Navratri 2018 has begun today and people across the country are celebrating the festive season of the year with the 10-day festival of worshipping Goddess Durga and her avatars. While most people in India observe fasts (upvas) from the first Navaratra till the saptami or ashtami, many households cook food that is without onion and garlic as both these ingredients are considered tamasic food. Navaratri 2018 Recipes: List of Colour-Wise Food Dishes for Each Day of the Nine-Day Navratri Festival.

Tamasic food is believed to reduce energy in a human being's body and is considered negative, especially during religious days like the Navaratri. However, many believe that it's hard to cook Indian food without onion and garlic and that options go limited. This is actually not the case. There are many Indian dishes that can be cooked without these two ingredients and yet taste like our regular sabzi. Here are some convenient Sattvic dishes that you can cook this Navaratri without onion and garlic. Sharad Navaratri 2018: Nine Avatars of Goddess Durga, Navdurga Pictures, Mantras & Celebration Dates of Navratri Festival.

1. Aloo Gobhi (Potato and Cauliflower)

Cauliflower or gobhi can be cooked as tasty as ever without onion and garlic. For the tadka for your aloo gobhi sabzi, you can either use methi seeds (fenugreek seeds) or jeera (cumin seeds). Here's a step by step recipe:

2. Kaddu or Sitaphal (Pumpkin)

Pumpkin tastes best when made without onion and garlic. Yes, tomato and a little bit of sweetener will do the trick and make your kaddu ki sabzi taste the best. All that your tadka needs is methi seeds, tomatoes, turmeric, dhania powder and a little sugar or jaggery.

3. Aloo ki sabzi (Potato curry)

Aloo ki sabzi is the perfect thing to with hot puris during the Navaratri festivities and can be cooked without onion and garlic. The best tasting potato curry is the one made with a jeera and mashed tomatoes tadka. It can be eaten with paranthas, puris or chapatis.

4. Rajma (Kidney beans)

You don't have to resist your favourite dish just because you are not eating onion and garlic during the Navaratri. Rajma can be very easily made without onion and garlic. The tadka for the perfect rajma would need mashed tomatoes, ginger, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom and cumin. Dhania powder also adds flavour to your rajma.

5. Dal Khichdi

A universal and light yet fulfilling dish, dal khichdi is usually made without onion and garlic irrespective of whether it's Navratri or not.

We hope we've made your job easy with the recipes above this Navratri. In case you are fasting this festive season, you can also check out some delicious sabudana recipes to make your Navaratra fast more festive.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 10, 2018 03:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).