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| Rajasthani Cuisine |
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Rajasthani cooking was inclined to the war-like
lifestyle of the medieval Rajasthan and the
availability of ingredients of the region. Food that
could last for several days and could be eaten
without heating was preferred, more out of necessity
th an choice. Scarcity of water, fresh green
vegetables have had their effect on cooking.
In the desert belt of Jaisalmer, Barmer and Bikaner,
cooks use a minimum of water and prefer, instead, to
use more milk, buttermilk and clarified butter. A
distinct feature of the Maheshwari cooking is the
use of mango powder, a suitable substitute for
tomatoes, scarce in the desert, and asafetida, to
enhance the taste in the absence of garlic and
onions.
Generally, Rajasthani curries are a brilliant red
but they are not as spicy as they look. Most
Rajasthani cuisine uses pure ghee (clarified butter)
as the medium of cooking. A favourite sweet dish
called lapsi is prepared with broken wheat (dalia)
sautéed in ghee and sweetened.
Perhaps the best-known Rajasthani food is the
combination of dal, bati and churma(dal is
lentils;bati is baked wheat ball; and churma is
powdered sweetened cereal), but for the adventurous
traveler, willing to experiment, there is a lot of
variety available.
Besides, each region is distinguished by its popular
sweet - Mawa Kachori from Jodhpur, Alwar ka Mawa,
Malpuas from Pushkar, Rasogullas from Bikaner,
Ghevar from Ja ipur to name a few. Contrary to
popular belief, people of Rajasthan are not all
vegetarians.
The unique creation of the Maharaja of Salwar is the
Junglee maas. Junglee maas was a great favorite
among the Maharajas and due to the paucity of exotic
ingredients in the camp kitchen, the game brought in
from the hunt was simply cooked in pure ghee, salt
and plenty of red chillies.
However, now this dish has been adapted to the less
controversial ingredients like kid/lamb, pork or
poultry. |
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