While the holy city of Benares can consume one with its ever looming poignant take on life and death, there are simpler adventures in the city one can choose to embark on. The variety and setting of street food, for example, is sure to take you on a gastronomic escapade. If travelling to Benares, one can be sure to park the calorie guilt aside and plunge into the local-ness of sumptuous delights.
Right from the time when the narrow lanes start to bathe in the morning light, one of the first few things which greets you and is then bound to trail you like an unavoidable companion through the day, is a good ‘cup of tea’. If this is not too palatable for you, be sure to know that is one taste you will be compelled to acquire. A hot cup not only initiates conversations, but also binds the shaping of resilient bonds between people. Every ‘ghat’ has a favourite tea shop, where the congregation is largest in the evenings. Topics like politics, death, drugs & booze, flesh eating ‘baba’s, homelessness, lost love and physical disabilities flow cheerfully – disheartening situations brushed away effortlessly by the warm concoction and some good friends. A display of extreme dexterity and experimentation with ingredients is seen at the tea shop at the entry of the Dasashwamedh Ghat. The speciality, warm lemon tea, is stretched out from an aluminium pot into freshly washed glasses, by Ravi. The buzz at the shop is engaging enough to sit by and watch for the whole evening.
Once you have dealt with the milder representative of Benarasi food culture, you are geared up to take on the mightier ‘thandai’ and ‘paan’. Be prepared for some heady indulgence with these renowned treats from the city of Shiva. With a makeshift trolley for a shop and years of occupying the perfect spot in the middle of the Baans Phatak are is Kamlesh Pathak. He is the current custodian of the legendary ‘thandai’ shop in Benares. This milk based wonder comes in several flavours, with the cream one topping the list. Do not get alarmed at the colossal intake of ‘bhaang’ by regulars in the evening. A large blob of well ground bhaang is placed on your finger to wash it down with this magnificent characteristic drink.
There must not be a single person in the old city of Varanasi, who doesn’t speak with a garbled, pulpy mouth full of betel juice and sees it as his birth right to splatter streets with a sense of ownership. You can take it from all these red-lipped veterans, that the most exquisite ‘paan’ is made by Chaurasia Ji at his shop in Lanka. His rhythmic relationship with the fresh betel leaves and the exotic ingredients is well over decades. The credibility of his special paans lies in the list celebrity clients and the display of sheer strength one needs to wade through the crowds to order one.
For a true ritualistic culinary experience in Benares, it is imperative to include the famed street for breakfast! Snake your way at about 7.00 a.m to the ‘kachauri gali’ to sample the staple breakfast menu in the morning! Though the recent years have seen the kachauri shops dwindle at a fast pace, there are a few who have kept the tradition going. Gupta Ji, one of the older shopkeepers, though has moved onto to more lucrative business, likes to see the crowds still rush in between 7 and 10 in the morning. Call it his generous hobby or anything that you please, close to 100 people who visit this shop daily are not complaining.
Ramnagar, the satellite city of Benares has its own share of historic connections with food. Shivaji Lassi Shop, near the Ramnagar Palace is said to be the oldest in the region. A stoic and ever-busy Shivaji, does not have the time for trivial banter. Accustomed to the inquisitive first timers and at ease with the regulars, he diligently pours out lassi in mud cups and then adds a generous layer of his signature cream. Though the place is dotted with lassi shops, it’s worth your while to give this one a try.
With the city spinning with profusion of street food, take your pick from these or the inundating options of sweets and chaats. Gorge down not only the food, but the energetic atmosphere of this mystical city. While the ghats smoke and smoulder with the business of death, brush away the dark spiritual reality with something for the soul.
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