Lent 2024: 7 Indian Dishes To Enjoy During The 40-Day Period

The 40-day period of Lent – a time of mourning and austerity for Catholics all around the world, involves giving up on everyday pleasures for the duration.

While disciplines like prayer and charity form the crux of the observance, food also plays a crucial aspect of sacrifice.

Luxuries like meat, sometimes fish and eggs, as well as alcohol are often avoided during this time – with many members of the community opting for vegetarian equivalents or limiting the consumption to seafood and eggs. Within the East Indian, Goan and Mangalorean Catholic communities, legumes and pulses take centre stage during these penance meals that are as delicio

A dry, salad-like preparation, the kismoor is traditionally made using dried shrimp and often features as one of the elements in a fish thali meal. For Lent, Goans swap the shrimp with ingredients like tender jackfruit, raw bananas or cluster beans – which are stir fried with onions, red chillies, grated coconut, tamarind and turmeric powder; and eaten as an accompaniment to dal-rice.