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The famous Rajasthani Thaali is a place where flavours, textures, aromas and tastes come together. The region’s weather, terrain, and its rulers have shaped a unique cuisine that remains largely unexplored. While dishes such as the crisp Dal Baati Churma and the fiery Laal Maas need no introduction. There is a reason why the Dal Baat is fried and loaded with ghee while the Laal Maas is fiery.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
There’s an interesting story about how the Dal Bati Churma (baked dough balls served with a thick lentil soup and sweet powder made with wheat flour, ghee, and jaggery or sugar) was first discovered accidentally by a chef in a royal kitchen in Mewar, when he poured sugarcane juice in the dough that was to be used to make the baatis.
The Laal Maas is said to have got its name from the British who referred to the dish by the colour of its gravy. They called it the Red Mutton. The main ingredient in this dish is the hot, red chilies grown in the Mathania village in Jodhpur, also the dish's birthplace.
Video Credit: Sanjeev Kapoor Khazana
Another dish unique to Rajasthan and cooked especially in barren desert regions such as Jaisalmer and Barmer is the Ker Sangri, a dish made with the locally grown ker berry which is dried, and the sangri bean. Apart from these dishes there is a wide range of pickles made in this region, fried snacks that are enjoyed round the year, and dishes that are cooked using unusual techniques. There is also a strong reason behind how and why they were created.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Gearing Up For The Extreme Weather
The extreme and unpredictable weather here has influenced the techniques of cooking as well as preserving food. From sandstorms to freezing winters, Rajasthani village folk learned to save for a rainy day when supplies would be cut off. Pickling is a common practice and helps increase the shelf life of ingredients. One can find a pickle or achaar made of almost every kind of vegetable and even meat in Rajasthan.
Similarly, deep-fried snacks are popular in this region. Fried snacks such as kachori and badas or pakodas are found in most street food shops. The Mirchi Badas found in Jodhpur’s Clock Tower Market have patrons queuing up as do the Pyaaz ki Kachori stalls in Jaipur’s Bapu Bazaar. Deep-frying food also increases its shelf life considerably.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Using What Was Available
A large part of Rajasthan is a desert and in the early days, there was a shortage of fresh vegetables and fruits in the region as very few types of vegetables grew here, partly due to the lack of rain. Dishes that are made highlighting a single ingredient, that was readily available were developed to combat this. The famous Gatte Ki Sabzi made of wheat flour, Papad Ki Sabzi made with popadum and Kadhi Pakoda (deep-fried pakodas in gravy made with gram flour and yoghurt) are all examples of this.
The locals used yoghurt or dahi as a souring agent in meat dishes and gravies as tomatoes and lemons were not grown here. Kachri – a locally grown sour berry was also dried and used in some dishes.
The soaring temperatures in summer makes dairy products such as yoghurt, chaas (buttermilk), lassi (a thicker sweet, or savoury version of the buttermilk) a popular choice to cool the body down. The use of ghee especially in the winter months, when dry grains such as Bajra are eaten is common. The ghee also acts as a lubricant for the throat. It’s also probably why you find popular local sweets like Moong Dal Halwa and Sheera cooked in copious amounts of ghee.
The original grains eaten here were bajra and jowar. Wheat is believed to have been introduced to the region by the British because they didn’t like eating the local grains.
The Royal Inheritance
Apart from the climatic conditions Rajasthani food also draws from the heritage of the various royal kitchens in the State. While many of the snacks and street food in Rajasthan were first cooked in royal homes and then became popular amongst noblemen and commoners, there are some dishes whose recipes are shrouded in secrecy to date. The royal families across the regions of Marwar, Mewar, Shekhawati, and Hadoti pass recipes on from one generation to the other and each of these heirloom recipes is served with a side of stories that are almost as delicious as the dishes.
Some of these dishes needed elaborate preparations such as marinating the meat for 24 to 48 hours and slow cooking them on coal, making them fit for celebratory regal tables while others were invented to solve an immediate need. For example, when kings and princes went on a hunt, their entourage didn’t have access to the types of equipment available in the royal kitchen.
They then developed techniques such as marinating meat in a few spices, digging a pit, and leaving it under the soil to cook. The spices in these dishes were used whole or just pounded coarsely. The beauty of Rajasthani food lies in the way it blends the simple with the complex and has adapted and evolved seamlessly with season, weather, occasion, and time.
