With all the grand palaces, other architecture and lakes, Udaipur is a beautiful city located in the southernmost part of Rajasthan. Also known as the 'White City' is the historical capital of the Mewar kingdom. Along with our amazing host Rajat, we have set out to discover the healthy, rustic and spicy flavours from this region. Come lets see what all did we try.
We commenced the food tour from Millets of Mewar, an Indian fusion restaurant that serves healthy and wholesome, less oil mostly millet based gluten foods. Founded by a team of three friends, it aims to bring back the glory and demand of the ancient native grains other than wheat and rice. From their fascinating menu we tried the millet aloo tikki and bajra pancake. The first one was a low oil zesty snack consisting of a potato and barnyard millet based tikki while the second was optimally sweet and yummy pearl millet flour pancake. The awesome food and the conversation with the passionate come owners of the place widened our perception towards the vibrant delicious world of ancient native grains.
From there moved to Sai Baba Paratha Center which had earned the reputation for serving the most delectable stuffed parathas in the city. On reaching there, the sight and aroma of thick stuffed parathas made us restless. Soon we got our serving of aloo parathas. They came with a blob of butter and a spicy dal. With all the goodness of spicy potato stuffing, ghee and butter, every morsel was truly captivating.
The next destination was a quirky place called Dhabalogy that serves rural traditional cuisine in a contemporary setting. Here we first saw the preparation and then savoured some classic Mewari delicacies like dal bati, paniya, dhokla, bajre ki roti and lahsun mirch chutney and til gur ladoo. The rustic cooking processes were very fascinating. The kitchen is primarily run by a genial and diligent team of womenfolk from the nearby villages whose warm smiles and courteous nature made us feel at home.
After that delicious traditional Mewari meal we drove to the place in the vicinity of Eklingji Mandir near Siyol. The lane opposite to the temple is famous for mirchi vadas. We tried some fresh ones from Sheetal restaurant. Made with a big sized less spicy variety of chilles, these potato stuffed fritters were spicy yet delicious.
Our next destination was the Shilpgram Mela which is a famous annual arts and craft fair that happens around the month of December. It showcases the traditional arts, craft and lifestyle of Rajasthan and is a huge crowd puller. Here we tried some healthy and tangy makki ki raab, budhiya ke baal and ghani ki jaglani. With all the colourful arts, craft and other fascinating activities, this place was quite a fun space.
The last food destination in this tour was Hotel Brahma Nivas. We were there to try a traditional Rajasthani thali that had a representative dish from different parts of the state. There was gatte ki sabzi, khurma roti, kadhi, dal, aloo meethi, churma etc. of which the most fascinating one was the chakki ki sabzi from jodhpur that had a taste and texture similar to malai kofta.
It was super gratifying food journey that acquainted us with some amazing aspects of the Mewari cuisine. Heartfelt thanks to Rajat for his insights and support.
**DISCLAIMER - No animals were harmed in the filming of this video.