Cuisine of Jaipur
One of the most delightful aspects of a visit to the ‘pink city’ is the culinary delights of Rajasthan, the main cuisine of Jaipur. The capital of Rajput kings had an impressive array of mouth-watering delights, kept closely guarded by the royal chefs. Some of them have been passed on through generations, sadly the rest have been lost.
As a matter of prestige the royal cooks were encouraged to experiment and serve unusual dishes to guests. Legends tell tales of cooks trying to impress their guests by presenting at least one unforgettable item on the menu. The royal guests were served savory dishes made from stuffed camels, goats, pigs and peacocks. The food was served in gold and silver utensils, scores of utensils used each serving.
Traditional Rajasthani cooking is vegetarian, devoid of even onions or garlic. The Maharajas had a penchant for hunting which caused the need to develop game cooking. The Afghan invasion infected them with the art of barbecuing, which has been honed to the extent that boneless lamb kebabs can be prepared in 11 ways.
The best known cuisine of Jaipur includes two meat specialties. The laal mans is red meat cooked in a fiery and very spicy manner, while the safed maans is white meat cooked with almonds, cashew nuts and coconut. The main food here is dal-bati-churma, made of butter, cereals and sweetened bread pudding. There are varieties of bread found in Jaipur namely bati, lachhedar paratha and besan ki missi puri. If you are a spice lover, taste the various chutneys made from locally available spices like turmeric, coriander, mint and garlic.
Mishri mawa and ghevar are sweets, local delicacies of Jaipur famous throughout Rajasthan. Each region has its own delicacy of sweets. Some of the specialties of different regions are ladoos of Jaisalmer, mawa kachori of Jodhpur, malpuas of Pushkar, dil jani of Udaipur, sohan halwa of Ajmer, mawa of Alwar, and rasgullas of Bikaner.
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