July 10, 2020
Live It Up
Street food is literally the heart of every city, town and village! The essence of real cultural food can only be experienced when engaged in a street food excursion. Distinct recipes, aromatic dishes and colourful food preparations that take over the streets is always a delight to watch and is delectable to savour. India's holy city, Varanasi is also quite blessed with some of the best places to eat.
Varanasi's street food represents the city's culture and lifestyle. They hold a special spot for cooking lentils and are quite enthused to add a beautiful melange of flavours with condiments such as cardamoms, clove, saffron, black pepper and more. You will be amazed by some of the culinary masterpieces put together with the use of simple ingredients. Much of Varanasi's street food is actually inspired from neighbouring states of Bihar and West Bengal.
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A consolidated list of best places to eat in Varanasi has been curated just to make life easier for you when you're journeying through the holy city. This guide will help you pick the right spots to enjoy the best of street food that Varanasi has to offer!
What is it - Kachori Sabzi is one of the highlights of Varanasi street food. The popular breakfast dish can be found in two favoured styles, Badi and Choti Kachori. While one of them has a spicy melange of flavours made of lentils, popularly known as Dal Ki Pithi, the other one has spicy mashed potato as its base. Both the Kachori styles are heavily aromatic and flavourful.
Where you can find it - Kachori Galli, Chachi Ki Dukaan in Lanka and Ram Bhandar
What is it - Channa Dahi Vada is a lovely rendition of the popular Dahi Bhallas of Delhi! Similar to a regular dahi bhalla, what sets the Channa Dahi Vada apart is the use of lentils. The Vadas are strategically placed on a bowl with bountiful dahi and sprinkled some masala prepared from cumin and black salt. Add a cup of steaming kullad chai to this and you've got quite an apt setting for a Varanasi breakfast.
Where you can find it - Deena Chaat Bandar
What is it - A very basic dish that you will find in several metropolitan cities too but has its base set in Varanasi. The snack is prepared from soaked and boiled channa. The channa is perfectly blended with chopped tomatoes, onions while a mixture of masalas and peanuts are sprinkled to give it a delectable taste. This dish is best paired with a cup of tea.
Where you can find it - Deena Chat Bandar
What is it - Choora Matar is the Bihari version of Maharashtra's famous Poha. The dish is made of ghee soaked flattened rice which is cooked with spices, green peas and dry fruits. In order to bring out more texture and aroma to the dish, they often use cream or milk and it definitely does the trick. You will be amazed by how phenomenal this simple delicacy can taste once it melts in your mouth.
Where you can find it - Deena Chaat Bandar and Gopal Mandir Galli
What is it - A launglata is a famous delicacy found in Varanasi that is usually prepared during the festival of colours, Holi. However, thanks to its immense popularity and the fact that it is quite the sumptuous dessert, it can be found all year round. The dish is basically a crispy pastry dough filled with a mixture of milk solids, nuts and sugar. The dessert is fried and soaked in some heavenly sugar syrup before being served. It definitely is prepared to give you a sugar rush.
Where you can find it - Kachori Galli Chowk
What is it - As you walk the streets of Varanasi, you will be met with a plethora of stalls that sell Baati Chokha. The preparation alone will draw you towards the stall and once you down a piece of the popular dish, you will find difficulty in stopping yourself from having more. The snack is definitely delicious as it holds in some lovely flavours as well as well-cooked and spiced vegetables such as potatoes, brinjal and tomatoes. Not to mention the generous oodles of desi ghee that will intoxicate you.
Where you can find it - Puran Das Road
What is it - With an addition of dahi as an ingredient to the famous recipe of Gol Gappas, the Dahi Chutney Gol Gappas is like a blast of spicy flavours when consumed! The beautiful potato mixture with tangy chutneys topped with some curd, mint chutney and sev form quite a delicious snack. You will be devouring more than one plate, that is certain!
Where you can find it - Deena Chaat Bandar aand Gol Ganj
What is it - Varanasi's Lassis are quite diverse when compared with Punjab's famous Lassi style. The Benarasi lassis have rich contents of rabri and malai topped with a plethora of options ranging from pomegranates to pistachios. They are served in earthen pots and have divine flavours and textures.
Where you can find it - Blue Lassi shop in Kachori Galli chowk
What is it - Tamatar chaat is actually a spicy version of a basic Aloo chaat. This Benarasi speciality will test your threshold for spicy food as it will make you weep with its textures, flavours and taste! You will literally be downing pounded ginger, garam masala and red chilli powder, sprinkled generously over mashed potatoes, tomatoes, green chillies, onions and coriander leaves!
Where you can find it - Deena Chaat Bandar
What is it - Popularly referred to as Makhan Malaiyyo or Nimish, the dish is a dessert that takes over the streets of Varanasi, every winter. Malaiyyo is extracted by churning milk to create creamy textures of milk foam, which are later poured in an earthen pot while flavours of saffron and cardamoms are added with pistachios and almonds as toppings. The light and fluffy dessert is beautiful to look at and equally savoury to the senses. You will only get to experience the magical taste of Malaiyyo in Varanasi's streets.
Where you can find it - Kachori Galli, Neelkanth and Godowlia Chowk
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