I had visited Jaipur before like a tourist. This included the usual popular sites and spots like Amber Fort, City Palace, and Hawa Mahal. The trip was nice. However, after the third palace and before the fourth guided tour, I nearly started to feel like I was just seeing Jaipur rather than authentically living in it. So, this time, I went back with another plan. I would not go to any monument until I got to eat.
What Jaipur’s food culture is like?
Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan, a populous city with a food culture that is as layered as its architecture. The cuisine here is shaped by the desert, with food that is heavy on ghee, rich with spices, built to sustain and satisfy.
Most visitors eat one dal baati churma, take a photograph of it, and consider the food. That is the equivalent of seeing one palace and considering that they have understood the city. Jaipur’s food rewards patience, repetition, and a willingness to follow lanes that do not appear on any map.
Masala Chowk: The logical starting point
Masala Chowk is a food court set up by the Jaipur Municipal Corporation near Ram Niwas Garden. It brings together several local food stalls under one roof, which makes it a useful first stop for getting a sense of what the city eats.
I went on my first evening. I tried pyaaz kachori, a flaky, deep-fried pastry filled with spiced onion, from one stall, and a small bowl of ghewar, a disc-shaped sweet soaked in sugar syrup, from another. Neither was the definitive version of its dish. However, both told me clearly what direction the rest of the trip should go in.
Rawat Mishthan Bhandar: Where the Kachori question gets settled
Rawat is an institution. This establishment has been offering pyaaz kachori at Station Road since 1963, and the queue waiting outside shows how popular it is. The kachori available here was totally different from the one I had at Masala Chowk.
It was relatively bigger, crunchier, and filled with generous stuffing. It was served with thin potato curry and green chutney, with enough spice to excite my taste buds. I had two kachoris.
Dal Baati Churma: The meal that needs time
Dal baati churma is perhaps the most famous food item in Rajasthan, and people in Jaipur do not take it lightly. Baati is hard wheat balls baked in a tandoor oven and served with dal and churma, which is made with broken wheat after adding sugar.
I had this dish at a traditional Rajasthani restaurant which is located near the walled city area. The restaurant was serving guests more than they could eat. The baati was served hot and with plenty of ghee.
Laxmi Mishthan Bhandar: The sweet shop that earns every mention
LMB, as locals call it, is one of the most famous sweet shops and restaurants in Jaipur. It sits in Johari Bazaar and has been there since 1954. The sweets on display near the entrance, like mawa kachori, sohan halwa, and various ladoos, are worth a look before you decide what to order.
The mawa kachori here is the one dish I would return to Jaipur specifically to eat. A fried pastry filled with sweetened khoya, topped with sugar syrup and chopped dry fruits. It is rich in a way that requires a moment of quiet after the first bite.
Johari Bazaar and the lanes around it: Food between the shopping
Johari Bazaar is primarily known for jewellery and textiles, but the lanes running off it are full of small food stalls and sweet shops that most visitors walk past entirely. I spent an afternoon wandering without a destination. I found a stall selling mirchi vada, which includes large green chillies stuffed with spiced potato, battered and fried.
I found another selling lassi in clay cups so thick it barely moved when tilted. I had both, in neither case because I was particularly hungry, but because they were there and they were right.
The bottom line
The best hotels in Jaipur are situated close to the Walled City, which is where most of the eating takes place. Thus, if you stay in the Pink City, places such as Johari Bazaar and Rawat are just an auto ride away or even within walking distance. These hotels south of the old city still make for comfortable accommodation, but every food adventure means some travel time.
It hits different when you do not consider popular landmarks as the main points of the trip. You pay more attention to details, feel more relaxed and spend your time in a courtyard with a packet of chikki from the stall near the entrance. Jaipur opened up for me as soon as I stopped focusing on monuments and instead focused on eating the city down.
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