Rajasthan - street & highway food

 

Rajasthan is known for its food and the Marwari clan has popularized it further. Most of Rajasthan was desert & barren in the earlier days post freedom. But a decade later the then prime minister after a visit to Israel advised the state to sow Acacia (commonly known as Babool, Ker (Capparis in English), sangri (botanical name Prosopis Cineraria) tree seeds so that the sand storm effect is reduced and there will be productivity form these trees once they grow. It worked and today you can see the barren lands-desert areas strewn with these trees adding some green to the landscape plus food for the locals.

Ker Sangri is the most popular vegetable dish in Rajasthan and it is made in variety of ways in households, street dhabas and restaurants. Ker are berries and sangria are bean like pods both dried and then used.

Talking of food while travelling from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer via Bikaner one cannot find many dhabas on the highway but the few available do serve the local staple of kersangri ki sabzi, daal baati churma, chaas the least.

The typical breakfast consists of Bajra roti with Lahsun Chutni (pearl millets & garlic).
This garlic chutni is made with crushed garlic, mustard oil, pink salt and little jaggery. Hot roti with this fiery chutney wakes you up to the core. The Pyaaz kachori (Fried pastry filled with spicy Onion herbs filling) 

is a snack originated from Jodhpur, is eaten any time of the day but having for breakfast while sipping Nagori Chai  is heavenly. The pyaaz kachori comes in two sizes – a single 70gm piece of 4inch dia and a regular halwai kachori 100gm of 7inches. The breakfast is filling and one can travel for 3 hours nonstop.

   Shri Mishrilal Lassi in Jodhpur clock tower market is a must visit. We had kulhad makhaniya lassi, chilled – moderately sweet-thick and fresh in taste just for Rs.30.

Tea stops are a must on the highway. Nagor is a village where Nagori breed of cattle is found (buffalo /cow stables) & hence milk business boomed from there. As a bi-product you will find shops selling lassi (5-6 types), rabdi, barfi, chaas & of course tea. The name Nagori Dairy is found in many places in India, owned by the Rajasthani clan. The Nagori Tea (different flavours – masala, elaichi, haldi, sunth) is famous all over India.  Tastes great when sipped from a kulhad (mud cup). One can find shops serving Nagori Puri Halwa or Nagori sabzi puri halwa combo  The crispy puris are made from maida/sooji (semolina) & ghee and the halwa af course from the coarse sooji. Awesome to say the least, it is a feast.

For meals as mentioned earlier,  KerSangri ki sabzi  with roti is enough to satiate one’s hunger. 

The more hungry can go in for Daal Baati Churma 
 Baati (little dough balls made from flour, ghee, milk and then roasted in pit fire.), a war time preferred food in Mewar of olden days has now become popular all over and is eaten in a typical way – crush the baati & pour pure ghee on it, add spiced Panchmel Daal (5 lentils) and mix to eat with hand. Delicious! In addition to this Churma (an accidental invention by cook when he poured sugarcane juice on roasted baati) made by crushing baati sweetened with jiggery. Daal Baat Churma is the signature dish of Rajasthan.

The other local flavours are available in the form of Gatte ki Saag (chickpea flour dumplings). This originated early as there were no veggies available so this was the staple food fo Rajasthan then. Now it is served from household to 5 star hotels. It is best eaten with roti or plain steamed rice. The spices vary in different eateries along the highways junctions or small towns.

For the meat lovers, I recommend the Laal Maas 
& Nagori Mutton Laal maas is mutton cooked in chilly & herbs paste, spicy. Nagori Mutton has the unique flavour of Nagori Kasuri Methi. Both the dishes can’t be had enough, they are nastyly tasty.

The street eateries serve mirchi bada (jodhpuri mirch)   Green Large chillies stuffed with salty spices, coated with gram flour batter & deep fried. Big time pakoda to have at hi-tea time. Add to this the Kingsize Samosa   (typically they add chutni to the potato stuffing) with a totally different in taste than the Punjabi Samosa, these are spicy, tangy, sweet tickling the taste buds and leave you asking for more. Don’t forget to have Nagori Chai.

This culinary experience on the streets makes you think that why go to exotic restaurants to eat when so much is on display On The Way, ready to be gorged upon.!