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Aadi Amrut, by Gurudev Masale

Fasting guideUpwas · Vrat

The fasting pantry. What to cook when the usual grains are set aside.

Call it upwas or vrat: on a fast, many Indian homes put away rice, wheat and dal and cook with seeds, tubers and millets instead. Here is what each fasting flour is good for, and a few days in the year people reach for them.

Fasting days

When the kitchen changes. Five fasts most homes know.

  • Twice a month

    Ekadashi

    The eleventh day of each lunar fortnight, so twice a month. Ashadhi and Kartiki Ekadashi are the big ones.

  • Twice a year

    Navratri

    Nine nights, twice a year: Chaitra in spring and Sharad in autumn. Many keep all nine days; some keep the first and last.

  • Once a year

    Maha­shivratri

    One night in late winter. Often a full-day fast, broken the next morning.

  • A month a year

    Shravan

    Shravan, or Sawan: the monsoon month. Mondays for many homes, Saturdays for some, and the whole month for a few.

  • Once a month

    Sankashti Chaturthi

    Once a month, kept until the moon rises.

Your family's way

Customs differ between regions and families: some keep shingada off Ekadashi, some avoid sabudana, some eat one meal. Follow the way your home does it.

Which flour for what

What are you making? Pick a dish.

Pick a dish to see which flours suit it.

A day of upwas

One way to get through a fasting day. Four meals, four flours.

  1. Morning

    Sabudana thalipeeth with curd

    Recipe · with sabudana pith

  2. Lunch

    Bhagar bhakri with peanut amti

    Recipe · with bhagar pith

  3. Tea time

    Rajgira laddoo

    Recipe · with rajgira pith

  4. Dinner

    Shingada halwa

    Recipe · with shingada pith

Recipes

Fasting recipes from our kitchen.

All recipes

Stock up before the fast.

rajgira pith, shingada pith, sabudana pith, bhagar pith and upwas bhajani, on WhatsApp.

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