Culture & Food> Influences of Rajasthani Cuisine

Image by: Bengal*Foam

Text by: Tanya Munshi

We can understand the culinary style and food habits of the people of Rajasthan if we know their history, landscape, religion and climate. The lack of fresh green veggies, made the locals create one of the finest cuisines out of the ordinary available produce and ingredients.

Traditional culinary practices:
Like most Indian customs, cooking was more of a tradition than a profession. Passed on for generations, the secrets of spices and condiments were guarded with life. Such a custom emerged in Rajasthan as well. The cooks took great pride in presenting exotic dishes to their masters and their guests that they would never forget.
Usually the spread used to be so lavish that it would be virtually impossible for a person to taste every dish in the menu. But for a host, presenting exotic dishes was a matter of pride in the past and it still is.

In the Kitchen:
The traditional Rajasthani kitchen mainly comprised of brass and heavy-bottomed utensils. Food was mainly cooked on brick and earthen stoves, with coal or dried camel/ cow dung cakes burned as fuel.

Way of Living:
The battle for freedom and the turmoil caused during the war in the lives of the locals influenced their food eating habits tremendously. Food that could be eaten cold and the ones did not spoil easily were soon invented due to the necessity of a restless time.
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Landscapes:
The desert area forced them to experiment food with milk, buttermilk and clarified butter (ghee), rather than water. Dairy farming never really took off in a big way, due to extreme weather conditions. But to counter this, the locals use goat and camel milk. Camel milk being thick and rich forms the main ingredient in most dishes and sweet meats in Rajasthan. Curd, buttermilk and lassi are popular milk products that are heavily consumed to beat the summer heat. Even with the limited milk produced and available in Rajasthan, it has one of the most exotic and wide range of sweet meats likes halwa, chashni and other desserts.
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Vegetation:
Culinary experiments began to take place, where locals started using dried lentils (dal), beans etc, from plants like ker and sangria that are locally grown. The traditional cuisine of Rajasthan therefore includes gathey ki sabzi, papad, mangodi, pakodi, all made from gram flour, which became a dominant ingredient in their food style. Corn and bajra too formed a vital part of the cuisines, by which rotis, kichdi and rabdi were prepared. To add to the flavor of these food styles, chutneys made from herbs and spices like coriander, mint and turmeric were soon created. Chapattis and rotis are predominant here, along with maida, dalia and atta that are the byproducts of wheat. Bajra, jowar and chaney ki rotis are highly nutritious.
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Spice and Flavoring:
Rajasthan’s dry red chilies are known for their flavor and color. Dried and powdered, dry red chilies are used to flavor curries and for the dash of rich red color in Rajasthani cuisine.
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Meats:
The meat is divided into two categories – red and white meat. While red meat is prepared in rich red chilies, the white meat is cooked in delicious gravy of cashew, cream, coconut, condiments like cardamom and cinnamon. Khud Khasrgosh and Sula are two predominant meat preparations of Rajasthan.
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An Exotic Rajasthani Meal:
Daal-bati churma - a staple in dry regions
Jaisalmeri ker sangria - a curry made of dried herbs
Papad ki sabzi - papad along with soaked and sprouted fenugreek
Jaipuri paneer methi-dana – cottage cheese with fenugreek flavoring
Jodhpuri gatta curry – made of besan
bhindi masala – okra cooked in masalas
Chukki ka matar – green peas
Rotis - made from jowar and millet
Khichdi – rice and dal preparation
Kadhi – curd based curry, seasoned with mustard and cumin seeds
Salad
Chutneys
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Deserts:
Kala jamoons
Malpuas
Churma
Sooji ki kadi
Gewar
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Popular foods across regions in Rajasthan:
Dil Jani – from Udaipur
Sohan Halwa – Ajmer
Tilpapadi – Beawar
Mishri Mawa and Ghevar from Jaipur
Malpua – Pushkar
Bikaner - papads, badi, kachoris, sweetmeats like rassagulla, and bhujia
Jodhpur – dal-baati-churma
Jodhpur - high quality lean mutton