10 Must Try Karwa Chauth Food Recipes

Karwa Chauth is an auspicious festival celebrated among married women in North India. The fast is traditionally observed in the states of Rajasthan, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. This festival is typically celebrated right after the autumn harvest and is celebrated 9 days before Diwali right after Dusshera.

The festival has been popularized by its depiction in various Bollywood movies and TV shows and is considered a romantic festival, symbolizing the love between husband and wife celebrated not only in North India but is spreading across the country. In recent years many men have also started observing fast for their wives, which has made Karwa Chauth day even more special as it signifies love, compassion and understanding.

It is a day of fasting from food and water, dedicated to their husbands to obtain longevity and well-being. Karwa Chauth is also known as Karak Chaturthi and literally Karwa means earthenware pot and represents peace and prosperity while Chauth means fourth day because this festival is celebrated on the fourth day of the full moon of the month of Kartik which falls in October or November, according to the Indian calendar.

The main origin of this fast is that in the past, husbands who were engaged in military campaigns would stay away for long periods and leave their wives and children at home. The waiting wives would pray for the safe return of their husbands and fasting was part of the prayer.

This festival falls during the time of sowing wheat and the Karvas is also the vessel where wheat is stored. Thus, the fasting of Karwa Chauth is also considered a prayer, not only for one's husband, but also for a good harvest.

Women start preparing a few days before by purchasing personal ornaments such as henna, bangles and jewellery, puja items, lamps, tea lights etc. The married women get up early and, before dawn, and begins preparation around 4 am. Before starting the fast, women say a short morning prayer usually followed by sargi a plate of food containing dry fruits, paratha, curry and coconut water prepared for them by their mother-in-law.

Women consume sargi after bathing as it is believed to be a healthy meal that prepares them for the day’s fast. It keeps them energetic and allows them to go without food and water for the entire day. After sunrise, then begin the no food and no water fast which ends after worshipping the moon, which usually rises around 8:45 pm.

During the day, they do not do any housework and visit relatives and friends from whom they receive gifts, including Karwas.

In the evening, the fasting women gather in a group and narrate mythological stories about the significance of Karwa Chauth. Around 4:00-5:00 pm, preparations for the evening pooja begin. For the evening, women wear special clothes: beautiful chunris, kurtas or pink or red saris with gold-woven patterns. New brides will wear their wedding dresses and have mehndi patterns applied on their hands with henna and bindis on their foreheads and decorate themselves with jewellery.

The elder woman or the housewife herself prepares a suitable place in the pooja room if it is a room big enough to accommodate all the women who have been invited, otherwise the best place is a verandah or the open courtyard, also because generally the climate in this season is mild and not cold.

During the evening, and before ending their fast, the women all gather together in a group, sitting in a circle, and, with their puja thalis (the plate with the offerings for prayer) that they pass from hand to hand. They tell each other the story of Karwa Chauth. When the moon appears, the women offer water and stand next to their husbands, reflecting their faces in a bucket of water or looking at them through a dupatta (the veil that Indian women wear on their heads) or a flour sieve.

Then, the husbands offer water and food, drinking and eating together. After breaking the fast, women receive gifts from their husbands.