Has the coronavirus pandemic disrupted your plan to take that long trip? Is the ongoing lockdown making you crave going off-road? Fret not. If you can’t go to the highway, Rocky, Mayur, Prashant, and Abhinandan — the team behind shows like Highway On My Plate, Vital Stats of India, Jai Hind, and Rocky and Mayur's Food Xpress — will bring the highway to you!

So, here goes the newest offering from Newslaundry: Highway On My Podcast. The creators of the much loved TV travel show revisit their travels across India, sharing stories, anecdotes, trivia, and — for when the roads are open and inviting again — recommendations on food, culture, people, and much more.

In this episode, Rocky, Mayur, Abhinandan and Prashant drive across Rajasthan. Rocky starts off with a story about how Abhinandan thought he was having a heart attack. The conversation steers towards “kinky kulfi” (Rocky and Mayur’s version of King ki Kulfi) and Bajwa Dhaba on the way to Jaipur.

Heading towards Bikaner, the gang talk about the Karni Mata temple in Deshnoke, famous for having thousands of rats in and around it. They recollect people offering prasad to the rats and eating from the same plate, as is the custom. Here, Rocky recommends a visit to Jodhbir near Bikaner for a sighting of different species of vultures.

Abhinandan talks about Sharma Dhaba on Sikar Road. When they visited, it was a tiny dhaba on the highway towards Jaipur. Today, it’s a 200-seater air-conditioned restaurant with a loyal customer base. Prashant explains why its speciality, the Mawa Ki Roti, is, well, so special and how it often takes several wasted attempts to produce one edible roti.

Abhinandan talks about finding the official “Best Dahi Bhalla in India” in Sendra and the secret recipe that makes it special, as revealed to him by the man who makes it.

Talking about what makes Rajasthan so special, Rocky describes how they wanted to shoot at a licensed bhang shop near Jaisalmer. He remembers running through the streets of Jaisalmer after a few bhang cookies and lassi, flapping his arms, convinced he was a bird. Mayur recalls having six meals after the bhang only to end up in a hotel room with Rocky ordering two trolleys of munchies. Abhinandan recalls a sobering drive that Prashant took them on to reach the Sonar Kella in Jaisalmer, to capture it glowing as the sun set.

The gang then head to Udaipur, where they first tasted camel milk. To shed this unpleasant experience, Prashant describes the Deogarh Palace and the Palak ka Halwa they had there.

Moving on to Jaipur, they talk about the food at Rawat Mishthan Bhandar, especially its delicious Pyaaz Kachori and Kishanlal Ramnarayan lassi. They explain how to spot the real camel fair in Pushkar and what they think about it being a touristy place now. They also discuss the two amazing meals Rocky had in Udaipur and a lot more, only on Highway On My Podcast.

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