Navratri Dry Fruits & Nuts

Dry fruits, or meva, are allowed in nearly every tradition of Navratri fasting, which is why so many families buy them in bulk before the first day. Soaked almonds, badam, are peeled and eaten in the morning or ground into thandai. Cashew nuts, kaju, are fried in ghee for sabudana khichdi or blended into a creamy vrat gravy for paneer or potatoes. Pistachios, pista, are slivered over shrikhand and kheer, and walnuts, akhrot, go into halwa and laddoos.

Dried fruit sweetens without refined sugar. Raisins and the paler, softer sultanas, both called kishmish, plump up in makhana kheer and halwa. Dates, khajur, are pitted and pounded with chopped nuts into sugar free dry fruit laddoos, and dried apricots, khubani, can be stewed or eaten as they are. Alu bukhara, the dried plum, brings a sweet and sour note to chutneys and is often nibbled after a meal. Mixed nuts make a quick bowl for guests on festival evenings.

Dried coconut comes in several cuts, each with its own job. Desiccated coconut is fine and dry for laddoos, barfi and halwa toppings, chips and slices are toasted for snacking or scattered over kheer, shredded coconut gives texture to sweets, and whole dried coconut, copra or gola, is grated at home or offered at the altar. Raw peanuts are roasted and crushed into khichdi, and melon seeds, known as magaz, are a classic thandai ingredient, though some families do not take seeds on a fast. All of these belong to our Navratri range, with roasted makhana in Navratri snacks and makhana.

Nuts hold natural oils that turn rancid in a warm kitchen. Keep them in airtight jars in a cool, dark cupboard, and move walnuts, pistachios and opened dried coconut to the fridge if a pack will last beyond the festival. Roast cashews on a low heat until pale gold, because they darken quickly once they colour.