janmashtami navaratra ganesh chaturthi or durga puja celebrations for almost every festival involve ritualistic fasting that stars foods with a special significance whether it is khichdi meant to nourish the body or a halwa there is an astounding range of fasting foods in our diverse culinary traditions heres a glimpse of some of the common and unique choicescooling drinksbanana and walnut lassi is the perfect way to break ones fastconsuming cooling food items such as fruit sherbets basil water and lassi is part of fasting rituals across communitiespro tip a bananawalnut and honeysweetened lassi is the perfect way to break your fast dahi is loaded with calcium has probiotic properties to help set the stomach banana is rich in nutrients and honey is a natural sweetener topped with walnuts its goodness is enhanced input by chefentrepreneur sambit banickkuttusinghade ki puri makhane ki kheermakhana can be had both as sweet or savoury almost all communities avoid ricebased dishes instead puri paratha halwa and dosa made with special atta such as rajgira amaranth kuttu and singhada water chestnuts are used these are served with vratspecial aloo arbi or simply dahi makhane ki kheer andor raita are also fasting favouritespro tip those who prepare savoury dishes with makhana are mindful of adding sendha namak to it this salt is considered fit for the sada khana which is a must for vrat says debjani chatterjee alam home chef and food writersabudanasabudana khichdi is a fasting staplesabudana or tapioca pearls dominate fasting food platters in almost all parts of the country soaked and served with milk and coconut for a cooling effect or enjoyed as a khichdi with roasted peanuts or as a vada with assorted chutneys during festivals sabudanas popularity stems from the fact that it is filling and its a starchy alternative to rice and atta which are not consumed during festive daysunique regional specialtiesin the south devotees mostly visit a temple to offer prayers and break their fasts with a special prasad says chef suresh pillai former contestant of the reality show masterchef it is customary to have a special sweetened prasad called thrimadhuram made with sugar banana dried grapes first and then move on to a wheat dosa and kozhukattai rice dumplings with coconut and jaggery filling any other form of rice or wheat dish is not acceptable how taal treats add a delish touch to janmashtamithe flesh of the taal fruit is used to create an astounding range of dishes including taaler bora and taaler patishapta abovein bengal taal or toddy palm is linked to janmashtami rituals while people have maida luchi puris doi khoi fruits and milkbased bengali sweets taal preparations for janmashtami are special says food historian pritha sen explaining how offerings are deity specific and food consumed after fasting are meant to cool and nourish the body with seasonal ingredients the flesh of the taal fruit found in abundance during this season is used to create an astounding range of dishes taaler bora taal