RAJASTHANI CUISINE

• The food of Rajasthan has a unique place in the gastronomical history of

India as this princely state has always been associated with royalty, kings
& lavish palaces.
• In the royal kitchens of Rajasthan, the food preparation rose to a level of
art form as cooks always wanted to create something new & different to
please the kings & family members of the royal family.

Indian School of Hospitality Page 1 of 12

Semester II Indian Cuisine & Food Culture
 • This mode of recognition for the cooks made them very selfish in their
approach & thus many recipes were kept as closely guarded secrets &
many of such good work has lost forever as there were no written records
of the same.
• With the coming of Mughals to India, the food changed drastically & the
royal kitchens were first to get influenced with the lavish eating styles of
the Mughals.
• Cooking in Rajasthan is more unique than any other region in India
because of the unique ingredients available there.
• The kind of climate and scarcity of water have forced the people to
restore to kind of ingredients that grow locally.
• The lifestyle of the people influenced them to prepare food in such a way
so that it could last several days and could be eaten without heating.
• Some of the dishes like Ker sangri & panchkuta saag are the examples of
such dishes that could last upto several days & can be eaten warm or at
room temperature.
• Usage of dried berries cooked in milk, yoghurt and spices are till date one
of the most favored food of Rajasthan.
• Lentils and their by-products such as gram flour are the most commonly
used ingredients in many forms.
• Lentils are used to make dals & sometimes soaked, ground, and dried to
make mangodis and poppadums.
• Gram, bajra, & corn are some commonly used pulses in Rajasthan & are
used all over the state for preparation of rabri, kheechdi, and rotis.
• Various chutneys are normally made from locally available spices, such
as turmeric, coriander, mint and garlic.
• Marwadis are the business communities of Rajasthan & are also known
as baniya.
• Though originally from Rajasthan, they have settled all over north India.
• These people are mostly vegetarian and some of them do not even
consume onion and garlic in their meals.
• The kitchen in Marwadis house is considered to be a very sacred place &
entry for all is strictly forbidden.
• Only the ladies or the special cooks called as Maharaj are allowed to
enter.

Indian School of Hospitality Page 2 of 12

Semester II Indian Cuisine & Food Culture
 • The cook is responsible to serve the food from the pot to the plate called
as thali so as to maintain the purity of the food.
• A thali is a large round plate with an arrangement of small bowls called
as katoris in which vegetables are being served with their
accompaniments.
• Some of the large thali for the royal families were served with 56 dishes
also known as “chapan bhog”.
• The tastes of the dishes vary from hot to sweet & to sour as well.
• Various vegetables are pickled and made and eaten as a achar which are
further used throughout the year.
• Apart from the vegetarian Marwadis community, there is also the Rajputs
community who are basically meat eaters.
• In earlier days, hunting the wild animals was a sport and was enjoyed by
rich and royal families.
• Thus, the use of wild animals like rabbit, bateir, and deer was very
common in Rajasthan cuisine.
• Due to the dry climatic conditions, most of the time the marinated meat
chunks were encased in the whole wheat dough and buried under the
ground covered up with burning charcoal left on the top.
• This cooked the meat providing it a smoky flavor and also kept the wild
animals away.
• In older days, the kings were fond of trying these unusual dishes and
serving them to their royal guests and the cooks were encouraged to
practice that and even experiment.
• This tradition still continues till date where everyone hosting a party
wants to do something different from the rest.

Indian School of Hospitality Page 3 of 12

Semester II Indian Cuisine & Food Culture
 GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
• Rajasthan is a desert state of India.

• It is a colorful state located in north-west India.

• A land that seems to be bordered by massive forts all around & the sprawling Thar
Desert to the side of Pakistan, this place is rich in its culture and food.

• The state is divided diagonally into hilly regions bordered by the Aravalli hills & the
rugged south-eastern region.

• Jaipur is the vibrant capital of Rajasthan & is also known as the pink city, due to its
pink colored houses surrounded by forts and walls.

Indian School of Hospitality Page 4 of 12

Semester II Indian Cuisine & Food Culture
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Rajasthan was controlled for almost 1000 years by the Rajputs.

