fare, kneading kuttu (buckwheat flour) ka atta and Sighare ka atta (water chestnut) into a cheela (pancake). Fasting during Navratri is about eating no grains and flour. This time honoured tradition is now also de riguer because millets and health buffs have improvised, ironically from what has been tradition for ages. One tradition that has survived over 70 years, is Anand Brothers, a provisions’ or kiryana store of old that has been running since 1950. Today, Sudhir Anand and his brother are taking forward their father’s legacy of festive fare. Imagine this - when there was no departmental store, no Amazon, no specialty stores except for the corner kiryana shop, there was this bountiful bustling store on Ibrahim Sahib Street that brought fare from the North.
Even today, Sudhir Anand is busy packing the fasting ingredients. “People come to us and have been for the past 70 years to buy Kuttu ka atta, singhare ka atta, sama chawal, ramdana ka atta, aloo papad and even chunris (dupattas). When karva chauth comes, we will be selling specific items for the festival and during Diwali, again there will be traditional fare. My father started the business in 1950, and we have no franchisees, we have been selling special ingredients for so long, continuing the legacy our father began.”
Thanks to our low carbs, fitness fad, all these grains that have been a part of our rich grain free legacy are back in the reckoning.
In all this brouhaha of flavours, a few restaurants in the city are also dishing out Navratri fare, Sattvik in nature. From vrat ka khana to pakwan made specially, we love that singhare ka atta and vrat ki puris, coz’ incidentally and not intentionally, some are gluten-free too! There is a science to this fasting, our forefathers were aware of, and it is now a “fitness” mantra of many a nutritionist! Go figure!
Khandani Rajdhani, Samaroh, Rasovara, Mast Kalandar and The Great Indian Thali offer delectable fasting vrat thalis. Everyone swears by Khandani Rajdhani, Rasovara and Samaroh … with Anand Sweets, Kanti Sweets also serving some options.
Khandani Rajdhani’s farsan list has Sabudana Vada, Farali Pattice, Banana, Kuttu ke Pakode, Singara ke Pakode, Sitaphal ki Subzi, Rajgira Kadhi and Singhare ki Kadhi and a slew of breads to truly explore the depth of our roti making tradition — Rajgira Thaalipeeth, Rajgira Puri, Kuttu Ki Puri, Kuttu Ke Parathe, Rajgira Thepl ,etc. Maharaj Jodharam Choudhary, corporate chef of Khandani Rajdhani explains how the Vrat Thali is a favourite, “The Vrat Thali during Navratri is our specialty. We have a rotational menu in which the thali includes two Farsans, three sabjis, a dal, a kadhi , two types of bread or roti, two rice dishes, two sweets, fruits and accompaniments. The menu is extensive with a variety in each category — our seasonal favourites this time are sabudana tikki, kachcha kela pattice. The Shrikhand Mawa and Rajgira Sheera are also favourites.”
Five stars too are getting in the mood for the fasting frenzy, which we might add, is even more delicious than normal everyday dal-roti, so get a nice thali at the Navratri Special at Cubbon Pavilion, ITC Gardenia — with Kuttu Ki Kadhi, Methi Paneer, Sama rice, etc.
The thalis are priced from Rs 435 onwards in standalone outlets, and the special attas etc are available at Anand Brothers on Ibrahim Sahib Street.
“With the advent of super foods amongst guests, and millets being the grain of the season, we have made the Navratri menu at Cubbon Pavilion organic and health oriented. Barnyard Millets have been used to prepare dishes -- high in calcium and geo-glycemic elements. And the experience is grain free, so we use Buckwheat Flour (Kuttu ka Atta) in the puris, kadhi, paratha and the halwa. Water chestnut flour has also been used for some preparations making this thali experience completely wholesome,” explains Chef Yogen Datta, executive chef at ITC Gardenia Bengaluru, of their Navratri special that is ontill September 29.
For Kirti Goenka, a CA and mommy about town, this ritual that she has followed year after year, is set in stone. “Fasting is meant to cleanse your soul, clear your palate and detoxify the mind and body. I personally prefer Singhare ka atta available at Godrej Nature's Basket and among my favourite dishes are Sabudana khichdi, Makhane ki kheer, and samosas,” says Kirti. She prefers the readymade thalis at Rasovara. In terms of sourcing the atta, which many households do as it’s nine days of fasting, she gets her Kuttu ka atta from Big Market at Sahakar Nagar.
Buckwheat flour, water chestnut flour, amaranth flour, Sama Chawal (barnyard milet), sabudana (Sago/tapioca pearls), Makhana (foxnuts) are quite the rage. Healthy, and a tradition of the nine days of Navratri, we are going back to the wholesome diet of old… that even more pertinent today, thankfully.
