Navratra food/fast/ diet

These days I am fasting during Navratras. So are most of my clients. People do keep asking me what all they can have during the 9 day fasts. Some people do it for religious reasons, while others do it for dieting. Is typical Navratra food real low in calories? Everywhere in Delhi, there are advertisements about Navratra food/thali/platters being sold. Haldiram has many options. When we were kids, mom used to make exotic Navratra dishes at home. But now I see most of the people going to eat Navratra food available at Nirula's, Evergreen, etc.

Typical Navratra food is fattening. Kuttu ki roti/puri are heavy. People fry the potatoes, swang ke chawal, saboodana ki tikki or khichdi, kheer, saboodana papad, pakodas- these are all high calorie foods, which would make you put on weight rather than loosing it.

What I do is have milk and milk products. Chach is my all time favorite. Low fat yogurt, smoothie, raita of cucumber, boiled potato is other option. I also have low fat paneer (cottage cheese), all fruits and some salads like cucumber etc. To make it little spicy, I add a dash of lemon and sendha namak (This is the salt which is ideally to be had during vrat). You can also have a handful of nuts.

Yesterday, I was out with my friend most of the day, and did not get to eat much. We were famished by evening and did not want to eat a full heavy Navratra thali. We were thinking about nutritious, healthy, low calorie options. We were in Select City Walk Mall. So the restaurant we chose there was Sattvik. It is a pure vegetarian restaurant. Sattvik also had exotic Navratra thali. But instead what we ordered was something from their drinks menu. I had a drink called Nirvana. It came in full pineapple, which was scooped hollow from inside. It was an amazing blend of strawberries, pineapple etc. I found it so refereshing, filling and rejuvinating. My friend had another drink callled Maya. This was beautiful pink colored frizzy drink. One drink and we were full. So you see there are low calorie healthy options available. You just need to be prudent while considering your options.

But for those of you, who do not care about the weight and want variety of foods during Navratras, there are many interesting websites, that have recipes of various Navratra delicacies.