Make Navratri fasting recipes in the air fryer, from crisp sabudana vada and makhana tikki to farali chivda, sabudana khichdi and a sweet-potato gulab jamun variation. This collection focuses on our air fryer recipes, with a few other fasting meals, sweets and chutneys at the end to complete your plate.
Start with air fryer sabudana vada, try makhana tikki or rajgira tikki, then choose a sweet or chutney to serve alongside. Some recipes include everyday variations, so follow the fasting notes below.
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Choosing ingredients for your fast
Fasting practices vary between families, regions and occasions. The recipes below include notes for the fasting versions we share on SecondRecipe; choose ingredients according to your own household's practice. Gluten-free does not automatically mean suitable for vrat.
- Common fasting ingredients in this collection include sabudana, kuttu, rajgira, singhara flour, sama, potatoes, sweet potatoes, makhana, fruit, nuts and dairy.
- Use sendha namak for savoury recipes. Check the oil, spice mix and any packaged ingredient you use.
- Choose the fasting variation where a recipe also includes maida, besan, lentil flour, breadcrumbs or cornflour. Ordinary rice and wheat, onion and garlic are excluded from the fasting versions here.
- Rules for tomato, coriander, turmeric, amchur and other seasonings differ. Omit or replace anything your household does not use during fasting.
- Meal timing and the number of meals depend on your practice; this collection does not prescribe a one-meal diet.
Air fryer Navratri snacks and tikkis
Start here for fasting snacks made in the air fryer. Follow each recipe's soaking, boiling and chilling steps, and use its stated fasting variation where needed.
Air fryer sabudana vada
Soaked sabudana and potato patties with crisp edges. The recipe also has a sweet-potato variation. Use sendha namak and herbs allowed in your fast.
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Air fryer makhana tikki
Makhana, peanuts, sabudana and potato make a change from a plain potato tikki. Prepare the patties ahead, chill them and air fry before serving.
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Air fryer rajgira tikki
Sweet potato and rajgira flour form these amaranth cutlets. Serve with plain yogurt or a fasting chutney.
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Air fryer kuttu tikki
These cutlets use cooked whole buckwheat and potato rather than kuttu flour. Drain the buckwheat well and chill the shaped patties before cooking.
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Air fryer raw banana cutlets
Raw banana and potato patties made without breadcrumbs. Follow the basic recipe with rock salt; bread, besan and garlic variations are for non-fasting days.
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Air fryer falhari paneer tikka
Paneer, potato and pineapple with a yogurt marinade. Choose kuttu or sabudana flour for the fasting version and check your permitted spices.
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Air fryer farali chivda
A crunchy mixture of large sabudana, makhana and peanuts. Use the larger sago specified in the recipe, sendha namak and a fasting-compatible oil; avoid rice-bran oil.
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Air fryer dry fruit chivda
Dried potato chips, nuts and raisins make an easy snack to prepare ahead. Check packaged potato chips for added flour or seasoning and use fasting-compatible salt and spices.
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Air fryer roasted makhana
For a simple fasting snack, roast makhana with ghee or an accepted oil, then season with sendha namak and black pepper. Omit the regular masala, onion and garlic flavour variations.
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Air fryer banana chips
Thinly sliced raw banana cooked until crisp. For fasting, use sendha namak and an accepted oil; leave out turmeric or other seasonings if your household avoids them.
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Air fryer arbi tikki - fasting variation
The default recipe uses besan or lentil flour. For vrat, replace that binder with kuttu flour, use sendha namak, and replace red chilli powder with an accepted seasoning. Do not add breadcrumbs.
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Air fryer falhari dahi papdi chaat
Kuttu papdi topped with yogurt, potato and fasting chutneys. Skip sprouts, regular sev and non-fasting spice mixes; follow the air-fryer option for the papdi.
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Air fryer fasting meals
Air fryer sabudana khichdi
Sabudana, potato and peanuts with a light cumin tempering. The post includes both air-fryer and stovetop methods; correct soaking and draining keep the pearls separate.
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Air fryer fasting sweet
Air fryer gulab jamun - sweet-potato version
Choose the sweet-potato and milk-powder version for fasting, subject to your household's ingredient rules. The khoya-and-maida version and ordinary commercial mixes are not the fasting option.
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Other fasting recipes to serve alongside
For a complete Navratri plate, pair the air fryer recipes above with one of these additional meals, desserts or chutneys.
Other fasting meals
Tangy pumpkin curry
A stovetop pumpkin sabzi with peanuts, cumin and ginger. Use sendha namak and check whether amchur is permitted in your fast; lemon is an alternative.
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Falhari pizza
A kuttu-and-rajgira base topped with paneer, potato and sweet potato. This recipe uses a tava and oven, not a tested air-fryer method. Use sendha namak and the fasting mint chutney.
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Other fasting sweets and desserts
These recipes use the stovetop or other preparation methods. Choose one to serve alongside your air fryer snacks or meal.
Sweet potato kheer
A milk-based pudding using sweet potato. A useful change from sabudana kheer when you want a small sweet with your fasting meal.
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Sama ke chawal halwa
A pudding made with sama or barnyard millet. Use the specific fasting ingredient in the recipe rather than substituting ordinary rice or another millet.
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Pumpkin halwa
Pumpkin cooked with ghee or coconut oil, coconut and jaggery. Choose ingredients accepted in your family's fast and serve as a dessert.
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Lauki ki kheer
Bottle-gourd pudding with milk. Prepare it ahead if you prefer chilled kheer and serve with a savoury snack or meal.
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Apple kheer
An apple-and-milk pudding thickened with rajgira flour. Follow the recipe's cooking and cooling sequence before combining the apple and milk.
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Sabudana kheer
A familiar sago pudding for fasting days. Pair a small serving with a savoury meal rather than making every dish sabudana-based.
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Vrat fruit custard
Use this dedicated fasting custard recipe rather than the cornflour-based vegan custard. Check the thickener and add the fruit close to serving.
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Fasting chutney to serve with air fryer snacks
Date chutney without tamarind
A sweet accompaniment for tikkis or papdi chaat. Check the salt and spices before serving during fasting.
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Navratri fasting recipe FAQs
Browse the full fasting recipe collection, our Sawan fasting guide and more Indian air fryer recipes.
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