Healthy Navratri Recipes: 8 Low-Oil Vrat Dishes To Try This Year

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Navratri fasting is meant to feel light. Yet vrat plates can lean heavily on the fryer: kuttu puris, aloo tikkis, sabudana vadas. The Indian Council of Medical Research's National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN) estimates that 56.4 per cent of India's disease burden is linked to unhealthy diets, so a nine-day reset is a good moment to cut back. These healthy Navratri recipes use only ingredients that are traditionally eaten during the fast, and cook with a teaspoon of ghee or oil, or none.

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Healthy Navratri Recipes Start With Less Oil

ICMR-NIN's 2024 dietary guidelines advise limiting refined or extracted oils, keeping total fat to 30 per cent of energy or less, and limiting saturated fats such as ghee. Fasting menus are often ghee-heavy, so the simplest fix is a measuring spoon. The recipes below use dry roasting, steaming, shallow cooking on a non-stick pan, or an oven or air fryer.

Makhana, Roasted Dry

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Dry-roast two cups of makhana on low heat for eight to ten minutes, stirring, until they snap crisply. Toss with sendha namak and black pepper. ICMR's Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 put makhana at about 9.7 g of protein per 100 g raw, and ghee-roasting adds 20 to 35 per cent more calories without adding protein.

A Samak Rice Khichdi With One Teaspoon Of Ghee

Wash half a cup of samak rice (barnyard millet) and soak for 15 minutes. Heat one teaspoon of ghee, add cumin, green chilli, diced potato and bottle gourd, then the rice and two parts water to one of rice. Cook covered for 10 to 12 minutes and finish with crushed peanuts and lemon. ICMR-NIN encourages including millets as a cereal regularly.

Sabudana Khichdi, With Fewer Surprises

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Rinse the pearls until the water runs mostly clear, soak until they crush easily between two fingers, then drain well. Sabudana is mostly starch and low in protein, and its glycaemic index is medium to high, so it is best paired with fibre-rich vegetables and protein. Dry-roast the peanuts, use one teaspoon of ghee for cumin, chilli and boiled potato, add everything and cook for three to four minutes. Serve with curd.

Kuttu And Lauki Chilla On A Non-Stick Tawa

Mix a cup of kuttu atta with a cup of grated bottle gourd, sendha namak, cumin and green chilli, and add water to a pouring batter. Cook on a non-stick tawa with half a teaspoon of oil per chilla. Buckwheat is unrelated to wheat, so it is gluten-free, and it scores low to medium on the glycaemic index.

Samak Rice Idli, Steamed Not Fried

Soak a cup of samak rice for two hours, grind with half a cup of curd into a thick batter, rest for a few hours, then steam in lightly greased moulds for 10 to 12 minutes. The only oil is a few drops. Serve with a peanut and green chilli chutney.

Sweet Potato Chaat From The Oven Or Air Fryer

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Toss two cubed sweet potatoes in a teaspoon of oil with sendha namak and pepper. Roast at 200°C for 20 to 25 minutes, turning once, or air-fry for 15 to 18 minutes. Finish with lemon juice, coriander and roasted cumin.

A Cucumber And Peanut Raita That Needs No Oil

Whisk a cup of curd with grated cucumber, two tablespoons of crushed roasted peanuts, sendha namak and roasted cumin. It adds protein to starchy meals, and it is the easiest fix for sabudana.

Makhana Kheer, Sweetened With Dates

Dry-roast a cup of makhana, crush coarsely and simmer in two cups of milk for about 15 minutes. Sweeten with three or four chopped dates and cardamom. ICMR-NIN advises aiming for 20 to 25 g of sugar a day, which is why dates are a practical swap.

Before You Buy The Kuttu Atta

The FSSAI says most festival food-poisoning cases have been linked to kuttu atta, with stale stock contaminated by fungus the likely cause. In September 2025, around 200 people in north-west Delhi reportedly fell ill after eating food made with it. Buy sealed, fresh packs in small amounts and keep them airtight. Fresh flour has a nutty aroma and an even colour. Alternatively, buy whole kuttu grain and have it ground fresh. People with diabetes or other conditions should check with their doctor before fasting.