Karwa Chauth Recipes | Karwa Chauth Vrat Vidhi & Procedure

This post shares Karwa Chauth recipes, Karwa Chauth vrat vidhi or procedure and Karwa Chauth rituals like sargi, baya, group pooja, song and how we break karwa chauth fast in our family.

Karwa Chauth is on 13 October 2022. I am sharing this Karwa Chauth recipes collection so that it is easier for you to decide your menu in advance. Please don’t add onions and garlic in any recipe which you make because they are not allowed during Karwa Chauth vrat. So skip adding them, onion and garlic.

Karwa Chauth Vrat 

Karwa Chauth vrat is kept by women in North India for the health, well being, prosperity and long life of their husband.

The word Karwa means diya (small earthen lamp). Karwa also means a pitcher or pot and Chauth means fourth. Since it falls on the 4th day after the full moon in the kartik month.

The day begins at dawn and in my family we have Gobi paratha or Aloo paratha with Raita and a sweet dish like Sooji halwa or Vermicelli kheer or Feni. 

Sometimes we have Chaat recipes. If not Paratha than we have Aloo Gobi with phulkas.

All these delicious food are consumed before sunrise or better to say when the stars are still there in the sky (taaron ki chaaon main).

I also have tea and then lots of water too because the whole day goes in Karwa Chauth vrat or fasting without eating anything and even drinking water.

After the Karwa Chauth rituals and pooja are over during the day we wait for the moon to come up. It is customary that the sky will be cloudy and moon will come very late.

After waiting and waiting – finally we get to see the moon through a sieve and offering water to the moon we seek its blessings.

The wives are given the first sip of water and the first morsel of food – usually Mathri by their husbands. (The whole Karwa Chauth vrat vidhi and guidelines are given below in the post after the recipes section).

At home we usually have a dinner of Rajma masala or Punjabi  chana or Dal Makhani or Mah ki Dal with rice or roti and some veggie dish. This is how we celebrate Karwa Chauth in our home.

Plan your Karwa Chauth menu in advance. So your whole day goes smooth and hassle free. Eg: You can make the Chutney a day before. Also mathri can be made a day or two before. 

Enjoy making the recipes and having them so that you are able to fast for the whole day.

Karwa Chauth Recipes

I am sharing recipes that you can make for dinner (after breaking your vrat) and the recipes that are included in the sargi. The dishes that make up the sargi platter is had before taking the fast.

Kindly note that some of the recipes listed below have onion and garlic in them as I did not make them on the occasion of Karwa Chauth but on some regular days.

If making these recipes on Karwa Chauth, then do omit the onions and garlic from them. You can add a pinch of asafoetida (hing) in the dish to mimic the flavors of onion and garlic.

You can also check this category of No Onion No Garlic Recipes.

Sargi

Sargi is the meal which is had before dawn and before taking up the karwa chauth fast. In this section you will find the breakfast dishes that can be made easily.

I have also added some sweets recipes. You can prep some of the dishes a day before and refrigerate them. The sweets can also be made a day before and refrigerated.

Breakfast & Snacks

Sweets

Dinner

Included in this section is food that you can have after breaking the fast. I have listed mostly Punjabi recipes and the ones which we make in our family.

You will also find some starters and appetizers in this section. You can serve the dal or the curries with roti or steamed rice. Pulao can be served with raita or a side salad.

Lentils & Beans

Vegetarian Gravies & Curries

Pulao & Rice Recipes

Indian Breads

Starters Snacks & Soups

Karwa Chauth Vrat Vidhi

(These below mentioned rules are followed at my house for Karwa Chauth vrat. Few rules might vary from family to family. I am sharing this Karwa Chauth vrat vidhi for your reference. If in doubt then please consult your family elders or family pandit and always follow the rules followed in your family)

• Karwa Chauth vrat can also be kept by unmarried girls, if the engagement ceremony is already done.
• Onion and garlic are strictly not eaten through out the day even after breaking the vrat.
• Women dress up in their best clothes. Some women also wear the dress they wore on wedding day. Mostly red, orange, golden or bright color clothes or sari is worn. Just avoid wearing white or black color clothes as these colors are not consider auspicious for this occasion. Usually sari or ghagra-choli is worn.
• Women are not supposed to do any household work on this day. Instead they apply heena or mehndi and dress up in their best clothes and do make up.

Karwa Chauth Sargi

(This is mostly done in Punjabi families)

• Sargi is given by the mother in law which includes mathri, coconut (must), fruits like banana, apple etc and sweets or as per your wish. Usually dish made from pheni and milk is also part of sargi.
• Money is also given by the mother in law one day in advance so that the daughter in law can purchase cosmetics or shringar item like bangles, bindi, mehendi, lipstick, hair band, chunri or clothes etc.  if the mother in law is not staying with you then she can send/transfer the money.
• On the Karwa Chauth morning, before eating sargi the daughter in law will touch 7 items which she has decided that she is going to offer/donate to the Panditani (religious lady or priestess) in the evening after doing Karwa Chauth group pooja. So just touch the 7 items and then you can eat sargi.  these 7 items usually are mehendi, fruits, almonds or cashews (nuts & dry fruits), mathri, coconut and money.
• While having sargi, first eat the sweets or dish made from pheni and milk. It is to start the day with sweet or on a positive note.
  
