Krishna Janmashtami Recipes: Janmashtami Fasting And Prasad Recipes

Janmashtami Fasting and Prasad recipes

If you are looking for Janmashtami recipes or Krishna Janmashtami recipes, look no further than our collection right here where we have curated a list of Janmashtami recipes for your fasting needs. Our list consists of Krishna Janmashtami sweet recipes as well as Krishna Janmashtami special recipes.

Janamashtami or Krishna Janmashtami is a festival celebrated to commemorate the birth of Hindu God Krishna who is considered to be the eighth avatar of Vishnu. Janmashtami or Gokulashtami is celebrated with much fanfare across regions of India. People observe a fast on Janmashtami by abstaining from grains, but they do consume various fasting foods on this day.

Janmashtami celebrations

Janmashtami is celebrated with much fervour. Scenes from the life and times of Krishna are enacted during this day, verses from Bhagavad Gita are recited, and a fast is observed by Krishna’s devotees and followers.

Mathura, the birthplace of Krishna and Vrindavan, a small town where he spent a majority of his childhood days is especially decorated for the occasion. Freshly churned butter is offered to the lord and then consumed as ‘prasada’ as the legends of Krishna tell the story of him being the ‘makhan chor’ or butter thief. ‘Makhan Mishri’ is among the Janmashtami prasad recipes offered on this day.

‘Dahi Handi’ is a famous Janamashtami tradition observed in Mumbai (also known there as the Govinda festival or Gopalakala) a day after Janmashtami. An earthen pot or handi full of yogurt, milk, and honey is hung high up on the streets and human ladders are formed to reach it to chants of Govinda Aala Re. The person/team which reaches the top first and breaks the handi wins. This tradition is symbolic of baby Krishna who used to steal yogurt and butter from the homes of people. Various regions across India celebrate the festival differently.

Krishna Janmashtami sweet recipes | Janmashtami vrat recipes

Saffron Shrikhand

If you're looking for ‘no-cooking-required’ Krishna Janmashtami sweet recipes for a day when there is too much to do and time is short, stop fretting and start prepping with our easy Saffron Shrikhand recipe. Chakka or hung yogurt is blended with powdered white sugar, saffron strands soaked in some milk for their unmatched floral aroma, and nutmeg, which gives this ambrosial kesar shrikhand a hint of spice. Saffron Shrikhand is creamy, flavourful, divine, and made in no time. Try it!
 

Millet Kheer

Since grains are avoided during fasting days, why not turn to millets which are grain-free and nutritious too (millets are actually small seeded grasses). Our gluten-free Janmashtami vrat recipe of Millet Kheer is made from Kodo millets which are an important crop in the Deccan Plateau. Make our sweet, creamy, and flavourful Millet kheer using a handful of ingredients such as full cream milk, millets, sugar or jaggery, cardamom powder, and almonds. You may know Kodo by other names such as arikelu and arika in Telugu, varagu in Tamil, kodra, kodri, and kodon in Hindi, kodua in Oriya; and kodra in Gujarati, Punjabi, and Marathi, et al. If you prefer, you could even use millets of your own choice like foxtail millet, barnyard millet or one of the other easily available varieties, and follow the same recipe.
 

Coconut Ladoo

Coconut Ladoo often finds a place in most festive cuisines. Our traditional coconut ladoo recipe is prepared using desiccated coconut, milk, sugar, saffron, and ghee. This festive delight can be made using fresh or frozen coconut as well. You could add flavours that you prefer such as cardamom powder or even stuff the ladoos with almonds, cashews, or raisins. Make these once and they will be a part of your festivities forever.
 

Badam Halwa

When it is the lord's birthday, our rich and indulgent Badam Halwa recipe fits the occasion aptly. Prepared with almonds, saffron, whole milk, sugar, and ghee, this recipe is traditional and tasty. It also gives you the energy you require to go through the day.
 

Thandai

Our Yummefy-ed and fragrant Thandai recipe is from the streets of Vrindavan where Lord Krishna is said to have spent most of his childhood. This recipe from the lord's land is delicious and simple to prepare. You need almonds, cashew nuts, poppy seeds, melon seeds, 8 pistachios, black peppercorns, green cardamom pods, fennel seeds, dried rose petals, full-cream milk, sugar, and a pinch of saffron, to prepare this cooling, energy-giving, and aromatic drink.
 

Krishna Janmashtami food recipes | Krishna Janmashtami special recipes

Vrat ke Chawal

When we are fasting Vrat ke Chawal or sama ke chawal, or sama rice is often prepared. This dish is an integral part of Hindu festivals such as Navratri, Mahashivratri, Janmashtami, and more. The name can be misleading but sama rice is actually not rice but barnyard millet, which is a gluten-free, fibre-rich, and extremely nutritious seed. Our Vrat ke Chawal recipe is a savoury one, prepared in ghee. The recipe calls for using ingredients such as cloves, peppercorns, cardamom, peanuts, ginger, chilles, potatoes, sendha namak, cashews, coriander leaves, and lime juice. When you feel the hunger pangs coming on a fasting day this recipe is perfect to pull out and prepare in just 30 minutes.
 

Sabudana Khichdi

Sabudana Khichdi recipe or sago khichdi recipe is one prepared without onion or garlic. This delicious preparation is carbohydrates and calories dense and hence, gives you the much-needed energy and nutrition of fasting days. This is a good way to begin your fasting day, but can be consumed for any meal that you prefer. Follow our step by step instructional video to know how to make the Sabudana Khichdi well. This is also a naturally gluten-free and grain-free recipe.
 

Sabudana Tikki

Sabudana Tikki is another commonly consumed fasting food. Savoury, spicy, shallow fried tikkis, prepared sans onion or garlic, are a good 4pm pick-me-up when energy levels start dropping on a fasting day. Our Sabudana Tikki recipe is great on non-fasting days too. They're crispy, crunchy, and unputdownable.
 

Celebrate the birth of Krishna with healthy Janmashtami fasting and prasad recipes from Yummefy Recipes. And for more simple and delicious recipes, explore our Vegetarian Recipes section.