fasts and vrats
What can you eat during a Hindu fast?
Common fasting foods
There is no single rule for what you can eat during a fast. The tradition changes by region, by which fast you are keeping, and by family practice. But some foods show up again and again. Fruit is widely allowed—bananas, apples, citrus, and others. Milk and dairy are common: yogurt, paneer, milk itself, and ghee. Nuts like almonds and peanuts are eaten. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are staple fasting foods in many homes. Special flours made from buckwheat (kuttu) and water chestnut (singhara) are used to make breads and dishes that feel like regular meals but fit the fast. Some people also eat sabudana, a starch made from tapioca.
What is usually avoided
Regular grains like rice, wheat, and lentils are typically not eaten during a fast. Regular salt is often replaced with rock salt, called sendha namak. Onion and garlic are avoided in most fasts. Some fasts also exclude spices or limit oil. But again, these rules shift. Some families are stricter, others less so. A fast kept for a specific deity or on a particular day may have its own rules that differ from another fast in the same household.
In practice today
In everyday life, people adapt. Some keep a full fast with only fruit and milk. Others eat a light meal of fasting foods at midday and again in the evening. Many people abroad keep the spirit of the fast by eating simply and avoiding grains, even if they adjust the exact foods to what is available. Some use modern fasting flours made from buckwheat or other allowed grains. The key is that the fast feels like a change from daily eating—lighter, simpler, or more focused—rather than following one exact list.