Krutarthsinh Jadeja, or K as he signs off his emails, has converted his family-owned 110-year-old haveli property in Kutch into a boutique B&B/homestay. Near the Great Rann of Kutch, India’s salt desert and Dholavira, a Harappan civilisation site, this region is also known as Flamingo City – as it is the breeding ground for these migratory birds. An avid traveller himself, K is the kind of host who is neither too distant, nor too involved. He’s a huge promoter of local crafts, such as appliqué work, metal wares and tie-and-dye, and makes it his prerogative to sit with his guests during their meals to share snippets about Kutch – and nearby artisan villages of Bhujodi, Khamir and Ajrakhpur. The B&B has four rooms, each unique yet exquisite and reflective of the local culture with their dome-shaped archways, porticos and pillared halls that remain airy even during summer; they each have their own little library, too, and K is more than happy to let a guest exchange books from their own collection. For guests who’d like to spend a longer and make the most of it, there is a family-run boarding school within the same premises that they can volunteer at.

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Highway wisdom has it that foggy, cold mornings should be countered with a piping hot, lingering breakfast.

So here we are, just past 8 am on a fresh Kutchi day, cruising along the plush roads of Gujarat near Bhuj, and the fog gradually clears to the luscious sight of fafda-jalebi.

This local breakfast, as many here would confirm, is a favourite for its mix of contrasting flavours.

“Pheeka, meetha, teekha—sab ek saath,” explains the spirited Vicky Joshi, who manages his family’s 45-year-old Ashapura Sweets, on the outskirts of Bhuj.

He hands over a sheet of newspaper laden with fafda—crisp, deep-fried strips of besan, long and curling at the ends and also just a bit along the length—and fresh jalebis with fried green chillies and a tomato-besan chutney.

The Taste of Gujarat

Down south from Kutch, in the Saurashtra-Kathiawar region—the lower jaw of Gujarat, as it were—the fafda-jalebi at times morphs into what they call bhavnagri (after Bhavnagar) or ganthiya-jalebi, in which the besan crispies are thick and coarse, the fried green chillies rounder.

The ensemble, however, is just as scrumptious.

A flavour too many for a morning meal? You’d do well to banish such thoughts while in Gujarat. After all, this is a land where culinary excesses are dismissed quickly, and a robust appetite, with a taste for at least a dozen flavours per meal, is quite the norm.

A Traditional Winter Delicacy

In keeping with the Rajput tradition in Kutch, where the Jadeja clan ruled once, Vasantbaa cooks us her kitchen favourite, a sweetmeat called maatar.

“It’s so called because it’s a mother’s dish for her child—for good health,” she chuckles, mixing wheat flour, jaggery and ghee, all in equal measure, on a low flame, with powdered ginger and gond (acacia gum) thrown in, a winter addition to help battle the cold.

When the mixture cools and hardens, it’s cut into pieces and is ready to eat.

Maatar’s equivalent in the Saurashtra region is the more popular sukhdi, similar in form, but the proportions in the recipe vary.

Flavours Across Kutch

In Gujarat, if the terrain changes frequently, as does the dialect—every 12 miles, they say—so does the cuisine.

There is no better example of this than in the little town of Bhirandiyara, near the white Rann of Kutch, known for its famous mava (khoya).

Sold by the gram in little plastic cups at the dhabas along the highway, the sweetmeat attracts tourists, locals and BSF personnel alike.

Sip on a cup of sweet, milky tea—aakha dudh ni cha—but don’t miss this rich khoya prepared from fresh buffalo milk and sugar.

Street Food of Bhuj

In Kutch, there’s no dearth of nashto (snacks) and mithai.

Station Road, near the main inter-city bus-stop in Bhuj, is a foodie’s delight with dabeli, pakwaan, gulabpak, maisook and many other Kutchi sweets.

The famous dabeli, with its sweet and tangy potato filling, spicy peanuts, coconut shavings and soft bun, has become one of Gujarat’s signature street foods.

From Kutch to Rajkot

Travelling towards Rajkot, the flavours gradually change.

Highway restaurants offer Jain cuisine alongside Avadhi, South Indian, Rajasthani and Punjabi dishes.

Morbi reflects a blend of Kutch and Saurashtra through its local food culture.

Travelling towards Rajkot, the flavours gradually change.

Highway restaurants offer Jain cuisine alongside Avadhi, South Indian, Rajasthani and Punjabi dishes.

