Pink City Bazaars, Block-Printed Textiles and Rajasthani Food

The historic bazaars inside Jaipur's walled Pink City were planned in the 1720s along wide, covered colonnades with each street assigned to a specific guild of artisans. Walking these arcades in the late afternoon and pairing them with iconic street snack counters is a highlight of the city.

Which bazaar is for what: textiles, gems, bangles and blue pottery

• Johari Bazaar (Jewellers' Market): Jaipur is a premier cutting centre for emeralds and semi-precious gemstones, alongside gold-and-enamel Meenakari and Kundan jewellery. Duck into narrow Gopalji Ka Rasta and Haldion Ka Rasta to see stone cutters and tie-dyed leheriya and bandhani silks.
• Bapu Bazaar and Nehru Bazaar: the liveliest stretch for featherlight cotton Jaipuri razai quilts, block-printed bedsheets, fabric by the metre, and embroidered camel-leather mojari (juttis) slippers.
• Tripolia Bazaar and Maniharon Ka Rasta: Tripolia specialises in brassware, while adjoining Maniharon Ka Rasta is lined with artisans heating resin over charcoal to shape jewel-coloured lac bangles.
• Sanganeri and Bagru block prints: look for fine floral Sanganeri prints on white cotton or earthy indigo-and-madder Bagru geometric motifs at fixed-price boutiques in C-Scheme and MI Road or the Anokhi shop, checking the reverse of the cloth for handmade dye penetration.
• Jaipur Blue Pottery: a craft using ground quartz stone and raw glaze rather than clay, fired in cobalt blue and turquoise floral patterns.

What to eat in Jaipur: kachori, dal baati churma, laal maas and lassi

Whether you graze along MI Road and Johari Bazaar or sit down for a thali dinner, seek out five signature Rajasthani flavours:

• Pyaaz Kachori and Mawa Kachori: a flaky deep-fried pastry stuffed with spiced caramelised onions and potatoes (famous at Rawat near Station Road or Samrat in the walled city), plus sweet mawa kachori dipped in cardamom syrup.
• Clay-cup Lassi at Lassiwala on MI Road: thick curd churned with sugar and topped with clotted cream (malai), served in disposable unglazed terracotta cups (kulhads) at the original 1944 shopfront.
• Dal Baati Churma: hard wheat rolls (baati) baked over embers, cracked open and drenched in ghee alongside five-lentil panchmel dal and sweet crumbled churma.
• Laal Maas and Gatte ki Sabzi: tender mutton slow-cooked in a fiery scarlet gravy of Mathania red chillies and yoghurt, or vegetarian steamed gram-flour dumplings (gatte) in spiced buttermilk gravy with ker sangri desert beans.
• Ghewar: a honeycomb sweet disc soaked in saffron syrup and topped with pistachio rabri.