Venue: Jaipur, Rajasthan

Jaipur features on a traveller’s bucket list for, first, its heritage sites and second, shopping. These are solid grounds and we endorse that Jaipur is a must do for above reasons. During our multiple trips to Jaipur for attending the Literature Festival or for a random weekend break, we have come across some cool food places in this beautiful city. Peacock Roof Top Restaurant is definitely one of those.

During our recent short trip to Jaipur we wanted to have a light Rajasthani lunch and what can be more suitable than kachoris. We were recommended Rawat Misthan Bhandar for kachoris by the sister. Rawat Misthan Bhandar, as per Google, was at Sind Camp bus stand and our hotel was also in this area. Hence we decided to try Rawats’ which seemed to be rather well-known as our auto-chappie knew about it. He took us there and it was a pleasant déjà vu. We realised that we had stopped here for packing sweets during an earlier trip!

The Rawat establishment here was spread over multiple buildings adjacent to each other. While we had visited the confectionery section previously, the restaurant was in another building. We got seated in the restaurant and given that it is low tourist season in Jaipur during summer months, we almost had the place to ourselves. The air-conditioner seemed such a blessing here. We ordered what we had already decided. Pyaz kachoris with aloo subzi (“potato curry” somehow doesn’t seem right here) for entrée and mawa kachori for dessert.

The service was prompt and we had the whole spread in front of us in no time. The pyaz kachori, or what can be loosely described as a fried pastry with spicy onion filling, was prepared in ghee or clarified butter. The crust was thick and there was enough stuffing to make a single kachori fill the appetite. The kachori was crispy and moderately spiced thankfully. We believe overtly spicy seasoning kills a dish. We loved the sweet chutney that was served with the kachori. It added an interesting contrast to the spicy item. The aloo subzi, albeit very spicy, was tasty and went well with pyaz kachori.

The mawa kachori is a similar pastry with a sweet filling made of mawa or dried whole milk. The pastry is finally dipped in sugar syrup. So it is as sinful as it can get. This is a heavy dish and we shared one between us. The mawa kachori here was not numbingly sweet and that helped us in savouring it more. The mild fragrance of saffron lingered on the taste buds for a while and we did not mind the calories. We had tea along with this item. To our pleasant surprise, they had customised the tea accurately to our requirement. This means a lot because we are general at woe with tea in Rajasthan.

This place was no luxury, yet clean, and as we mentioned above, service was quick. All in all, Rawat Misthan was a good experience. We loved the moderate flavours and tastes of the dishes. And when we realised that our meal for two costed a moderate Rs. 280 (which is about 4 USD) we loved them even more. Jaipur being a popular tourist spot, one deals with inflated prices all the time and we were pleasantly surprised here. Rawat Misthan Bhandar, needless to say, is a vegetarian place.

Whichever part of the world you are travelling from, if you are looking for a simple yet authentic Rajasthani food experience, Rawat Misthan Bhandar  in Jaipur is a viable option.