Rajasthani Food: daal, baati and more!

It's time to write about Rajasthani food :) and being a foodie that I am, I am surprised, that it has taken me so many weeks to come around and write about it!


As a few of you might know, daal-baati-choorma comes from Rajasthan. It is probably THE most popular dish at any multi-cuisine restaurant or eat out joint in the metropolitan cities. I believe every person I know in Delhi looks forward to go to Delhi Haat to have this Rajasthani favorite! On our trip to Rajasthan, we had it several times - in its most original setting and flavor. And mind you, baati (the bread) is "soaked" in oil or ghee. This makes it soooper unhealthy, but also equally tasty :) I guess it's ok to have it once in a while, or a couple of times on your trip to the desert state. The daal is plain and simple, no frills attached: but obviously goes wonderfully with the baati and makes it soft and soggy and easily edible. Choorma is sweet; it's the poor man's dessert after daal-baati.

 Freshly baked Baatis - yet to be soaked!

Baati with Daal and Gatte

Daal-baati takes most of the limelight when it comes to food in Rajasthan. However, there is much more, and in this trip we made sure that we tried these other delicacies. Other vegetarian curries that are very tasty, and very Rajasthani are gatte, and kair sangri. Gatte is small balls of besan (gram flour) in a thin tomato less and onion less curry. I point this out as most every curry curries in India has tomatoes and onions. And then kair sangri; it is apparently made of three local farm vegetables mixed up into a very green and very healthy curry.

Rajasthani Thali @ Jaipur 

Pure Veggie Meal @ Jodhpur

Last of all, we also pounced on the meat dishes in Rajasthan. Meat dishes in Rajasthan are mostly associated with the king and thakurs, and represent the food of the high society. The most popular is the laal-maas. It's a lamb curry lavishly created with lots of tomatoes and spices. It was the first time that Bhavya and I had it, and we loved it so much, that we had it four or five times during our short trip of ten days! Lastly, there was also the chicken, which was cooked with red peppers and lots of local spices, and was also a favorite with the chicken lovers.

Laal Maas

Chicken with Red Peppers