Banarasi Khana, or local delicacies, are known for their flavors. Many dishes here are flavored with asafoetida, ginger, bay leaves, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, and/or dried fenugreek leaves.
Eat:
- Varanasi is also known for its street food and chaat vendors. Aloo chaat is very common.
- .Varanasi Paan is famous all over India and the world. Paan is an assortment of flavors wrapped in a betel leaf. There are two versions: One that includes tobacco, and one that includes only sweet flavors. The exact ingredients depend on how much you offer, which can be as little as ₹10 or as much as ₹300. To eat the sweet version, shove the entire leaf in your mouth at once and chew until you swallow!
- Rabri Malai Balai is a popular dessert in Varanasi that includes milk, sugar, almonds, and pistachio nuts. You can find it served in hole-in-the-wall or sweet shops.
Drink:
- Bhang is a potent, powdered form of marijuana often mixed into “special” lassis, simply called bhang lassi. The drink is especially popular on holidays as Varanasi is a major center of Shiva worship as it is offered to the lord in form of Prashad. It can be quite intoxicating.
- Thandai is cool milk based drink made with pistachios, almonds and kesar and topped off with a large dollop of malai (cream). Bhang is often added to thicken the concoction, though it can be made without. Many Tandai stores are located near the main Godowlia, and most also serve lassi.
- Lassi is a blend of yogurt, water, spices and sometimes, fruit. The best place to try lassi in Varanasi is Blue Lassi Shop. There you will find more than 50 types of this drink: with fruit or different toppings. It is a really interesting unordinary place. Quite difficult to find, so better to ask locals to show you the way. Although it’s almost always crowded with tourists, it’s highly recommended to visit. P.S. take your passport size pic, you can stick it on the wall among thousand other pics.
