Rajasthani Cuisine

Tourism in Rajasthan remains incomplete without exploration of Rajasthani cuisines which speaks about the aesthetics of Rajasthani folks who struggled against the barren and dry terrain to evolve a gharana of exotic and royal delicacies. The war-like lifestyle of the Rajputs and the dry and hot climate in Rajasthan, defined the special traits of cuisine in Rajasthan. Lack of food in summer and scarcity of water in the dry and hot climate demanded creation of delicacies that could be made with milk, buttermilk and clarified butter instead of water, last for several days and could be eaten without heating.

Incidentally, the Mughal cuisine that influenced a larger section of Indian royal kitchens left the common man’s kitchen in rural Rajasthan untouched. So on one hand, you will get exotic royal dishes innovated by special cooks in tourist sites in Rajasthan, and on the other hot and spicy preparations made of the unique ingredients in rural Rajasthan.

Ingredients of Rajasthan Cuisine

Pulses, crops of millet, and beans that could be dried and stored for use when necessary, are essential ingredients of Rajasthani cuisine. While scarcity of water led to use of pure ghee (clarified butter) as the medium of cooking, the Maheshwari sect of Rajasthani folks, use mango powder to substitute tomatoes, and asafoetida in absence of garlic and onions.
Curiously enough, dried lentils, beans from indigenous plants like sangri, ker etc and gram flour are generously used. Even bajra and corn are used in rabdi, khichdi and rotis, and spices like turmeric, coriander, mint and garlic are used to prepare chutneys.

• Royal dishes- The Khansamas or cooks in the royal kitchens of Rajasthan, deserves a salute for adding a mejstic note to Rajasthani cuisines. Legend says that hundreds of cooks used to work to serve unusual dishes to guests so that they could feast on delicacies as stuffed camels, goats, pigs and peacocks. Gold and silver utensils, the décor of the room and the elaborate presentation of the meat dishes created a mood of carnival, which are often recreated through the royal non-vegetarian dishes today.



• Junglee maas-- a great favorite among the Maharajas was cooked in the camp kitchen by cooking the prey of the hunt in pure ghee, salt and plenty of red chillies. Yes, now days, you may not get a prey at hand but kid, lamb, pork or poultry are cooked this way.
  The personal recipes of the royal cook still forms part of royal cuisine and you can be treated to these recipes in the Rajput households or as signature dishes of royal families in the hotels. Some other lip-smacking dishes are Banjari Gosht, Dahi Keema Samosa, Macchhili Jaisamandi, Padampuri Murg and Khad
  
• Vegetarian Dishes are cooked in pure ghee and the curries made of pulses or gram flour. You must try Dal bati and churma in which spicy lentils are served with baked balls of wheat in ghee. Corn is a used in a lot of spicy preparations . Some of the famous vegetarian dishes are Gatte ki Sabzi, Ker-Sangri ki Sabzi, Papad ki sabzi, Dahi Ki Karhi, Dahi Vada, Dal Dhokli and Pithode
• Desserts are as favorite of Rajasthanis as are spicy items. Seera, a halwa made of cooked wheat flour in ghee, Laapsi, a porridge made with desiccated grains of wheat or even rice added with sugar, saffron, dried nuts and raisins are served as a sweet. Some other dishes are Ghevar, Mawa Misri and Suji Ladoo.