Camel Safari Masala

We recently finished a three day, two nights “camel safari” out of the desert city of Bikaner, in Rajasthan, India. Our party consisted of myself, Ryan, two camel men (Sankar and Aridam), and two camels (Kwalu and Moni). There was one camel for pulling a cart of supplies, one camel for riding. Our playground was a big, huge sahelian landscape, sometimes wilderness, sometimes pastureland and sometimes village, for us to slowly traverse. 

The hours spent riding the camel (or the cart), cooking, eating, and sleeping were lovely. Getting to see wildlife in the wild, and not in a reserve or a zoo, was truly special. We saw countless antelope as well as the occasional wild fox, jack rabbit, and even some elusive blue bulls, which are the largest antelopes in Asia. Unintimidated by our camels or the men driving them, these animals barely blinked an eye at our presence and it was humbling to be amongst them. I loved every minute of our morning and afternoon rides. 

I learned after our safari that our guides were Bishnoi, a people of the Rajasthani desert that have been living in harmony with the environment and animal world for hundreds of years. Bishnoi means 29, which is the number of tenets that this casteless society lives by. Some tenets guide them in how to live in accordance with the environment, others to their relationship with God, others on how to take care of health and body. The Bishnoi have an ingrained love of wildlife, allowing animals of the desert to live and graze on their lands, with no fear of being killed or eaten. (Whenever an animal was spotted, one of the men would point and exclaim “Bulee bull! Photo!”, “Camel baby! Two!”, “Bird! Bird!”, “Antelope! Yin!”, or “Big lizard! Down!”) 

Other than milk, all their food is vegan. Eggs and meat may not even touch the dishes in which they cook and eat. There is no smoking, and no alcohol is consumed by these people. (They weren’t adverse to a little chewing tobacco, though, I noticed)

The food was delicious. (Camping food always is, isn’t it?) We had essentially the same dish for lunch and dinner each day, with variations on which vegetables were used and the addition of rice in the evenings. The camel men both acted as drivers, guides and cooks for us. With almost no English and questionable Hindi, our communication was limited to a vocabulary of about 20 words, a bunch of pointing and pantomiming and lots of smiles and thumbs ups. If something really needed to be communicated, we would call Vinod, the man who set up our safari back in Bikaner and he would help us translate. But that only happened once…the rest of the time we did just fine.

If you can imagine an experience that is both incredibly interesting and boring at the same time, then you’ve got a pretty good idea of what this jaunt into the desert was like. Maybe our attention spans are too inundated by a fast paced media, we are too used to our devices and unable to just sit, but the four to five hour siestas (from 10:30-3ish), where we sat out the hot sun under a tree might have been better spent if one of us had remembered to bring a book, or a deck of cards, or something. If you are the kind of person who can sit still for four hours and meditate quietly, or sleep in blazing hot weather, then you’ll absolutely love the quiet respite that this experience offers. Otherwise, take heed and bring your own entertainment for those siestas.

In the event that you decide to book a camel safari out of Bikaner or Jaiselmere one day, I have compiled a list of things that would be helpful to bring along when you go…some of these things we wished we had, and others we were glad we did.

• Pair of wool or cotton tube socks. Why? Wet the sock and put your water bottle inside. Keep the sock wet and you’ll have cool drinking water instead of water fit for a Jacuzzi. This is a trick I learned from my good friend Linda in Ghana.
• Playing cards or other non-electronic entertainment
• A good book
• Your own sheet and small pillow
• Head lamp
• A harmonica or other small musical instrument if you play
• Booze
• A cushy bike chamois (camel riding is hard on the tush region)
• If you want something other than white bread and sugar spread for breakfast, consider bringing your own supplies. No eggs or meat though! You will offend the camel men.
• Wide brimmed hat
• Bug repellant
• Sunscreen

water bottle inna wet sock

Our meals consisted of fresh chopped onions and vegetables cooked in a sauce of chili powder, turmeric, coriander seeds and salt. Spicy, simple, and tasty. The chapatti we ate on safari was delicious and definitely gluten-full. I look forward to creating a GF chapatti when I get home.

I wonder if the fact that Aridam cooked our chapatti right on pieces of gathered cow dung is what made it taste so good…

Here is the recipe for our “Camel Safari Masala”, a simple and tasty dish that can be thrown together in no time and that is perfect for a camping trip, wherever you are in the world. Serve with rice or freshly made chapatti.

Camel Safari Masala

• 1 TBS chili powder
• 1 TBS coriander seeds
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 2-3 onions, chopped
• (I’m going to add garlic to the recipe) 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-3 tomatoes, chopped
• 4-5 cups chopped vegetables (cauliflower, potatoes, zucchini, cabbage, or any combination or just one kind)
• Oil for cooking
• Water

Combine the spices and add a small amount of water to make a paste. Heat the oil and add the onions. When translucent, add the spice mix and the vegetables. Cover with enough water to help cook and to create a sauce. Cook until the vegetables are soft to your liking. Remove from heat and prepare your rice or chapatti.

