Navratri Vrat Food Creators to Follow for Easy and Creative Fasting Recipes

Navratri fasting does not have to mean eating the same sabudana khichdi, boiled potatoes and fruit every day. From crisp dosas made with fasting-friendly ingredients to quick snacks and creative desserts, food creators are bringing fresh ideas to traditional festive cooking. Whether you are looking for something savoury before Garba, an easy evening snack or a new recipe to try at home, these creators offer plenty of inspiration. Here are four food creators to follow this Navratri, along with recipes worth checking out.

1. Renuka Salunke (@homecheff_renu): Vrat Dosa and Everyday Comfort Food

Renuka Salunke, who creates content as Homecheff Renu, has built an audience around everyday Indian cooking, snacks, homemade sweets and creative recipes. Her journey is also a reminder that food content does not always begin with professional training or an elaborate kitchen setup.

According to The Talented Indian, Renuka began sharing her cooking more widely in 2021, after moving to a better home. Her first dosa video reportedly received around one million views, helping her reach a much larger audience.

Recipe to try: Vrat dosa with green chutney

Renuka has shared a dosa recipe made with samak rice, roasted sabudana, ginger, green chillies, boiled potato, cumin and fresh herbs. The batter is ground and cooked into dosas, which can be served with a peanut-based green chutney. The recipe offers an alternative to the usual fasting breakfast.

What makes her content worth following?

• Everyday recipes that use familiar ingredients.
• Breakfast ideas and creative dosa variations.
• Practical cooking techniques that home cooks can try.
• A mix of snacks, sweets and comfort food.

Her journey also highlights the value of consistency. In her early days, she reportedly worked around ingredient costs and limited kitchen lighting, even filming on her balcony to get better shots.

Follow her on Instagram: @homecheff_renu

2. Himanshi Sharma (@tastytaleswithrupal): Makhana Bhel and Creative Vegetarian Recipes

Himanshi Sharma’s food content focuses on vegetarian recipes, festive desserts, quick snacks and creative combinations of familiar ingredients. Her recipes often give everyday food a new presentation, making them useful for people looking for fresh ideas without complicated preparation.

Recipe to try: Makhana bhel

Featured by Prabhat Khabar in March 2026, Himanshi’s makhana bhel combines roasted fox nuts with chopped onion, tomato, cucumber, green chillies, coriander, chutneys, lemon juice and pomegranate seeds. The result is a crunchy, tangy snack that brings a familiar chaat-style flavour to makhana.

For those observing Navratri, the recipe may be a useful starting point, but the ingredients need to be adapted to individual fasting rules. Onion, regular namkeen, certain spices and some chutneys may not be permitted under every household’s vrat tradition.

Another standout: Chocolate modak

Himanshi’s festive recipe content includes a chocolate modak with a Nutella centre, featured in a series of modak recipes. A third-party Reel-discovery listing reported approximately 11.9 million views for the video, although view counts can change over time.

This is an example of how a creator can make traditional festive formats more contemporary. However, chocolate modak is Ganesh Chaturthi-inspired food content, not automatically a Navratri vrat recipe.

What makes her content worth following?

• Quick vegetarian snacks.
• Creative twists on traditional desserts.
• Seasonal ingredients and visually appealing recipes.
• Ideas that can be adapted for festive menus.

Follow her on Instagram: @tastytaleswithrupal

3. Kriti Dhiman: From MasterChef India to South Indian Comfort Food

Kriti Dhiman is a chef and food creator who appeared on MasterChef India Season 8. She has since taken her interest in cooking beyond social media by launching Namma, a South Indian restaurant in Chandigarh centred on benne dosa and comforting food.

The name Namma means “ours”, reflecting the personal and family-led nature of the venture. In an interview with Restaurant India, Dhiman described the restaurant’s approach as a celebration of South Indian comfort food, with an emphasis on simplicity and flavour.

Recipe inspiration: Benne dosa

Benne dosa, known for its buttery texture and crisp edges, is a signature part of Namma’s identity. While it is not automatically suitable for vrat, it offers inspiration for those who enjoy South Indian flavours and want to experiment with fasting-friendly alternatives.

For a vrat-friendly variation, home cooks can explore dosa-style preparations using samak rice, sabudana or permitted fasting flours. The ingredients and cooking method should follow the rules of the household observing the fast.

What makes her content worth following?

• Cooking experience shaped by MasterChef India.
• A focus on flavour, technique and familiar Indian food.
• A transition from food content to restaurant entrepreneurship.
• South Indian food inspiration through her work at Namma.

Kriti’s journey also shows how a food creator’s public identity can grow into a business, taking recipes and cooking philosophy from the screen to a physical dining space.

Follow her on Instagram: Kriti Dhiman

4. Kshitij Patil (@chefbeyond22yards): Creative Recipes and Food Experiments

Kshitij Patil, known through his food creator brand Chef Beyond 22 Yards, describes himself as “Cricketer by day, Chef by night”. His content features high-protein recipes, everyday meals, creative food experiments and indulgent dishes with a fitness-conscious angle.

His popular recipe formats include high-protein chocolate mousse, mango mastani and paneer cheese tacos. These dishes are not all suitable for fasting, but his approach to recipe presentation can offer inspiration for creators and home cooks looking to make food more engaging.

Recipe inspiration: Simple fasting-friendly food with a creative twist

For Navratri, his emphasis on clear recipe hooks and visually appealing preparation can be adapted to dishes such as rajgira parathas, samak rice bowls or fasting-friendly paneer recipes, provided the ingredients fit the individual’s vrat rules.

The key is to focus on the food’s appeal while keeping the preparation manageable. A recipe that clearly shows the finished dish, uses accessible ingredients and explains each step can make home cooking feel less intimidating.

What makes his content worth following?

• Creative food combinations and recipe experiments.
• High-protein and fitness-focused meal ideas.
• Clear preparation videos and strong visual presentation.
• A mix of everyday cooking and indulgent dishes.

Follow him on Instagram: @chefbeyond22yards

How to Choose Recipes for Navratri Vrat

These creators offer different kinds of food inspiration, but not every recipe they share is suitable for fasting. Vrat rules vary by family, region and personal practice.

Before trying a recipe, check whether its ingredients fit your tradition. Common fasting ingredients include samak rice, sabudana, kuttu flour, singhara flour, rajgira, potatoes, fruits, nuts and dairy, depending on the rules being followed. Sendha namak is commonly used in place of regular salt by those observing certain vrat practices.

If you are planning meals across the nine days, you can rotate between a savoury breakfast, a filling lunch, a quick snack and a simple dessert. Recipes such as vrat dosa, makhana snacks and fasting-friendly flour parathas can add variety without requiring an elaborate menu.

The best inspiration is food that suits your own fasting rules, ingredients you already have and the time you can spend in the kitchen.

For Navratri, these four creators offer a starting point: Renuka for vrat dosa and everyday recipes, Himanshi for creative vegetarian snacks, Kriti for South Indian food inspiration and Kshitij for inventive recipe presentation.