I am one of those people who hates "sight-seeing" on a holiday. I find it tedious and predictable and utterly commercial. But a city or town with character, now give me that any day over a city where you have to go on a crowded sight-seeing tour.
A couple of years ago, we went on a trip to Jodhpur and Jaisalmer with our friends G&A. And it was one of the most fabulous holidays ever. Every place we stayed at, had so much character, so much history... And the food! It was a culinary experience that we won't forget for a long time...
Even though this trip happened many many moons ago, this post has been long overdue. So here's a quick glimpse at the Jodhpur food trail...
We stayed at the beautiful Haveli Inn Pal, a gorgeous yet affordable heritage hotel that had a distinctive old-world charm. I cannot urge you enough to stay at this hotel. The rooms, the view, the
hospitality, the food, the entire colonial yet traditional Rajasthani feel...
It had a rooftop restaurant and our breakfast on arrival was just perfect - hot pooris, aloo subzi, and honey-filled banana crepes. Comforting, tasty and filling.
The other fantastic meal we had was the dinner at Mehrangarh Fort. It was a February evening with a good nip in the air, and the rooftop restaurant's traditional Rajasthani thali dinner in the muted lights with the entire city below you was quite an experience!
Traditional Kadhi, Ker Sangri, Laal Maas, and special Rajasthani White Chicken were some of the highlights. Honestly, its not the best Rajasthani thali ever, but the setting is truly special...
The dish of the day was the White Chicken Curry which had beautiful, clean flavours and wasn't overpowered by excessive masala or spices. And no, it wasn't sweet! When I say white chicken curry, most of
you must be thinking of a cashew or almond based gravy, or the sourness
of a yoghurt sauce.But this had neither. I think the trick is in a very
simple marinade without using red chilli powder or turmeric, and the
use of whole spices. The gravy was light and looked like it was just
made of a bit of oil, whole spices and the chicken juices. It was
savoury, spicy and absolutely lip-smacking!
Thanks to the air of mystery and history at both Haveli Inn Pal and the Mehrangarh fort by night, Sid had a rather other-worldly experience! We saw these hand prints of women who committed sati at the Mehrangarh palace... And Sid, wanting to write something about it, felt a presence urging him to write a story that wasn't his original idea!The result is that he, who never strikes out a single line while writing his poetry (his first draft is always the final draft), ended up with 3 pages of poetry struck out! It was as if the ghost of a princess was urging him to write her story rather than his own!
Here's what he ended up writing - about a certain (fictitious, or maybe not) Terhvi Rani or the 13th Queen.
Now coming back to the food, we had heard a lot about the street food of Jodhpur too.. So we tried the very popular Poker Sweets. Stuffed Kachoris, Mirchi ke Bade, Dahi Chaat, and the unique Mawa Kachori! Honestly, the kachoris were good but the Mirchi Bade weren't impressive. The beetroot-hued stuffing was a total let down. We later heard that Janta has much better Mirchi badas. But we were too stuffed by then.
The Mawa Kachori is something that I had never heard of before. A lovely deep fried, cardamom-spiced kachori smashed roughly in 'chaashni' (sugar syrup), it made for a lovely sweet ending. However, I must warn you that it packs a lot of sugar and to avoid feeling sick later, its better shared by 2 people.
Now this next meal I have no recollection of the name of the restaurant or the place. It was small inconspicuous joint on the way from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer. But the food was honest, humble, no-frills, and absolutely wonderful.
Bajre ki roti with butter, a simple spicy kadhi, aloo ke parathe, and some papad-salad and achaar. This meal was as simple and beautiful as Jodhpur itself...
