The nine-day long festival comes twice in a year, and the second Navratri is what leads up to Dussehra. The idea of Navratri is to follow a fasting period of nine days - ‘nav’ - to celebrate the victory of good over evil. Since many Hindu worshippers celebrate this festival, they observe fasts that involve certain eating restrictions. This Navratri, try this farali pattice recipe - a super easy way to have a vrat-friendly breakfast.
While abstaining from non-vegetarian food is a must, there are certain other foods to be prohibited too, including table salt, onions and garlic. The idea is to have a light and detoxifying meal and keep one’s body cool and calm. In such a case, grains are also avoided and alternatives like sabudana, kuttu ka atta and others are brought into the picture.
This farali pattice is actually a breakfast and snack item from the Gujarati cuisine that fares well for breakfast. Made like regular patties, the roundels are packed with mashed potatoes and a variety of other ingredients, including grated coconut and raisins. This lends a rich taste to the breakfast dish, while making it wholesome and filling. Chopped nuts are added to the patty mixture and then fried in oil. The crispy breakfast is delicious and vrat-friendly too.
Here’s a quick recipe for you to try.
Ingredients:
• 5 large potatoes
• ¼ cup coconut
• Roasted peanuts
• Chopped raisins
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 crushed green chilli
• Rock salt to taste
• Chopped coriander leaves
Method:
• Start by boiling potatoes in a pressure cooker.
• Then, peel and chop them.
• Mash the potatoes using a forker and make a mixture.
• Simultaneously, roast peanuts and cashews.
• Once brown, crush them in a mortar and pestle.
• Add to a bowl and then throw in sugar, lime juice, coriander leaves and grated coconut.
• Meanwhile, mix arrowroot flour to the potatoes and bind them together.
• Flatten the potato balls with your hand and stuff with coconut and nuts mixture.
• Roll into a flat roundel and fry until golden-brown.
• Serve hot and crisp.
