Commonly used vrat ingredients
- Sendha namak (rock salt) instead of ordinary table salt in many households.
- Kuttu (buckwheat), singhara (water-chestnut flour), rajgira/amaranth and samak/barnyard millet.
- Potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, bottle gourd and other vegetables accepted by the family tradition.
- Milk, yogurt, paneer and ghee for people who consume dairy.
- Peanuts, nuts, seeds and fruits for energy and texture.
Ingredients often avoided
- Wheat and standard grain flours.
- Regular rice in households that substitute samak.
- Onion and garlic in many vrat traditions.
- Ordinary table salt where sendha namak is used.
- Packaged foods whose spice mixes or starches do not fit the family’s fasting rules.
There is no single universal fasting rulebook
Some families avoid additional foods; others are less restrictive. A person’s health, age, medication, pregnancy status and work demands can also change what is appropriate. The useful approach is to follow the household tradition without turning it into a purity test for others.