Mention Rajasthani non-vegetarian food and one dish inevitably dominates the conversation: laal maas. At most, someone might add safed maas—its creamier, sophisticated cousin made with yoghurt, nuts, and mild spices instead of the fiery Mathania chilli that gives the laal maas its signature red.
“In the royal records, however, there isn’t much mention of laal maas,” says Bikram Chandra Khadka, executive sous chef at Ajit Bhawan in Jodhpur.
Built in 1923 by Maharaj Ajit Singh, the younger brother of Maharaja Umaid Singh, Ajit Bhawan was later expanded in the 1970s into what became India’s first heritage hotel. It remains the private residence of Rani Usha Devi, wife of the late Maharaj Swaroop Singh.
Khadka is now working with the royal family, including her sons Suryaveer Singh Rathore and designer Raghavendra Rathore, to revive lost recipes of Jodhpur’s royalty preserved in the family’s private archives.
Inside the ‘Gol Kamra’
As you step into the Gol Kamra, the royal family’s private dining room, you get a sense of what their favourite pastime was. Crocodiles, wild boars and tigers stare down from the walls.
A massive elephant tusk rests neatly inside a glass case. Even the photographs across the room capture the very act of hunting.
There’s a sense of quiet opulence in the room. That opulence, and the hunt once arrived at its table, too, as rich, slow-cooked game meats.
The pit roasts
“This dish is called khad maas,” says Chef Bikram, lifting the lamb from the pit. It has been marinated for six to eight hours with cinnamon, bay leaf and whole spices, then wrapped in wheat dough, sealed in banana leaves and lowered into a charcoal-heated pit.
“Traditionally, khad maas was made with wild boar. But since wild meat is banned, we use lamb,” he says. Along with the wild boar, other meats that were made were rabbits, deer and birds like the partridge, the chef says.
Here, slow cooking is key. “The temperature remains around 180–200°C, much lower than a tandoor, which can go up to 400°C. Because the heat is moderate, it roasts slowly over four to five hours. That gradual cooking tenderises the meat beautifully.”
Earlier, the meat would have been buried directly in hot sand rather than cooked over charcoal, a technique shaped by the desert terrain.
The Rajputs’ courtly ties with the Mughals also left their mark on the kitchen. Handi Butha, a dum-style preparation of meat slow-cooked in an earthen pot, is another dish the chef prepares. And then there’s the junglee maas.
The Royal comfort
Although meat-heavy, royal cuisine also included comfort foods that were, as Chef Bikram puts it, “typically hydrating.” These were everyday dishes that anyone could have—but the royal khansama would refine them by adding richer ingredients and proteins.
Such preparations included gatta, rabodi, chakki ki sabzi and ker sangri.
Lost in time
After independence, the royals lost their privilege. Hunting was also outlawed. And with this was also lost the ritual of hunting and slow-cooking the game in the desert pits. Wild meats gave way to domesticated lamb and goat.
Lifestyle shift followed, and so did further shifts in food.
“Traditionally, game meat was tougher,” says chef Bikram. “They were warriors. They could eat meat cooked directly over fire or buried under sand.”
Today, even royal kitchens rely on careful marination and controlled heat. “Their lifestyles have changed,” he adds. “Royal families adopted modern and Western food habits. They travel internationally. They don’t eat legacy-heavy food daily anymore.”
The dishes of Rajasthan’s royal kitchens faded further because they never entered the mainstream, unlike in the case of Awadhi cuisine, “where the royal dishes were carried forward by generations of cooks into commercial hotels,” says the chef.
“In Rajasthan, the recipes remained within families. Many royal families preserved these recipes privately within palace kitchens. They weren’t commercialised.”
An exclusive experience
Ajit Bhawan now plans to reintroduce these lost recipes as “an exclusive experience for special guests,” says group general manager Nitin Sud.
“When we say exclusive, we mean it won’t appear on the regular menu,” he explains. “It will be a specially curated dinner, served in gold-plated cutlery, traditional crockery and silverware, as it once was for the royal family.”
The eight-course menu will be priced at Rs 10,000 and is expected to launch in about three months.
In a city as gastronomically rich as Jodhpur, Rajput royal cuisine remains prominent. Hence, reviving these forgotten dishes, says Chef Bikram, “is our responsibility as a standalone heritage property.”
“Many commercial hotels focus on popular dishes like laal maas,” he adds. “But not everyone has access to these lesser-known preparations,” he adds.
