Cuisine of Rajasthan – The land and its (limited!) bounty
October 23, 2014 • Food & Cooking
This is the first of a series of posts over the next few months where Markley Boyer, friend and foodie, will explore the desert cuisine of Rajasthan.
The food of Rajasthan is dictated in large part by its geography. It is by far the driest state of India. The northern half of the state has no rivers at all and most of the significant towns – Jodhpur, Jaipur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer lie in this arid region. Even towns like Udaipur, with its famous Lake Palace show more about the luxury of kings than about natural water. No wonder that the camel is the preferred beast of burden in a land where rain rarely falls and oases are few and far between.
But from this apparent poverty of ingredients, the ingenious Rajasthani chefs have extracted the maximum flavor and interest from each element. As an approach to cooking – utilizing a few simple ingredients that store well in the larder – Rajasthani cuisine is a great resource as we cook at home.
On our culinary and photography tour of Rajasthan in March 2015 we will experience and learn this rich traditional cuisine and apply the innovative approach to making the most of what we find in our own kitchens.
Dried chillies are a common ingredient in Rajasthani cuisine
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