7 Famous Rajasthani Sabji Recipe

Rajasthan, the Land of Rajas, is culturally rich with an aesthetic flavor of art and traditions reflecting the ancient way of living. In whole India, Rajasthan is the home of India’s most delicious food, fine royal dining, exquisite restaurants, local delicacies and gastronomic delights. In Rajasthan, Jodhpuri cuisines are splendid mixture of unique, rich, colorful, spicy curries and mouth-watering delectable sweets which also reflects the traditional lifestyles and the availability of ingredients in this water starved region. Due to the scarcity of water, the cuisine involves use of milk, yogurt or buttermilk to wet the gravies. Instead of tomatoes, sour taste is added to the dishes with dried mango powder. The use of lentils and legumes, mainly Jawar, Bajra and Gram Flour in food keeps the nutritional value very high. Once food is cooked, that can be eaten over days with no refrigeration. So we share some most liked and appreciated specialty of Jodhpuri cuisine. 

Ker-Saangri and Kumatiya ki Sabji – This is the local taste of Jodhpur made with wild berries that grow in abundance in vast desert areas of western Rajasthan and also used a herb for many diseases. Ker is dried fruit and Saangri is dried wild beans while these are mixed with Kumatia that dried flat pods. To make it tangy these all are combined with dried whole Red Chilies’ and Raw Mango Powder i.e. amchur to prepare this Rajasthani delicacy.  This is also fondly known as “PanchKuta” means “mixture of five” because of above five ingredients. Serving this sabji with small kadai puri’s completes the dish.

Rabodi ki Sabji – This is traditional yet less known preparation but most served and like locally. The key ingredient is called “rabodi” which is made by blending either Gram flour (besan) or corn flour (makki ka atta) in buttermilk (Chaach), slightly boiling then leaving it for few days to dry in sun. Usually, this sabji is made with yogurt to make it taste sour. Rabodi is prepared in onion garlic paste and added when mixture boils. Later, it is garnished with green coriander and served hot with the chapattis.

Goonda ki Sabji – Gunda is a kind of wild berry available during the summer season that has a sticky seed inside which is removed either by boiling or by splitting it halfway and then removing the seed using a knife dipped in Salt Water and drying it in sun for a few hours to dry its viscous fluid. Goonda is also called as Cordia or Lasode or Labede. To taste it differently it can be cooked in different ways and the way most liked out of all is cooking with kairi or kaccha aam (Green raw mango), it is stir-fried with oil and dry masalas (spices) and boiled fenugreek seeds (methidana) over low flame for 30-40 minutes which gives a mouth-watering taste and refreshing aroma to this sabji.

Chakki ki Sabji – This is recipe is so unique and simple makes it count as a specialty of Jodhpur. This is also called a Pitod ki sabji. The use of atta (Wheat Flour) or besan (Gram flour) in this sabji makes curry quite amazing. It is made up of besan batter (besan ka ghol) which is made by cooking in kadai or deep vessel adding the desired amount of water with besan (Gram flour) and later it is poured in oiled plate (thali) to get thick, nearly after 15 minutes cutting the pieces adding to prepared dahi mixture containing powder of haldi (turmeric powder), dhaniya (coriander powder) and salt(as per taste) and jeera(cumin seeds) make it finger-licking good.  

Gatte ki Sabji –  This dish is an integral part of the Rajasthani thali.  Gatte is basically steamed pieces of besan (Gram flour) in a rich gravy made with ingredients like onions, tomatoes, garlic, lots of yogurts and various Indian spices. It is simple to cook by making dough of besan into small balls and then by either frying balls in oil or boiling it in water so that besan get cooked. This is made in three steps which includes preparing gatta, frying initials and making gravy with yogurt. Then once the mixture boils up adding gatta will get it done. Gatte ki sabji pairs well with moti chapathi topped with ghee as well as with rice.

Papad ki Sabji – It is an authentic dish from Jodhpuri cuisine being a delicious and instant recipe it is liked in almost all homes which makes it not only famous among local people but also adds up a new taste to foreign tongues. By several ways it can be cooked like with curd or sukkhi sabji (without water) or with tari (with water) or with green methi (fresh fenugreek leaves), more than 30 recipes can be cooked with papad only. Normally ghee is taken in pan added with all spices like turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt and other ingredients and a couple of cups of water. Later on, in boiling water roasted papad broken into small pieces of 1 or 2 inch are added and lip-smacking recipe is ready to eat.

Moong Dal Badi ki Sabji –  It is made up of moong dal paste dried in sun, these dried magodis can be kept in your kitchen just like other lentils for more than a year. This is prepared in almost all the kitchens of Jodhpur before the arrival of winter season. Its making takes nothing just adding up of cumin seeds- once they crackle add the pureed onions and moong dal vadis sauté them until they are golden brown and fried properly, followed by the chili powder, coriander powder, & garam masala even adding the tomato puree will add up good aroma to it and there you are!  Serve it with hot Chapattis and Parathas.  This is really a great dish for when you’re in a hurry but want a hot, cooked meal ready in minutes.