The Desert Cuisine
The gourmets of Western Rajasthan developed a unique cuisine of their own that bypassed the handicap of the desert being mostly devoid of vegetation…
It is said that the way to the heart lies via the stomach. With this truism in mind, the gourmets of Western Rajasthan developed a unique cuisine of their own that bypassed the handicap of the desert being mostly devoid of vegetation. By using dried local vegetables, various grains, meats and pickles, they came up with a menu which is perhaps one of the richest in India.
Perhaps the best known dish of the area is dal bati churma, made of a mix of hard unleavened bread, lentils, and a coarsely ground wheat mixture. For the non-vegetarians, there is a very spicy dish called Laal Maas or ‘red meat’. Gatte ki sabzi, is a vegetable dish that does not require any vegetables as it is a curry made with gram flour dumplings!
Other popular dishes of the area include Ker Sangri, or a vegetable cooked from wild berries, and Papad ki Sabzi, which comprises of a vegetable curry made from thin Indian flatbreads of lentils. Raab is a thick broth of millet (bajra) flour and buttermilk.
Many of these dishes are eaten with unleavened millet bread (rotis). They just form the tip of the iceberg and the curious visitor is in for many a mouth watering surprise.