Sabudana and rasgulla see record demand on Swiggy during Navratri and Durga Puja

Swiggy, the country's leading on-demand platform, said all of India joined in the Navratri and Durga Puja celebrations. Demand for fasting foods and sweets was very high over the long weekend of Durga Ashtami, Maha Navami and Dussehra.

Between October 17 and 20, customers favoured specially prepared festive dishes, so fasting traditions were at the centre of orders. Sabudana dishes were the most ordered fasting items across the country. They were followed by Navratri fasting thalis, water chestnut (singhara) dishes, and special buckwheat (kuttu) and amaranth (rajgira) dishes. Samak rice and makhana dishes were also among the favourite fasting foods.

On the weekend of October 17-18, Swiggy delivered an average of 1,794 sabudana dishes every hour across the country. Among sabudana dishes during the fasting days, sabudana khichdi and sabudana vada were the festival's favourites. Demand for sabudana khichdi was highest in big metros such as Mumbai and Bengaluru, but Pune and Jaipur also showed good demand.

Complete festive meal combos were also widely liked. The Navratri special fasting thali was the most popular, and the Navratri fasting thali with shingara puri led the list. A 3-course thali with rajgira puri and aloo with hing was also among the most ordered thalis in the country. Demand for these was highest in Delhi, Bengaluru, Gurgaon and Noida. A customer in Noida placed an order worth Rs 11,072, which included 13 units of the 'Navratri Special Vrat Thali with Shingara Puri'. This made it one of the country's biggest fasting orders on the weekend of October 17-18.

Over the four days of celebration (October 17-20), sweet orders rose sharply in smaller cities as well as metros. Orders for traditional sweets between October 17 and 20, 2026 were up 36.4% on the same festive period last year (September 29 to October 2, 2025). Rasgulla ranked first across the country during this time, with an average of 495 orders every hour, and demand was highest in Delhi, Mumbai and Gurgaon.

Gulab jamun, kaju katli, jalebi and rasmalai were also among the most ordered sweets of the festival days. Demand for sweets was highest in metros such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad. Good demand was also seen in emerging markets such as Patna, Dehradun, Jodhpur, Gaya and Thiruvananthapuram. Among smaller cities, demand for sweets was highest in Agartala, Shillong, Palwal and Bathinda.

A customer in Mumbai ordered an assortment of sweets and a coffee rasgulla tiramisu, spending Rs 9,870. This is the biggest order for rasgullas between October 17 and 20, 2026.