Chapatti

• 3-4 cups of whole wheat flour
• Enough water to mix it into a kneadable dough

Add water slowly to the flour and mix with your hands until the dough is elastic and smooth (about 5 minutes). Pinch off pieces about the size of a ping pong ball and roll them in your hands until they are smooth balls. Flatten each ball with your hands and then finish shaping by rolling the ball out until it is thin, like a tortilla. Cook dry on a cast iron skillet until bubbles form and it begins to brown. Finish the cooking of the chapattis directly over the flame to brown and crisp further.

making chapatti

  Or, serve the masala with rice. Perfect for camping!

Here is the website of the man who booked our camel safari. He was helpful and reasonable and we recommend.
http://www.vinodesertsafari.com/

Thali Time

Welcome to Rajasthan, a desert state south of Delhi, but still in the north of India. This is a land famous for its ancient network of kings, forts, princes, palaces, and, of course, delicious cuisine.

One ubiquitous offering found all over India, but especially here in Rajasthan is the thali. Rather than one dish, thali is a predetermined collection of dishes served with chutneys, chapatti (flat bread), rice, dahi (Indian yogurt) and garnishes. It usually includes a couple of dahls (lentil dishes), mixed vegetables and some other tasty treat.

We have been enjoying a variety of thalis, as this is a good way to sample several dishes in one meal, and because sometimes we find ourselves in a restaurant that offers nothing but thali. This was the case with Natraj Hotel in Udaipur, which was voted “the best city in the world to travel to in 2009” by some authority or another.

temple

I agree that Udaipur is a lovely place. Lakes, palaces, temples and forts abound in this relatively quiet city in southern Rajasthan, as do touristy hotels and restaurants that serve sub-par food and overpriced clothing to swarms of inappropriately dressed tourists. It is also where the James Bond film Octopussy was filmed, a fact you cannot miss from the multiple hotels screening it nightly, for several decades now. (Can you think of a better recipe for insanity?) We were here on the tail end of the tourist season during a 3 day festival that among other things, celebrates married ladies. Not speaking Hindi myself (yet), I am still hazy on the intricacies of this celebration. Suffice it to say that it was colorful, spiritual, and refreshing to be in a crowd and not be oogled by dozens of sexually repressed men.

gaungar: festival for women

A couple of years ago I did a mosaic for a lady from Udaipur. When I found out that there is a mosaic tradition in her home town, I was keen to create a piece that echoed the works found in the palace: exquisite 14^th century mosaics depicting three-dimensional peacocks using deep, rich stained glass and mirror. We naturally made a beeline to the palace museum to check out the wonders within, and were not disappointed. After visiting multiple forts and palaces in this area, all of which are unique in their own right but pretty much similar to one another, I can say that that this was our favorite one. It was also the cheapest to get into, ironically. Filled with stained glass windows, mirror and glass mosaics, elaborate carvings and delicate, intricate stone carved pillars, archways and walls, this palace must have been one heck of a fancy place to live in its heyday. I am impressed at the level of preservation that has been maintained. Kudos to the Indian government and the citizens of Udaipur for recognizing that what they have is special and keeping it that way!

animals and art of Udaipur

One evening we set out from our hotel with no real plan in mind. We walked towards the city gardens in the hope of finding something interesting to do. After gaping at a tree full of long tailed, black faced monkeys, and a spell of sliding around in a nifty playground, we followed the sound of music to a small Hindu temple where festival activities were in play. Seated on the ground were men, women and children, clapping, drumming and singing into a highly amplified sound system. When they noticed us leaning on the wall listening to them, they beckoned us in and sat us down, placed tambourines in our hands, marked us with bindis and fed us…you guessed it, thali! We were told that we must eat every morsel of food on our plate lest we anger the god(s) from which it was sent. (We did, of course.) It was special to feel welcome in this small celebration. Ryan even got draped with a silky orange scarf around his neck, another detail that is lost on me due to my ignorance of the religion and language. (Hindi lessons…here I come!) We capped the evening off with a gondola ride up to the top of a hill which houses a small Karni Mata temple. This is a temple which reveres rats. Being close to the city, however, I think that it pales next to its sister temple in Bikaner (our next destination). The two dozen or so white rats here are contained in an enclosure full of fresh fruit and vegetables. In Bikaner, I hear that the Karni Mata temple is an altogether different affair…

night time fun in Udaipur: ropeways, hindu festivals, and city lights.

in the city palace

Anyhow, in order to get tasty food in Udaipur, (unless you want a real cup of espresso and a slice of pie, in which case park yourself in Café Namaste right there in the tourist quarter) you must hop in a rickshaw and go another neighborhood. We were directed to the Old Hotel Natraj by a friendly Indian fellow as a famous thali joint. It was a tasty and fast paced experienced, in which we were seated and served, and never asked what we’d like or offered a menu. The whole time we sat there, there was a steady stream of servers coming around to refill our bowls, or to add rice and chapatti to our plates for what amounts to an all-you-can-eat dining experience. This is what makes thali the best bang for your buck if you are a hungry hippo. Even if you are only hungry enough for the initial serving, at 80 rupees (about $1.50), it’s not a bad deal at all.

Natraj Hotel and Dining Hall
22-24 City Station Road (Raj)

Phone 0294-2487488, 94147 57893

monkey business