Vrat Wali Tikki | Special Fasting Diet Plan | Navratri Special

I have seen my mother, grandmother and aunts keep fast during the auspicious Navratri days since my childhood. Highly inspired by them & also with peer pressure, I started keeping these fasts as well.

During my younger days, what I loved about the Navratri fasts was the amount of good stuff that I got to eat –  Potato Fritters, Vrat wali Namkeen (full of dry fruits but also a lot of oil), potato wafers, Kuttu Atta Fritter, etc. Unlike most other fasts, where either you are staying hungry the whole day or relying only on fruits to fill your stomach.

However, the very reason that made me happy about the Navratri fasts earlier, made me worry about my fatty days. But with no other healthy options available, I kept eating the same oily and high-calorie food, or if I could manage I had just fruits (healthier option, but definitely not filling). Frankly, I never thought of finding the healthier food options because One, I liked the oily delicious vrat stuff, and Two, I just went with the flow, ate what everybody eats – because that is what the real Fasting food is… like really? 🤔😤

So breaking the barriers of my own thinking, last year I made my own version of Vrat Wali Tikki (Fasting Cutlets) which turned out to be both yummy and healthy.

Let’s first list the ingredients: Boiled Potato (Aloo): 2-3 medium sized, boiled & Mashed Cottage Cheese (Paneer): 100 gms, grated Samo Seed Rice (Vrat key Chawal): 1/2 cup boiled, used for binding. 😬 Rock Salt (Sendha Namak): as per taste Black Pepper (Kali Mirch): 1 teaspoon Cummin Powder (Jeera Powder): 1 teaspoon Ginger (Adrak): 1/2 inch grated Green Chilli (Hari Mirch): 1 or 2 chopped (Optional) Coriander/ Cilantro (Hara Dhaniya): 1/2 cup

Preparation:

1. Mix all the ingredients well, cover with a wet cloth.
2. Keep the stuff aside for 10 minutes.
3. After 10 min, make small disc-type balls (tikki/ cutlets) out of the stuff.
4. Place the flat pan for heating, once hot, put little oil in it and use a cooking brush to spread the oil.
5. Once the oil gets hot, gently place the cutlets on the oil, simmer the gas to medium heat and let them cook for 2 minutes.
6. Now brush oil on the other side of the cutlets.
7. Reverse the cutlets and let them cook on the other side as well. Cook for 2 minutes.

Your cutlets are ready. Now carefully remove them from the pan into the serving bowl and they are ready to be relished 🤤🤤

There are a lot of healthy stuff that can be eaten during Navratri Fasts. But I am a little late on the post already, and moreover I don’t have the required ingredients at home to cook and take pictures 😉, I will have to leave you with a few vrat food ideas for healthy eating – Sabudana Khichdi, Salted Makhane, Roasted Dry Fruits, Samo Seed Rice Pulao, Yogurt with fruits.

I will post my version of these recipes in the days to come, but many of these recipes you can get from the youtube videos. But who am I kidding, you guys are yourself, such awesome cooks.

So Happy Fasting Guys! May these Navratras bring you loads of wealth and good health.

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