ekadashi or ekadasi is an auspicious day for hindus. it comes twice in the hindu calender month and falls on 11th day of each moon cycle (on dark and bright lunar phase). thus there are around 24 ekadashi in a year and each has its own significance. e.g. ashadi ekadashi is the most important ekadasi in the state of maharashtra.
fasting food is meant to be light and easy to digest. so that it does not pull you down energetically and you can easily devote your mind to the spiritual practices like mantra chanting, reading spiritual books or remembering the name of god or practicing meditation or your spiritual sadhana. e.g. “om namo bhagavate vasudevaya” – is a powerful mantra which you can chant on this day.
if you eat heavy food which is difficult to digest then all the energy of the body goes in digesting the food and it also makes you sleepy. so during fasting one should eat light and the kind of food which is easy to digest. so that all the energies can move towards god or towards your sadhana or towards the higher chakras. ekadashi is a very powerful day to make progress in spirituality.
during fasting days rice, whole wheat flour, pulses, cereal grains, onion, garlic etc are not eaten. instead fruits, sabudana, makhana, milk and flours like singhare ka atta, kuttu ka atta, rajgira ka atta are consumed. on fasting days we use sendha namak (rock salt) instead of regular salt. strictly avoid eating rice on this day.
i have shared a detailed post on navratri vrat rules which explains what food can be eaten on fasting days and what should not be eaten. so do check this post – navratri vrat rules and vrat ka khana. there are few more fasting recipes post on the blog for your easy reference.
- 12 potato recipes for navratri fasting,
- 11 sabudana recipes for navratri fasting.
- 7 arbi recipes for fasting
- 24 sweets for navratri vrat
- 80 navratri fasting recipes
disclaimer: ekadashi fasting rules can vary from community to community. so always follow the rule which is observed in your family, community or sect. e.g. some people do not eat anything on ekadashi. however some people keep partial fast and only eat fruits on this day, some eat light food once a day and some have two meals a day. so the procedure of ekadasi vrat can vary from person to person. but the main thing is that your energies should focus towards the higher goal of life that is to attain the divine. so follow the fasting rules as per your age, health constitution and other family duties and responsibilities. but make sure that you can direct your mind easily towards lord vishnu or your chosen deity on this day.
in this post, i am sharing a collection of recipes that can be made during ekadashi. also drink lot of water and fruit juices.
collection of 11 ekadashi fasting recipes
1. sabudana khichdi recipe – sabudana khichdi is one of the most popular fasting recipe. sabudana khichdi is an easy snack and is a good recipe to be made during fasting days like ekadasi, navratri etc. there are many sabudana recipes which you can make for fasting like sabudana vada, sabudana thalipeeth, sabudana kheer, sabudana ladoo, sabudana pakora, sabudana tikki and sabudana bhel.
2. rajgira paratha recipe – these are healthy gluten free flat breads made with amaranth flour or rajgira flour. rajgira is one of commonly used ingredient for religious fasting. apart from these parathas you can also make rajgira ki poori and rajgira kheer recipe.
3. sama rice khichdi – simple, easy and healthy khichdi made with sama ke chawal also known as barnyard millet. sama ke chawal are regularly used during fasting days and are very healthy. you can make variety of recipes with them like samvat pulao, sama ke chawal ki kheer and sama ke chawal ki idli.
4. aloo tamatar curry – this is a delicious potato tomato curry made without onion-garlic and heavy ingredients or spices. a very easy and simple aloo tamatar sabzi which you can make for fasting days. you can serve the aloo tamatar curry with vrat ki roti or rajgira paratha or rajgire ki poori or kuttu ki poori.
5. kuttu ki khichdi – easy to prepare khichdi made with buckwheat groats (sabut kuttu), potatoes and peanuts for fasting. wholesome super food. you can serve buckwheat khichdi with a bowl of yogurt (curd or dahi) or with vrat ki kadhi. you can also check this kuttu ki poori recipe.
6. vrat wale aloo – crumbled potato recipe for fasting made without onion-garlic. this aloo recipe is light and not heavily spiced. you can make many vrat recipes with aloo like aloo chaat, aloo makhana, dahi aloo, aloo tuk, sun dried potato chips and french fries.
7. khatta meetha kaddu recipe – mildly spiced sweet and sour pumpkin dry curry. apart from this dish, you can also make kaddu ka halwa or kaddu ke pakoras for fasting. you can serve the khatta meetha kaddu with kuttu ki roti, amaranth pooris or singhare ki poori. few more sabzi or curry recipes which you can make during fasting are jeera aloo, dahi arbi, aloo paneer kofta, aloo palak and arbi masala.
8. vrat ka chawal ka pulao – samvat pulao recipe is a simple and easy pulao. this sama rice pulao is made during navratri fasting or ekadashi fasting. sama rice are good health option during fasting days and also make a good gluten free grain. you can have them plain or with vrat ki kadhi. these are not a kind of rice variety or even associated with rice. basically they are from the millet family. the english name for sama ke chawal is barnyard millet. the other indian names for barnyard millet is vari, varai, sanwa, samwa and swang.
9. singhare ki poori – pooris made from water chestnut flour and potatoes. you can serve these singhare ki pooris with vrat ka kadhi or arbi masala or khatta meetha kaddu or aloo palak sabzi or pumpkin sabzi.
10. farali patties – crisp potato patties stuffed with a sweet-tangy coconut-dry fruits stuffing. a popular gujarati snack that is made during fasting. few more snacks which you can make during fasting are farali batata vada, arbi tikki, raw banana kofta, vrat ke pakore, roasted makhana, fruit chaat and sweet potato tikki recipe.
11. makhane ki kheer – this is a delicious north indian dessert made from healthy foxnuts or phool makhana. this is also called as phool makhane ki kheer. there are many sweets recipes which you can make for fasting days like paneer kheer, vrat ka halwa, lauki kheer, dry fruits ladoo, shakarkandi halwa, ash gourd halwa and shrikhand.
