Rajasthan, the
desert land famous all over the world for its architectural
marvels- its romantic palaces and colourful people is also equally popular for its
unique,
spicy and varied cuisine. For the royal Rajputs, one of the leading communities of
Rajasthan, a meal is never complete without meat. They have mouthwatering dishes
smothered in spices and chillies; almonds and cashew nuts like the soolas
(grilled meat), Murgh mokul and the venison Kababs. But the Marwaris, another
leading community of Rajasthan are strictly vegetarians. They have equally tasty
maybe more fiery specialties with whatever ingredients available in the dry
land. Minimum use of water and a
preference for milk, chhaach (buttermilk) and clarified butter can still be observed. They use dried and powdered lentils, beans from indigenous plants like Gwarphali, kair, sangri and
the flours of gehun (wheat), bajra (millet) and makka (corn) liberally to make
soft rotis drowned in butter and ghee, kheechra
(porridge) and delicacies like ghatte kasubzi, Rajasthani kadhi, and the more
popular dal- baati-churma. Various chutneys are made from locally available spices like turmeric, coriander, mint and garlic
Besides the spicy
ones, Rajasthan has a variety of sweet dishes as well, with specialities from
each part like Malpuas from Pushkar, Ladoos from Jodhpur and
Jaisalmer, Ghewar from Jaipur etc.