  After this you can eat coconut and then main course meal. The coconut is usually broken by the husband.
  
  Eat a lot and drink a lot of water. As you are not supposed to drink water or eat food after the sun rises (once the stars have set) and till you do the moon pooja in the night and moon is visible very late on this day.
• Before eating sargi, put bindi and take red color chunri on your head. Head bath is taken one day before the Karwa Chauth vrat in evening and the head is kept clean (sucha in Punjabi language).
• The Daughter-in-law also offer clothes and dry fruits like almonds or cashews to her in laws after the Karwa Chauth fast is over (explained later in the post).

Karwa Chauth Group Pooja

1. Some people also worship Bhagwan Shiva and Parvati maa in the morning. But in our home, we only worship Parvati maa in the form of Gauri maa in the group pooja which is done in the evening around 4 pm or 5 pm.
2. Before the sunset, all ladies from the locality gather in one place for the group pooja. In their thali they bring the items like sweets, mathri, fruits and sari and clothes.
   
   These items are called as ‘baya’. Baya items are bought from the money the daughter in law has received from her mother or father.
   
   If they stay close by then they can send the baya in a basket. But normally daughter in law buy baya items from the money send by her parents.
3. Apart from baya items there are other things in the thali which includes one diya with mustard oil, sindhur, surma and all the 7 items which you have kept in the morning meant for priestess.
   
   Also bring one glass (lotta) of water (this is the same water which will be offered to moon in the night). In the water rice grains and sugar is also added. Also tie a mauli (red string) around the lotta.
4. All the ladies sit around the gauri mata image with their items and gauri mata worship is done. All the ladies put surma, lipstick, sindhur to the gaura mata. Its like doing shingar to gauri mata.
5. One elderly lady or panditani tells Karwa Chauth katha or story and 7 times the thali containing the baya is rotated. While rotating thali a song is also sung.

Karwa Chauth Ka Gana (Song)

• For first six rotation or feri the song is “veero kudiye karwara, sarv suhagan karwara, aye katti naya teri naa, kumbh chrakhra feri naa, aar pair payeen naa, ruthda maniyen naa, suthra jagayeen naa, ve veero kuriye karwara, ve sarv suhagan karwara”
• After every rotation, once the thali comes back, then it is first kissed and then kept it along with lotta containing water.
• And for the 7th thali rotation the song is “veero kudiye karwara, sarv suhagan karwara, aye katti naya teri nee, kumbh chrakhra feri bhee, aar pair payeen bhee, ruthda maniyen bhee, suthra jagayeen bhee, ve veero kuriye karwara, ve sarv suhagan karwara”
• The gauri maa pooja is to pray for the well being and long life of your husband.
• You can offer the 7 items (which you have touched in the morning before eating sargi) to the panditani or religious lady in this pooja after hearing the Karwa Chauth katha.
• In some families, after the group pooja is done then it is allowed to drink cup of tea or cold drink (but not both). I think, this could be the modern day alteration to make this fast little easier.
  
  Anyways, as per rules whatever drink you choose on your first Karwa Chauth the same drink you can have rest of your life while keeping Karwa Chauth vrat.
• Baya items which are worshipped (Mansana) with the help of panditani or priestess is later given to mother in law and father in law.

Few activities to be avoided during Karwa Chauth vrat:
(These are actually mentioned in the song which is sung during first 6 rotation of the thali.)

• Don’t weave or stitch any cloth.
• Do not use scissors and needles.
• Don’t go to fields.
• Don’t wake up any person who is sleeping.
• Don’t try to please someone with whom you have or had a conflict.

How we break Karwa Chauth fast?

When the moon is visible (which is always late on this day) then we take a thali in which one diya made with atta or wheat flour, mustard oil, one cotton wick is lit and mathri is kept. Also the water which you have taken with you in the evening pooja of gauri ma is also taken.

Take the red color chunri on your head. Remove your sleepers and keep one wooden stick or piece below your feet and in a sieve (chhanni), place this lit diya and the woman see the moon indirectly via the sieve.

At our home, we repeat the below line 3-4 times while seeing the moon indirectly via sieve. “Haath khari phair chari main suhagan arg den khari” (which means, my hands are spread, I am standing with a wooden stick below my feet and I am a married woman standing here to offer water to you).

(Translation: haath (hands), khari (standing or spread), phair (feets), chari (wooden stick or piece), suhagan (married lady), arg (water), den (to give), khari (standing).

After saying the above lines 3 to 4 times, throw the diya backwards. Then see the moon directly and pour water downwards in the direction of moon.

Throw 5 to 6 mathri pieces also downwards in the direction of moon. Empty the entire water from the glass/lotta. Don’t drink this water at all.

Then see your husband through the sieve (chhanni). Many women also touch the feet of their husband at this stage. At this point you can also internally pray for your husband well being.

After this, to break the fast, husband will offer water and mathri to you. In our home, we eat rice and dal makhani after this. But onion and garlic can not be put in this dish also.

I pray and hope everyone has a fulfilled Karwa Chauth and this Karwa Chauth adds more harmony, understanding and love into the marriage. I hope both partners help each other in the inner and outer well being of body, mind and soul.

This post from the archives (Oct 2011) has been republished and updated on 3 November 2020.