Rajkot After Sunset

Rajkot comes alive in the evenings.

From bustling chevda shops and chikki stores to khaman-dhokla carts and late-night eateries, the city celebrates food in every corner.

For dessert, Patel’s, Shivshakti and Madan Lal serve popular ice creams, especially their winter special flavours.

The Kathiawadi Feast

By night, many restaurants begin serving the famous Kathiawadi thali.

At Adingo in Limda Chowk, dishes like baingan bharta, rajwadi kichdi, sev-tameta, aakha dongdi, lassun-bajra na rotla, gur and chaas showcase the bold flavours of Saurashtra.

The meal, rich in peanut oil, garlic and red chilli powder, highlights the region’s distinctive culinary identity.

Comparing it with the food of Kutch reveals subtle differences—Kutchi cuisine uses more ghee and jaggery, while Saurashtra favours oil, spices and chillies.

Green Envy

Madhubhai Gordhanbhai Chevdawala

Madhubhai Gordhanbhai Chevdawala arguably sells the best chevda in town.

But it’s the green chutney that goes with the chevda that’s got everyone drooling.

The shop sells about 80 kg of it a day.

The fluorescent green paste of green chillies, peanuts, lime, ginger and salt comes neatly packed in hygienic plastic boxes and is exported to Australia, the US and Europe, where it has a loyal fan following.

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The 120-year-old Darbargadh in Devpur village combines luxury heritage tourism with education, preserving royal Kutch architecture while nurturing future generations.

In the rugged landscape of Gujarat’s Kutch, just 30 kilometres from Bhuj, stands a 120-year-old fort with a remarkable story of reinvention. The historic Darbargadh in Devpur village, built in 1905, has transformed into not just a heritage homestay but also a centre for education.

Royal Roots in Modern Times

“My great-great grandfather, Thakore Sahib Verisalji Bawasaheb of Roha, built Darbargadh for his younger son,” explains Krutarthsinh M. Jadeja, the current custodian of this ancestral property.

The manor, constructed in the classically ornamented Kutch-Roha style of architecture, survived both the 1956 Anjar earthquake and the devastating 2001 Bhuj earthquake, which damaged over a million structures.

“There are at least 85 palaces and forts recorded in Kutch, and we were possibly one of the few to survive the earthquake back then,” Krutarthsinh adds.

Devpur Darbargadh: Heritage & Hospitality

“That’s the secret of my health,” insists the seventysomething Vasantbaa Jadeja, whose son Krutarthsinh and daughter-in-law Yashodhara manage the home-stay we are putting up at in Kutch.

The Jadeja home is a sprawling, 100-year-old darbagadh (a small fort) with intricate Kutch-style carvings, delicately restored after both the 1956 and 2001 earthquakes.

It lies some 45 km from Bhuj, in a village called Devpur.

The foggy morning gives way to a blinding, sunny afternoon, and we willingly escape to the Jadeja kitchen, where vintage vessels are arrayed on shelves that reach the mighty high ceiling and the aroma of simmering ghee fills the air.

From Family Home to Heritage Haven

The journey from family residence to heritage homestay began unexpectedly during Diwali in 2007, when Krutarthsinh and his wife, Nitu Bharti, met a French couple.

“They mailed us in 2008 saying that they would like to stay with us, but only if we accepted something in return,” he recalls.

“I agreed and left an envelope on their desk and was pleasantly surprised to find that they had left Rs 12,000 for their four-day stay with us. That’s how Devpur Homestay got conceived.”

A Living Museum

Each room tells its own story—from Sorthamba with its sixteen pillars and cross-vaulted arches to the Gulabi Mehdi (Pink Room) adorned with Raja Ravi Varma’s chromolithograph paintings.

“The house will take you back to 1905 and is very precious to us,” says Nitu.

The property also features Swedish false pine ceilings painted with natural dyes, Belgian chandeliers, and traditional jharokhas, through which the women of the household once viewed courtyard festivities from behind purdah.

Education at the Heart

One of the most remarkable transformations has been the establishment of The White Eagles School on the estate—the first CBSE residential co-educational English-medium school in Kutch, teaching students up to Class 10.

“My late father, Mahipatsinhji, was a school teacher. When he retired as the principal of Hyderabad Public School, he had the opportunity to enter hospitality. Instead, he decided to start the school,” explains Krutarthsinh.

