Rajasthani Thali: A Delightful Journey

 

There is a certain magic about tradition, heritage and history that draws audiences towards it for generations, it gives you a very authentic and rustic feeling which somehow one can never get enough of, and the answer is very simple, it is a beautiful piece of art that people over the generations have poured their heart and soul in creating and perfecting, so that we can enjoy and savour today.

Hi I am Riddhi Gandhi and today I would like to share with you a part of such grand history, a simple, yet a very delicious and easily made heavy lunch meal, a Rajasthani Thali, a meal so good, it will leave you licking your fingers, and asking for second servings.

The unique selling point of a Rajasthani Thali is essentially Ghee (Clarified Butter), tons and tons of Ghee. As Rajasthan is an arid region, majority of their dishes are made from pantry or cupboard ingredients which are easily available and basic. In this blog I am going to talk about three dishes particularly which are Daal Baati Churma, Gatte ki Sabzi and Moong Daal ka Halwa. Isn’t Rajasthani cuisine indeed the perfect blend of tangy, spicy, sweet and sour?

The most popular dish in my opinion is Daal Baati Churma. Daal is prepared from a fusion of daals Black Gram, Green Gram, Bengal Gram, Masoor Daal, and Arhar Daal. A lot of spices and tadka are added to elevate the simple dish. Baatis are round, flaky pieces of bread baked or fried, over firewood or kandas. The Daal gives a spicy note, and the crunchy baatis complement the daal perfectly. Churma is basically a mixture of flours like chickpea flour (Besan), whole wheat flour etc. mixed with dry fruits for crunch sometimes, is generally sweet in taste. This dish is the perfect combination of textures and flavours.

My favourite is the dessert, Moong Daal ka halwa, made especially in the winters, because of the warmth the body gets by eating it. Initially this dish was introduced in the menus for royal marriage ceremonies, but it quickly became common between the people. It is made from the paste of Moong Daal and sauted in Ghee, with a touch of elaichi (cardamom) for flavour, topped with a lot of dry fruits, especially almonds, pistachios and cashew nuts, it is just like a tempting treat.

Last dish in today’s blog is Gatte ki Sabzi, most vital part of the Thali, it is a curd based dish, the curd is thinned out to create Chaas, add in an onion paste and spiced heavily with red chilli powder, Gatta which literally means a besan dumpling is very small looking, but trust me it will fill you up real quick. Mix besan flour with curd and spices and knead it thoroughly, roll it out into thin rolls, boil it in hot water for 5-10 mins, let it cool and cut into small bite size pieces, and there you go!! One of the best items without a single vegetable is fully ready to enjoy.

I hope you truly enjoyed reading this blog, as much as I enjoyed writing it, see you next time with more details and insight on other delicious Rajasthani dishes!