Making

Shravan Vrat

Recipes? Here Are 7 Foods You Must Avoid While Fasting

Ever heard the song ‘ Sawan Ka Mahina Pawan Kare Shor’? While most people enjoy the monsoon with crispy pakoras and chai, this season also marks the beginning of Sawan or Shravan. During this time, devotees observe fast on Mondays, known as Shravan Somvar, to impress Lord Shiva and seek Shravan Vrat recipes. While keeping fast, they abstain from certain foods that are not permissible according to the fasting rules. Below you will find the list of foods that need to be avoided while fasting. 

Alcohol is strictly forbidden during the month of Shravan, as it is considered impure and can hinder the concept of achieving a satvik diet. It is believed that consumption of alcohol contradicts the principles of self-discipline and spiritual focus during this holy month. Instead, you can consume fresh buttermilk, lemon water, and coconut water. These refreshing drinks will help you stay energetic and keep electrolytes in balance in the humid weather of Shravan. 

During shravan fasting, brinjals are excluded from the diet because they are considered inauspicious. Devotees prefer to eat the vegetables that are easy to digest and provide ample energy, like sweet potato, lauki, etc. Brinjals tend to attract insects and worms during the month of monsoon, which could cause complications during the Shravan fast. Eat sweet potato by combining it with cucumber to make a chaat. Also, you can incorporate lauki to make lauki ki sabzi, which goes well with kuttu kachoris. 

Meat, fish, chicken, and all other non-vegetarian food items are strictly prohibited during Shravan, as fasting is associated with a satvik and vegetarian diet to maintain spiritual discipline and purity. Also, the Shravan month falls in the monsoon season, which is considered a breeding period for many animals, making non-vegetarian food unsafe and unhygienic. Moreover, consuming non-vegetarian foods can ruin your digestive health because during the monsoon season, the body’s digestive fire slows down.

Devotees who fast refrain from cooking food with excessive quantities of masala and oil.Pungent spices like asafoetida and mustard seeds are often avoided during fasting, as these spices are believed to stimulate the appetite and are unsuitable for maintaining a controlled diet. The use of peanut oil and pure desi ghee is favoured, and dishes prepared with them are typically tempered with cumin seeds or green chillies to facilitate smooth digestion.

Onion and garlic are typically avoided during fasting because, according to Ayurveda, these bulb vegetables are considered tamasic in nature. Furthermore, it is believed that these two vegetables generate heat in the body and increase restlessness, hindering self-control. Hence, these are avoided during the fasting period to maintain a sattvic diet. Fasting meals focus on pure food recipes like jeera aloo, sabudhana tikki, sabudhana khichdi, and much more. It can help calm the mind, which is completely immersed in devotion to Lord Shiva.

Keep a distance from using packaged food items like bottled fruit juices in your Shravan fasting diet. These packaged foods are loaded with artificial sweeteners and preservatives, which take away the significance of controlling sweet cravings during the fasting period. It is best to stick to natural ingredients like: eat seasonal fruits, including apples, bananas, and pomegranates. Keep your body hydrated with detox water and kokum juice during the Shravan fasting period. 

Shravan fasting is meant to avoid certain flours like rice, oats and of course wheat. Instead, opt for fasting-friendly flours like water chestnut flour and buckwheat flour. You can make an ample number of recipes from these flours, like kuttu ki poori and singhara halwa. During this time, barnyard millet grain can be the best alternative to normal rice, as it is also versatile in nature and can help to prepare recipes like sama rice dosa and sama kheer.