• They were brave warriors, who could be compared to the knights in the medieval
Europe.
• They loved their independent lifestyle & the pride of being associated with the clan.
• The Rajputs were never able to present a united front against a common aggressor and
they continued to fight amongst themselves to safeguard their own status and ego.
• This helped the Mughals to establish their vast empire.
• Rajputs were great warriors they fought against all odds.
• Rajputs gave rise to certain grim rituals such as jauhar.
• In this ritual, when death was inevitable, the women and children committed suicide
by setting them ablaze of huge pyres of fire, while men clad in saffron clothes went
ahead to confront the enemy & a certain death.
• Akbar was intelligent enough to persuade them to lead his army.
• Maharaja Jai Singh II ruled the state from 1693-1743 & like his ancestors he was
careful in maintaining alliance with the Mughal rulers.
• His fort was located on top of the hills of Amer & in 1727; he decided to move down
to the plains.
• He carefully planned a city called Jaipur, named after him, which is also the capital of
the state.
• He planned the city based on the knowledge of ancient Hindu architecture & also built
an observatory called Jantar Mantar, which is till date an important destination.
• The city of Jodhpur was founded by Rao Jodha in the year 1459.
• He was the chief of a Rajputs clan known as Rathores.
• The cities of Jodhpur & Jaisalmer are located on the west of Rajasthan & stands at the
edge of the sprawling Thar Desert.
• Bikaner was founded by Rao Bika in the year 1488. Rao Bika was the descendent of
Rao Jodha.
• With the decline of Mughal Empire, the Rajputs resorted back to their independence
with few victories here and there.
• Many kings went with the alliance with the British rule.
• The Rajputs were still allowed to rule their state as independent leaders, but a large
part of their economy also went to the British.
• The alliance of the Rajputs proved to be the first step towards the end of the Rajput
rulers in the state.
• When India gained independence, Rajasthan had one of the lowest literacy rates.
• The economic condition of the Rajputs went from bad to worse.

Indian School of Hospitality Page 5 of 12

Semester II Indian Cuisine & Food Culture
 • Most of the ancient architecture dating back to the 10th century were destroyed by the
invasion of Mughals, but the remains of some of these can still be seen in parts of
Rajasthan.
• Each area of Rajasthan has a common cuisine, but still a few regions of Rajasthan
have unique dishes associated with them.
• When we talk about Rajasthan, pictures of dry land and desert comes to our mind; but
surprisingly not all the parts of this state are dry.
• Many cities such as Udaipur, Ranthambore, etc. are full of lakes and greenery.

STAPLE DIET
• Wheat is the staple food of the Rajasthani people.
• The preparation of the wheat ranges from chapattis to paranthas to even dumplings of
the whole wheat dough called baati baked in cow dung fuel.
• Since the region is dry and there is scarcity of water, it is very common to see dry
preparations and the ones that can stay for days without any refrigeration.
• It is therefore common to see food with ghee floating on top so that it acts as a
preservative & protects the food from contamination.
• Also, liquids in the form of milk and curd are used in abundance.
• The use of cereals such as millets, jowar, and bajra are commonly eaten for all the
three meals.
• Most of the gravies are either curd based or prepared semi-dry.
• Rajasthan is a land of the usual Muslim and Hindu festivals & also has many special
festivals of its own, celebrated in their own unique style.
• The colorful camel fair at Pushkar held in November every year is one such festival.
• The other festivals include the Bikaner Camel Festival & Jaisalmer Desert Festival
that are attractions among tourists.
• In India, food has always been an integral part of any festivity and Rajasthan is no
exception.

Indian School of Hospitality Page 6 of 12

Semester II Indian Cuisine & Food Culture
Indian School of Hospitality Page 7 of 12
Semester II Indian Cuisine & Food Culture
Indian School of Hospitality Page 8 of 12
Semester II Indian Cuisine & Food Culture
Indian School of Hospitality Page 9 of 12
Semester II Indian Cuisine & Food Culture
 SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
• The equipment & utensils used in Rajasthan are very similar to the ones used in
Punjabi cuisine.
• Various kinds of posts & pans of brass & other equipment such as kadhai & tawa are
commonly used in the preparation of food.

Indian School of Hospitality Page 10 of 12

Semester II Indian Cuisine & Food Culture
Indian School of Hospitality Page 11 of 12
Semester II Indian Cuisine & Food Culture
 SEASONAL AVAILABILITY
• Although most of the vegetables are available in most of the parts of the country, but
still a few special ingredients are unique to Rajasthan.

Indian School of Hospitality Page 12 of 12

Semester II Indian Cuisine & Food Culture