The cuisine of Rajasthan is primarily vegetarian and offers a fabulous variety of mouthwatering dishes. The spice content is quite high in comparison to other Indian cuisines, but the food is absolutely scrumptious. Rajasthanis use ghee for cooking most of the dishes. Rajasthani food is well known for its spicy curries and delicious sweets.

Popular Rajasthani dishes:

Churma

Dal-Bati

Dal-Bati-Churma is a complete dish and very popular in Rajasthan, India.
Traditional way to serve it is to first coarsely mash the Baati then pour pure Ghee on top of it. It is served with the daal (lentils) and spicy garlic chutney.
It is commonly served at all festivities, including religious occasions, wedding ceremonies, and birthday parties in Rajasthan.
"Dal-Baati-Churma", is a combination of three different food items - Daal (lentils), Baati and Churma (Sweet). It is a typical Rajasthani dish.
Daal- is made of lentils and can be little bit spicy.
Baati- baked or grilled balls of wheat flour dough.
Churma- is a sweet, made of wheat flour, sugar and dry fruits.
Ghee is an important ingredient in all the three items.

• Besan-Chakki

 

This divine mithai is also called "Besan ki Chakki" or "Mohanthal". This is usually made at weddings and on special occasions. It is a complicated mithai to make and one needs a little practice to perfect this recipe. It is traditionally made with coarsely ground besan, so that the barfi has a nice chewy texture, but since it is difficult to obtain coarsely ground besan, you can also use plain besan instead  

           

• Ghevar

Ghevar (Devanagari:घेवर) is a Rajasthani sweet traditionally associated with the Teej Festival. It is disc-shaped, and made from oil, flour and sugar syrup. There are many varieties of Ghevar, including plain, mawa and malai ghevar."A wildly popular dessert that‘s found at any Rajasthani wedding and at sawan ki teej. It’s best had with warm milk."

 

Raabdi 

Raabdi or "Raab" as it is commonly known, is a thick gruel prepared using bajre ka atta and curds or buttermilk. Raabdi can be served hot or cold. It is often eaten as a substitute for rice and is served with chaas (buttermilk) or milk. An earthenware pot full of the bajra flour and buttermilk is often left to simmer over a slow flame in the mornings and it is ready to serve around lunch time after it has simmered for several hours. It does not require a lot of attention, so housewives can complete their other household chores while the raabdi is being cooked. In some households, raabdi left over from the previous day is often served with hot bajra rotis for breakfast the following day.

RAJASTHANI CHURMA  RECIPE

Ingredients:

200 gms Wheat flour

400 gms Ghee
100 gms Khoya / Mawa
200 gms Sugar (grounded)
50 gms Soaked almond (finely chopped)
4 Cardamom (small)
1 inch Dalchini(cinnamon)

Preparation:

Melt 150 gms. of ghee and mix it in wheat flour. Make a stiff dough using very little water.

Heat the rest of the ghee in a kadahi. Make about 15-20 balls with the dough.

Fry it on low flame till it becomes golden brown. Churn it in grinder after it cools down. Mix khoya. Heat 1 tbsp. ghee in kadahi.

Add cardamom seeds and dalchini. Add the above mixture of wheat flour and khoya. Fry it for one minute. When it cools down, add sugar and chopped almonds.

Mix well. Serve churma laddoo in a plate. You can enjoy the taste of choorma for 8-10 days if you keep it in an airtight box. To be served with Dal and Baati.

 DAL

 ARHAR DAL RECIPE

Arhar dal is one of the most common dish that is made in homes on daily basis. This dal is very nutritive and full of proteins. To make arhar dal more tasty tomatoes, ginger, garlic and onions are added to it.

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 3 - 4 people

Ingredients:

1 cup arhar dal or pigeon beans 

2 tblsp clarified butter / ghee
A pinch of asafetida
1/2 tsp cumin seed
1 dried red chili (broken)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chili powder
Salt to taste
1 green chilies
1 tsp ginger chopped
1 tomato (finely chopped

1 onion (finely chopped)
1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tblsp coriander leaves (finely chopped)   

How to make arhar dal:

Wash and soak the arhar dal in 2 cups of water for 1/2 hour. Soaking the dal reduces the cooking time.

Cooking with Pressure Cooker - Drain out the water and put dal with 3 cups of water, salt and turmeric in a pressure cooker. Close the lid and cook the dal. After the first whistle turn the heat down and cook on medium flame for 3 - 4 minutes. Turn off the flame. Once the pressure ends open the lid and check if the dal is cooked or not and if it requires some more water. If the dal is thick in consistency then add some water for the desired flow.

Cooking without Pressure Cooker - Drain out the water and boil dal with 5 -6 cups of water, salt and turmeric in a pan. Once it starts to boil close the lid and turn the flame to medium and simmer till the dal gets little mushy. Adjust the water according to your desired consistency.

Now move the dal to a serving bowl and begin tempering.

Take ghee or clarified butter in a pan, heat it; add cumin seed. When the cumin seeds begin to sputter add hing, dried red chilli, stir it and then add green chilli, ginger, garlic and fry till golden brown.

After few seconds add onions to it when it’s translucent add tomatoes to it.

When the oil begins to separate add pinch of salt and red chili powder to it. Quickly stir with a spoon and pour it over the dal and close the lid. Ensure that the red chilly powder does not get burnt.

Before serving garnish it with the coriander leaves and add lemon juice to it, stir it properly. Serve hot with steamed churma,rice or roti and .

HOW TO MAKE BATI   

5 cups whole wheat flour, sieved 

1 cup ghee, melted
2 tbsps curd
Salt To Taste 

Preparation:

Pressure cook rajma and black gram till it becomes soft. Heat 4 tbsps oil. Add onions. Brown them.

Add ginger-garlic paste and tomatoes. Fry. Add all the masalas, beans and salt.Simmer till well blended. The gravy should be thick. Pour over cream and ghee. Knead a soft dough with flour, ghee, curd, salt and just enough water.

Roll into lemon-sized balls. Cover and keep for one hour. Then roast in batches on hot coals till puffed and golden outside and spongy inside. Keep hot.

Garnish the daal with coriander leaves and slit green chillies. Dip hot (baati) dumplings in the daal while eating.