- By Bornika Das
- Fri, 26 Sep 2025 10:19 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Shardiya Navratri Fasting Recipes: Shardiya Navratri is a colourful festival that is celebrated with religious fervour and devotional enthusiasm. The festival is marked by nine days during which nine incarnations of Goddess Durga are worshipped. Several devotees across the country keep fast, which demands the need for special dishes to honour dietary limitations while maintaining meals healthy and tasty. Here’s where pumpkin plays a major role. The subtle sweetness of this vegetable, when blended with other spices, tantalises the taste buds, while making it vrat-friendly. Loaded with nutrients and easy to digest, it provides a delicious foundation for preparing Shardiya Navratri fasting meals that are conducive to vrat without detracting from flavour.
Pumpkin is rich in vitamin A and beta-carotene, which support eye health and boost immunity, while its high fibre content aids digestion and promotes satiety. Being low in calories yet packed with vitamins C, E, potassium and antioxidants, pumpkin helps reduce inflammation, supports heart health and keeps skin glowing. For Shardiya Navratri fasting, here are six pumpkin recipes that offer a savoury, mildly sweet and delicious taste, which are vrat-friendly and keep the fasting season nourishing and joyful.
Vrat-Friendly Pumpkin Dishes For Shardiya Navratri 2025
Pumpkin Sabzi
This is a sattvik sabzi which you can simply cook with pumpkin chunks in ghee along with cumin seeds, green chilli, ginge and season it with sendha namak, green chillies and a touch of more ghee. This dish is lightly spiced and naturally sweet and beautifully pairs with kuttu or singhare ki puris or samak rice.
ALSO READ: 7 Best Gluten-Free Alternatives For Navratri 2025 Fasting If You Run Out Of Kuttu Ka Atta
Pumpkin Halwa
This dessert is made with grated pumpkin, which is then slow-cooked in ghee until the moisture dries up. Milk or coconut milk is added with a little jaggery or sugar, a pinch of cardamom powder and chopped nuts. This is a fragrant, rich halwa, which is a must-have for this festive season.
Pumpkin Soup
Blend boiled pumpkin with ginger and a pinch of black pepper. Also, add some fresh malai or cream along with sendha namak and black pepper powder. Boil it and this light, wholesome soup is ready. It will keep you warm and nourished during Navratri fasting evenings.
Pumpkin Tikkis
For an evening snack, pumpkin tikkis are a perfect option. All you need to do is, boil the pumpkin, mash it well and add singhara atta or rajgira flour, green chillies, sendha namak, black pepper, and coriander leaves. Give them the shape of tikkis and then shallow fry them. These tikkis are a fulfilling snack for vrat.
Navratri Fasting Pumpkin Recipes For Navratri (Image Credits: Canva)
Pumpkin Raita
This really goes well with sattvik paratha or samak pulao. All you need to do is grate the pumpkin, saute it in ghee and jeera and mix with chilled curd and season with roasted cumin powder, black pepper powder and rock salt. This makes it a refreshing side that balances heavier vrat dishes.
ALSO READ: 6 Nutritious Alternatives To Sabudana To Keep Your Navratri Meals Light And Energising
Pumpkin Paratha
To make this paratha, mix kuttu flour and pumpkin puree and season it with sendha namak, green chilli, black pepper and coriander leaves. Knead a soft dough and roll out parathas. Cook on a non-stick tawa using ghee. You can enjoy pumpkin raita or pumpkin sabzi.
These pumpkin recipes are delicious and vrat-friendly, giving a fulfilling effect and essential nutrients that help the body to keep going throughout the nine days of Navratri. Moreover, they are easy to make and will be loved by children and adults alike.