Food is a vital aspect of Varanasi culture, and if you visit the holy city, you will be in for a culinary feast. The city’s culinary offerings are predominantly vegetarian and flavorful, as the majority of the food is prepared using desi ghee, mustard, milk, and spices. Here are some of the best street dishes you should taste.
1. Lassi
You can’t visit Benaras and not try the local milk sweets, like as lassi, rabri, and malai. You won’t find lassi like Banarasi Lassi anywhere else in India. The milk used to make it is extraordinarily rich and creamy. Delicious rabri and malai are sprinkled on top before being served in big earthen glasses. The drink comes with a little wooden ice cream stick, so you can mix the rabri and malai according to your taste.
Where to try: Pehalwan Lassi (Lanka), Blue Lassi Shop (Kachauri Gali)
2. Kachori Sabji
This delectable breakfast meal is the first food you should eat in Banaras. While the crispy kachoris are baked with a lentil and spice stuffing (called dal ki pithi), the aromatic sabzi is produced with boiled potatoes, black pepper, cloves, chilies, and other seasonings. This delightful combination is a true treat for the senses, enjoyed by locals, visitors, and people of all ages. If you go to any street food joint in the city early in the morning, you will witness numerous hostelers and office workers enjoying this hot meal. So, without experiencing the traditional Banarasi kachori sabzi, your journey to Banaras will be incomplete.
Where to try: The Ram Bhandar (Thatheri Bazar), Chachi Kachori Shop (Lanka)
3. Lakshmi Chai Wale in Govindpura
It would be disgraceful not to indulge in a butter toast and a “kulhad” (earthen cup) of chai at this must-visit spot. A generous amount of butter is spread all over the toast, including the inside. With melted butter dripping out your mouth, it’s as if you’re biting into something absolutely wonderful. With the butter, you have a choice between white butter and Amul. However, the tea is just average. Indulge on Malai Toast if you have a sweet tooth.
4. Thandai
Thandai, like Banarasi paan, is a flavorful cool drink that everyone who visits Banaras must sample. While it is made with milk, saffron, cardamom, fennel seeds, almonds, rose petals, and sugar, a seasonal fruit puree is also added to the drink for extra flavour. However, there is something else that distinguishes Varanasi’s thandai from others. The drink is served in clay cups or kulhads and topped with rabri, chopped almonds, and dry fruits. It is cooling, filling, and refreshing, making it ideal for hot summer days.
Where to try: Baba Thandai (Godowlia), Kashi Vishwanath Thandai Ghar (Harha), Mishrambhu Thandai (Godowlia)
5. Lemon Tea
I include this modest lemon tea on our list solely because I enjoy it. A tea vendor is bustling near the lovely Assi Ghat. It’s because of the wonderful tea they serve here. They add Hajmola (a digestive tablet) to the lemon tea, which gives it a spicy, salty flavour. I’d say the end result is mouthwatering.
6. Malaiyyo
Malaiyyo, a delicacy of Varanasi, is a melt-in-your-mouth sweet dessert available only during the winter. It is made of milk foam or froth, and the preparation method is unique. Malaiyyo is made by boiling milk in an iron wok and then leaving it out in the open at night. This is done to allow the dew drops to aid in the foaming process. The milk is then blended with cardamom powder, saffron strands, and sugar until it becomes foamy. It is then topped with chopped pistachios and almonds and served in traditional earthen cups known as kulhads. If you visit Banaras in the winter, make sure to try this unusual street dish that you won’t get anywhere else.
Where to Try: Markandey Sardar (Chaukhamba Gali) and Thatheri Bazar
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7. Chenna Dahi Vada
Chena Dahi Vada is a delectable twist on traditional lentil bhallas. The “Vada” of Chena Dahi Vada looks similar to Rasmalai and is commonly served with sweet yoghurt dusted with a dash of Masala made of jeera and black salt. These dahi vadas are served with a warm cup of tea and are a favourite morning meal in Varanasi. The snack has a delicious combination of sweet and sour tastes.
Where to try: Deena Chat Bhandar (Luxa) and Baba Chat Bhandar (BHU-DLW Road)
8. Hing ke Kachori
The savoury street dish Hing ke Kachori is a hit in Banaras. The dish consists of kachoris that have been deep-fried and filled with a spicy and tangy chana (chickpea). The dough for Kachori is made using course whole wheat flour and urad dal flour. The flour is kneaded using water infused with cumin, hing and ajwain. These kachoris are then served with Chane ki Sabzi and spicy chutney.
Where to try: Ram Bhandar (Thatheri Bazaar)
9. Tamatar Chat
Locals and tourists alike love this unique and tasty chaat, which you can get at some of Varanasi’s best restaurants. Potatoes (boiled and mashed), tomatoes, green chilies, onions, and cilantro leaves are used to make it. There are red chilli powder, black pepper, garam masala, and other spices in the chaat. It is served in bowls made from palash leaves, which are biodegradable and have a local feel to them. People who love chaat and are in Banaras should try tamatar chaat, even though it can be a little spicy. If you try this tasty dish with chaat masala and crispy namak pare, you’ll be asking for more.
Where to try: Kashi Chaat Bhandar (Godowlia Road)
10. Baati Chokha
Baati
Chokha, which is popular in Bihar, is also a wonderful street dish in Varanasi.
Baati is a wheat ball stuffed with sattu, and Chokha is a brinjal and potato
mash spiced with various spice blends. People prefer to make their chokha basic
and mildly spicy.
Where to try: Baati Chokha Restaurant (Many outlets in
Varanasi)
11. Banarasi Paan
When visiting Varanasi, you must try Banarasiya Paan. Paan is a dish made of beetle nut leaves, beetle nuts or Supari, lime, and a variety of seasonings that is consumed with tobacco or lime. Meetha Paan is a variant of Paan that is free of tobacco and lime and instead packed with sweetened rose petals, fennel seeds, and soft and chewy Supari.
Where to try: Rajendra Chaurasia Paan (Godowlia)
