Indians are known to follow many religious beliefs. One of the most widely practiced religions in India is fasting during religious festivals like Navratri, Ram Navami, Shivaratri, etc. In addition to fasting during religious holidays, many Hindus also fast once a week throughout the year on a particular day of the week, such as every Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday. This once a week fast is part of their worship of the god they believe in.

Religious fasting means abstaining from regular food. The extent and severity of the fast varies from nirahar (without water); to a single full meal; to multiple fruit diets during the day. Apart from religious importance, fasting also has health significance as it helps the body to remove toxins from the body.

Apart from the fruit diet, the special vegetarian foods allowed during the fast are milk, sabudana dishes, sawank ke chawal, potato and singhare dishes, etc. Non-vegetarian food is strictly prohibited during religious fasts. Common salt is not consumed during religious fasts; therefore, all foods are prepared with rock salt or have a sweet taste.

The Navratri Festival, the nine-day religious festival, is celebrated across the country with fasting as the main ritual. Instead of the usual foods, eating establishments across the country serve special dishes during this festival, which are allowed during religious fasting. Many innovative foods are prepared to attract and serve customers quickly.

Among various dishes or foods prepared and consumed during religious fasts, sabudana wada is a universal item served all over India. Sabudana wada is actually a West Indian snack, which is available at food joints across West India throughout the year. Sabudana wada is widely enjoyed as a breakfast snack in this western region. It is especially during Navratri, this dish is consumed all over the country and hence it is available at all food outlets across the country.

Sabudana wada is a high-carbohydrate, protein-rich, tasty and crunchy deep-fried snack that offers all-day energy during the fasting day. The dish has a very time consuming recipe and needs some advanced planning to make it at home. Sabudana, which is the main ingredient of wada, needs to be soaked overnight and then mixed with roasted peanuts, boiled potatoes, rock salt, and other ingredients to prepare the wet mix. This moist mixture is now shaped into small wadas, which are then deep-fried to prepare the crunchy and delicious sabudana wadas. Sabudana wada is served hot along with curd chutney and masala tea.

Due to their hectic schedules, people sometimes find it difficult to find time to make sabudana wada at home during the fast. These people, however, can rely on ready-to-cook packaged Actchawa sabudana wada available at major market outlets. This ready mix preparation has a very easy and quick preparation method to prepare this ideal snack during fasting.