Classes are conducted on a 12-acre organic orchard named Vijaya, home to nearly 1,000 Kesar mango trees and a variety of vegetables that supply both the school and the heritage homestay.

Preserving Heritage for Future Generations

In a region where tourism is seasonal, this 120-year-old fort stands as a model of sustainable heritage conservation—where ancient walls nurture future generations while preserving the rich tapestry of Kutch’s royal past.

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People who are well versed with such things, for them the Darbargadh (small fort) which is the Devpur Homestay would have been a dead giveaway. To fools like me it just looked mighty impressive!

Imagine my surprise when I was told by people later that Mr Krutarthsinh Jadeja and Mrs. Yashodhara Jadeja (the owners) are closely related the royal family of Bhuj. Here I was, with such a close brush with royalty and I was completely unaware about it!

Planning My Trip to Kutch

Kutch was a last minute trip for me. I was supposed to fly out to Thailand on Sunday and on Thursday evening I got to know that the trip was not happening.

I sat on the net for 4 hours without even blinking looking for a reasonable airfare. At the last moment cheap airfare was out of question.

My second criteria was that it should be someplace warm, I didn’t want to freeze in cold.

I got reasonable airfare for Ahmedabad and Kutch was the region I narrowed on. All good so far. I also managed to get a train ticket from Ahmedabad to Bhuj, it was a 7 hour journey.

I still had to get a roof over my head though, at least for the first day.

Finding Devpur Homestay

I did not look for a homestay first. It was only after getting defeated by the hotels of Bhuj I searched for a homestay in desparation.

The hotels I liked only had an expensive room and I am still not used to spending thousands of rupees for one night stay. I am now glad that I didn’t settle for a hotel.

So, I really stumbled upon the Devpur Homestay.

I could get to the homestay site only through Sangeeta’s blog, otherwise I get only third party websites.

I straight away called Mr. Krutarthsinh ji and cajoled him to give the lower priced Lal Bungalow Annexe room to me.

If he was surprised that I was traveling solo, he did not show it. He asked me to drop a mail, which I promptly did, mentioning my blogging credentials as well.

Then I hoped it would work.

When he replied in the affirmative I could see my trip really happening.

Journey to Devpur

The only doubt was now about the fog. If we got fog at Delhi my flight would get delayed and I would miss my train connection.

But the fog gods were kind to me as well.

I messaged him from the train to ask for a taxi and he gave me Mr. Siddique’s number.

So by the time I reached Bhuj, I had a taxi waiting for me and a roof over my head as well.

Bhuj to Devpur is 40km but when I visit Kutch again, I will still stay at Devpur.

My First Impression

As the taxi neared the village I saw an ornate window. I told myself that I would walk that way to the place, to click a picture!

In a few seconds my taxi took a turn inside the complex, that ornate window was the part of the homestay!

I was at Devpur Homestay.

I was welcomed by Mr. Jadeja’s mother in the traditional way, with a tika, prasad and a garland.

I was offered tea and that is the real test for me for any place. If they offer me tea and are generous with it, I am ready to like the place instantly.

It was chilly and peaceful in the evening.

When I went to my room I liked it as well (see the video at the end of the post), it was comfortable and well appointed.

You can have a look at the rate card here.

I was staying here for two nights.

Hospitality Beyond Expectations

At dinner I asked Mr. Jadeja what could I do the next day? I also asked if he could suggest me what to do for this trip!

He planned my itinerary for the next 3 days, put me in touch with 3 hotels and arranged two taxis for me as Mr Siddique was not available the next day.

I could not have asked for anything more.

I jokingly asked him if he charged a consultancy fee for all this and he laughed it off.

And all this while, the other guests (two couples from Mumbai) and I had no clue about their royal connection!

Home-Cooked Food & Stay Experience

The food was home cooked.

The first day Mrs Yashodhara was not at home so when I asked what was the soup he laughed and said “don’t ask me! Let my wife come back”.

But he took a guess and said it was cauliflower!

I loved the food.

The only downside of the place is that it is close to the village temple that blasts prayers at 4.45 am for about 30 minutes.

The first day it caught me by surprise, the second day I opened half an eye and went back to sleep again.

The School Behind the Darbargadh

The school is at the back of the Darbargadh (small fort) and when I said they had a big playground they told me the real playground was a little distance away!

They are very fond of the school but when I was there it was closed.

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