Each region in India has its own traditional dishes and specialities.In the royal kitchens of Rajasthan, as well as most other states, food was very serious business raised to the level of an art form.Hundereds of the cooks worked in the stately places and kept their recipes a closely guarded secret. Some recipes were on to their sons and the rest were lost forever. It becomes a matter of great prestige to several unusual dishes to guests and the royal cooks were encouraged to experiment. The tales of how cooks tried to impress their guest by presenting at least one unforgettable item on the menu have now become legends. The monthly budgets ran into lakh of rupees and the royal guests were treated to such delicacies as stuffed camel, goats, pigs and peacocks……it was perfectly normal to have live pigeons and other birds fly out of elaborately decorated dishes. The food was served in gold and silver utensils and the number of dishes at one meal ran into hundreds. It was usually never possible to taste all delicacies served.
The finest cooking in India was derived from the Mughals and did influence the Royal kitchens of India, as did European cooking. But the comman mans kitchen remained untouched, more so in Rajasthan. Cooking here has its own unique flavor and the simplest, the basic of ingredients go into the preparation of the most dishes.
Rajasthani cooking was influenced by the war-like lifestyle of its inhabitants are the availability of ingredients in this region. Food that could be eaten without heating was preferred, more out of necessity than choice. Scarcity of water, green vegetables have all had their effect on the cooking. In the desert belt of Jaisalmer, Barmer and Bikaner, cooks use the minimum of water and prefer, instead to use more milk, buttermilk and clarified butter. Dried lentils, beans from indigenous plants like sangri, ker, etc are liberally used. Gram flour is major ingredient here and is used to make some of the delicacies like khata,gatta ki sabzi,pakodi,powdered lentils are used for mangodi,papad,bazara and corn is used all over the state for preparations of rabdi,kheechdi,and rotis.Various chutneys are made from locally available spices like turmeric,coriander,mint and garlic.
Perhaps the best known Rajasthani food is the combination of dal,bati and churma but for the adventurous traveller,willing to experiment, there is a lot of variety available. Besides spicy flavours,each region is distinguished by its popular sweets-ladoos from Jodhpur and Jaisalmer,malpuas from Pushkar,lalabies from most big cities,rasogullas from Bikaner,dil jani from Udaipur,Mishri mawa and ghevar from Jaipur,sohan halwa from ajmer,mawa from alwar………
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