RAJASTHANI CUISINE

LOCATION:
Situated in the northwestern region of India, colorful Rajasthan has the
neighboring country of Pakistan as its northwestern boundary, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and
Haryana as its northeastern and northern frontiers, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh
manning its east and southeastern fronts and its southwestern borders being manned by
Gujarat
!he main geogra"hic features of Rajasthan are the !har #esert and the $ra%alli Range,
which runs through the state from southwest to northeast, almost from one end to the
other, for more than &'( km Mount $bu is at the southwestern end of the range
CLIMATE:
Summers are hot and winters are cold Ma)imum tem"erature is about *&
egree centigrade and minimum is a""ro) & degree centigrade $%erage annual rainfall is
between +(, *( cm
IMPORTANT FESTIVALS-
.hen we talk about Rajasthan we cannot forget fairs and festi%als which add
color to the deserted land of Rajasthan /amel festi%al is organi0ed by Rajasthan tourism
and de%elo"ment cor"oration in 1ikaner in month of 2anuary e%ery year Pushkar is 33
kms from $jmer and also famous for its camel fair Pushkar fair is well,known for its
camel trading and other religious acti%ities 4ite festi%al is organi0ed in $jmer
FOOD HABIT-
1ecause of less colour in landsca"e, the dresses and cuisine of rajasthan is
colorful, red chilli "owder and turmeric "owder are %ery common ingredients 5ach
region in India has its own traditional dishes and s"ecialities In the royal kitchens of
Rajasthan, as well as most other states, food is a %ery serious business and raised to the
le%el of an art,form Rajasthani cooking was influenced by the war ,like lifestyle of its
inhabitants and the a%ailability of ingredients in this region 6o%e for shikar has made
game, "articular fa%orite with royality .ild boar, %enison and "heasant etc all offer
e)otic delicacies !here are many ways of cooking game, Sule- the smoked Rajasthani
kebab, for e)am"le is barbecued in different ways Games are also "ickled for future,
"ickled rind of wild boar is a %ery s"ecial dish
EORAPHICAL IMPACT ON FOOD:

7ood that could last for se%eral days and could be eaten without heating was
"referred, more out of necessity than choice Scarcity of water and fresh green %egetables
has all had their effect on the cooking In the desert belt of 2aisalmer, 1armer and
1ikaner, cooks make minimum use of water and "refer, instead, to use more milk,
buttermilk and clarified butter #ried lentils, beans from indigenous "lants like Sangri,
4er etc are liberally used 6entils in different forms, moong dal khilma, mongodi ki sabji,
besan ke gatte 8 are the "rinci"al source of "rotein $s a substitute of tomato, mango
"owder is used, asafetida is used to enhance the taste in the absence of garlic and onion
1ajra and corn is used all o%er the state for "re"arations of Raabdi,
khichdi, and rotis 9arious chutneys are made from locally a%ailable s"ices like turmeric,
coriander, mint and garlic
Rajasthani cuisine is "redominantly %egetarian and da00ling in its
%ariety because of Marwaris who does not take e%en ginger and garlic !hough the su""ly
of %egetable is limited there are many %arieties of dishes M!ria" "elicacie# are made
with lentils, s"iced imaginati%ely and then made "alate, worthy by incor"orating
generous dollo"s of ghee, Dal baati churma(which are spicy lentils with baked balls of
wheat with lots of ghee: may ha%e been the sta"le in the "ast but today "aneer, mawa, and
dried fruits and nuts embellish the reci"es !he s"ice content is on the higher side, e%en
by Indian standards Rajasthanis also relish ghee which is an integral "art of many of the
"re"arations !he most famous dish would "robably be dal,bati, !he %ariety of sweet
dishes is also immense and sweets are relished as much as the s"icy curries in Rajasthan
$"art from s"icy dishes, you will find an e)clusi%e range of delecacies
from each regions of Rajasthan like the ladoos of 2aisalmer, mawa kachori of 2odh"ur,
mal"uas of Pushkar, dil jani of Udai"ur, mishri mawa and ghe%ar of 2ai"ur, sohan halwa
of $jmer, mawa of $lwar, and rasgullas of 1ikaner, to name a few 1ikaner also has a
whole range of other sa%ories and snacks like the world famous 1ikaner ki bhujia
M;S! IMP;R!$<! #ISH5S-
3 M$$S 45 SU65- 4ebab made of game lamb, chicken or fish 1oti is marinated,
then arranged on skewer and cooked o%er charcoal grill !hen finished by smoking
in a container with lid .hile smoking clo%e is also gi%en on li%e charcoal with
butter !his "rocess is known as #huannaar method
+ S$75# M$$S- It is a white colored lamb delicacy cooked in yoghurt with white
"aste made of almond and coconut, finished with cream
= 6$6 M$$S- $ %ery hot lamb dish ser%ed with "hulka
* M$44I 4$ S;.5!$- $ s"icy dish made of lamb and corn
' 4H$#- $ layered sa%oury cake made of layers of lamb mince cooked with "hulka,
then wra""ed with sil%er foil, then baked /ut into wedges and ser%ed with
kachumber, mint chutney and lemon wedges ;riginally cooked in whole >khad: in
the ground with charcoal and hot sand
? 15S$< 45 G$!!5- Gram flour dum"lings cooked in a shar" cumin and asafetida
fla%ored yoghurt based gra%y Gatte or dum"ling is made u" of gram flour, yoghurt,
warm water, sha"ed into a cylinder, boiled for 3',+( minutes, then cut into slices and
dee" fried in ghee
@ M$<G;#I 4I S$12I- Small dum"lings of moong dal sundries and before cooking,
dee" fried and cooked in rich gra%y
& M$.$5 4I 4$/HURI- 4achuri stuffed with mawa A cardamomA maceA nutmeg
etc fried, before eating a hole is made and sugar syru" is "oured Mawa is made by
cooking besan with ghee
B 4$IR S$<GRI 4$ $$/H$R- 4air > small fruit like green "eas:, sangri>%eg green
in colour, grow in bunches, looks like small s"aghetti: 4umatia> looks like chocolate
gems: , dry whole red chilli soaked o%ernight, then tem"ered in oil with dried mango
"eel
3( 4H55/H- .hole wheat grain boiled with little salt taken with a thick sauce made of
sagari, hot water and flour or with mangodi ki sabji
33 Churma- is the most "o"ular delicacy usually ser%ed with baatis and dal It is
coarsely ground wheat crushed and cooked with ghee and sugar !raditionally it is
made by mashing u" wheat flour baatis or left o%er rotis in ghee and jaggery
3+ Ghevar- is a honeycomb sha"ed delicacy made using "lain flour and ghee Ghe%ars
are usually large in si0e a""ro) +(( mm or +'( mm >&C or 3(C: sDuares or rounds
and are either sweetened with syru" or ser%ed to""ed with sweet raabdi or thickened
milk