Faces of India – 337, Dhanraj Ranmal Bhatia from Jaisalmer

Last week I posted a face from Srirangam, she was the third generation running her family business. That reminded me I had met a halwai, Dhanraj Ranmal Bhatia in Jaisalmer.

Faces of India

a series through which I intend to portray the various characters of my country whom I met during my travels. I bring back souvenirs, frozen moments from my travels, why not some memories of people I have met and interacted during the travels. Faces of India is a weekly series in my blog since MARCH 2011. See more here…

Dhanraj Ranmal Bhatia Jaisalmer

His shop’s name is Dhanraj Ranmal Bhatia. It is a famous sweet shop in the lanes right in front of Jaisalmer Fort. We reached his shop on recommendation from a local for the best sweet shop in Jaisalmer. He was immensely pleased we came searching for his shop. Include this in your food tour of Jaisalmer if you are ever there.

Taste my sweets and you will come back again and again asking for them, he bragged. I got talking to him about his shop. He happily kept talking about his shop saying it has been running for several generations now. He doesn’t remember how many though. My grandfather’s grandfather too sold sweets in this very shop, he recollected a while later. There was pride in his voice.

DRB as it is famously called by the local people, is famous for its one sweet “Ghotua”. They are famous for a wide range of namkeen and mithai too. Tasting a ghotua from this shop is equivalent to tasting the city of Jaisalmer. This sweet dish is a mix of gram flour (​besan) and condensed milk solid (khoyaa/ mawa), cooked slowly on low heat with lots of ghee (clarified butter).