Rajasthan is one of the most colourful and royal states of India; not only this, the cuisine of this place is one of the best in the country. Availability of raw materials, deficiency of drinking water and the influence of war have shaped the cuisine of the region. Lately, I have been doing some research on this cuisine for my book.
Since the cuisine was influenced by dry climatic conditions, scarcity of fresh water leading to poor vegetation, this obviously had an impact on the cooking methods and skills. They perfected the art of cooking food which could last for several days in arid and dry conditions and could be eaten without heating. Lack of water made the cooks use milk and milk products abundantly. My mouth waters whenever I think of the delicious snacks such as Bikaneri bhujia, mirchi bada, pyaz kachori, meals like bajre ki roti with red spicy lassun chutney, gatta curry, papad ki sabzi, haldi ko saag, dal chawal kut, dal batti churma, ker sangri ki sabzi, famous Rajasthani thalis and sweet delicacies like mawa kachoris, Alwaar mawa, malpua and, paniya and ghewar from Marwar. The list is endless.
The famous Marwari bhojanalaya concept of offering delightful vegetarian Marwari cuisine started from this region. I am lucky to have many Marwari friends who occasionally invite me for a meal to savour these delicacies from the dessert region of Rajasthan. Last week, once again our Marwari friends in Delhi hosted the much-awaited Marwari fare dinner. I don’t know about others but I made sure to be on a water diet the whole day before going for the feast, and even spend double the time at the gym to build an appetite so as to do justice to the most authentic Marwari fare to be unveiled in the evening .
This time the menu had a twist with a few new dishes and all-time favourites like gatta curry, ker sangri ki sabzi, dahi bada, mattar kachoris, mattar puri and red tomato and chilli puri etc. But the showstoppers were the dal and the besan shimla mirch sabzi and, of course, countless dishes of desserts such as badam halwa, lichi rasmalai, aam ras, to name a few. Interestingly, aam ras found its way in to the dinner table as an accompaniment to the rich Marwari feast. Owing to my sweet tooth, I enjoyed it both in the main course and also as a dessert afterwards. Later on I cursed myself for overeating. Nevertheless, sometimes an overindulgence can be forgiven for the sheer gastronomical pleasures it provides.
With a little persistence I was able to get the recipes of the food. So let’s try them in our own kitchen this week.