How to make the best of Navratri in times of quarantine

It’s that time of year, when the devotees of Shakti- Goddess Durga are immersed in her devotion for 9 days! The 9-day long festival is celebrated with a lot of happiness and fervour. One of the major festivals celebrated across the country, Navartri is marked by a 9 day long auesterious fast, which includes a lot of restrictions on food. However, this year Navratri is different, it is engulfed with a world-wide pandemic scare of coronavirus (Covid-19), but this doesn't stop a devotee from celebrating and worshiping the almighty.

Gone are the days, when stocking up Navratri chips, Namkeen and Til ladoos were one of the most exciting things about this festival. Unfortunately, the recent scenario is such that people are dealing with a tough nationwide crisis of lockdown of 21 days as a prevention measure to combat the virus! However, with limited resources celebrating the festival of Navratri might seem like a challenge but we have got some great ideas to help you sail through this tough phase and worship Goddess Durga.

This year Navratri began on 25th March 2020 and will continue till 2nd April 2020. No doubt, with a lockdown period of 21 days, there would be several changes in the rituals, but following the auesterious fast with limited resources is possible read on to know more!

Ladoos are quintessential for every festival in India, it is impossible to celebrate any festival without this delight. With sweet shops closed around the town, it will be tough to offer those delightful varieties ladoo. Well, here’s a simple recipe that you can prepare at home with some milk, sugar and dry fruits. To begin with you need to boil the milk and add a little bit of lime juice, once the milk starts to curdle, drain out the excess water and strain the curdled milk portion through a white cloth. Take the chenna, add sugar, add chopped dry fruits, mash it all together with a little bit of ghee and make small balls. Your paneer laddos are ready!

Eating deep fried potatoes and aloo tikki with dahi revives the nostalgia of Navratri. However, with limited resources exhausting everything can be risky. Hence, going for smart recipes that are healthy and satiting are a great idea. Potatoes are easily available, even as an essential most people have this root veggie at home. You can prepare potato halwa at home and offer it as prasad as well. You just need a few potatoes, dry fruits, milk and sugar. Prepare it like a usual halwa and give your fast a tasty twist.

You can also use canned fruits, if you don't have fresh fruits. Just make some dahi(curd) at home, add finely chopped fruits and sugar, and your fruits raita is ready. You can also add dry fruits to make it more filling!

Maybe this is the time when we realise the right meaning of the law of marginal utility! So, this Navratri whatever veggies or fruits you have to use them wisely and churn the best out of them might sound strange, but it will actually give you the best of taste and health. If you have pumpkin, green peas, carrots or any other fruit such as kiwi, apple; just make a puree of the fresh produce and cook it with milk, sugar and dry fruits. Cook it to perfection and your healthy kheer is ready. It is best to choose fruits or veggies that are slightly towards the sweet taste.

Fruit salad is easy, but exhausting all your food stock isn’t a great idea, so to utiliza what you have the key to sustain. If you have condensed milk, yoghurt or fresh cream mixing fresh fruits with any of these ingredients, this mix of fruits with cream of sweetened milk will make it heavy and keep you statited for a long time. You can also add a few dry fruits.

As it is difficult to buy Navratri foods, you can make them at home with just a few limited resources. Just roast the peanuts, melt in some jaggery or sugar, mix it well. Place the mixture in a tray and allow it cool and your chikki is ready. This delicacy is perfect to satiate your hunger pangs.