SOON

Fateh's Café celebrates the food that Fateh Singh Rathore, fondly known as the Tiger Man of Ranthambhore, cooked and enjoyed.

Fateh started as a young Ranger entrusted with managing the wildlife at Mt Abu, Rajasthan's best-known hill station, in 1961. His job was to regulate the hunting that was permitted during those times. He himself enjoyed shooting game but limited his hunting to partridges, sand grouse, duck, jungle fowl and claimed never to have shot big game.

He was later posted as Game Ranger to Ranthambhore where he spent the following five decades of his life, first transforming a degraded, over grazed and over-populated forest into perhaps the most celebrated tiger reserve in India, and then guarding it against all intruders. In 1980 Ranthambhore became one of the few Parks to be turned into National Park providing additional funding and protection. Fateh fought tirelessly to save the Tiger in Ranthambhore until he passed away in 2011.

Over nearly 5 decades of living in the jungle he developed a unique taste in food that was simple yet palatable and mostly cooked on wood fires, since a modern kitchen was never available. He spent his boyhood in the Thar desert  where his tastes were first formed by his mother who cooked simple dishes of the region like Doodh Rabdi (akind of porridge), Mixed Dals, Kair and Sangri (a berry and bean dish from desert trees and bushes), Kadi (a thick gravy like dish made with gram flour).

While he remained a vegetarian during all the time he lived inside Ranthambhore his early stint in Mt Abu where he often interacted with the erstwhile Royalty of Rajasthan he picked up on many traditional non-vegetarian dishes involving game and after his retirement he incorporated these styles of cooking into regular non-vegetarian dishes like Chicken and Mutton. These are often referred to as Junglee Mass, Lal Mass etc. but here in Fateh's Café we try to make it like he would.

Two of his favourite sweet dishes were his version of Lapsi which he made with broken wheat (Dalia), raisins and dried fruits, all cooked in Ghee (clarified butter) until it is golden brown. Another sweet dish he loved was Banana Fritters which he would make himself to the delight of many of the host of friends from all around the world who visited him here over the years.

Fateh's food was always simple but varied. We have tried to recapture some of that taste here at the Café, built on the edge of the same great tiger forest to which he devoted his life.