Dining · Indian · Rajasthan
Sawai Kitchen
Raffles Udaipur's Indian restaurant revives the guarded recipes of Rajputana's royal kitchens, one lineage per course.
Recipes from the palaces
Sawai Kitchen is the Indian speciality restaurant of Raffles Udaipur, on Udai Sagar lake in Rajasthan. Its subject is the heirloom cooking of the royal households of Rajputana: recipes, in the hotel’s words, “guarded by the royal families for centuries”.
The restaurant sets out the background plainly. Royal cooking in Rajasthan grew out of a warrior life in a dry, sandy land, so dishes that kept for several days and could be eaten cold were prized. Recipes were complex, called for particular ingredients and meats, and relied on long cooking methods that used little water.
A lineage on every course
Many of the palace cooks who knew those recipes are gone, and the hotel says its chefs have rediscovered some of the dishes they took with them. The menu presents each course as belonging to a distinct gharana, or lineage, with its own story, prepared from local seasonal produce using traditional techniques.
Sawai Kitchen serves dinner, with views of the lakes in the evening. In 2024 it was named Best Fine Dine Hotel Restaurant of the Year at the Restaurant India Awards, which also gave it a prize for customer experience.
Sources: Raffles Udaipur; Outlook Traveller
