--- Pleasures of the Plate ---

          Every morning, after a dip in the lianga and darshan at Vishwanath Temple, the hungry pilgrim heads for the nearby Kachauri Ciali. As you stroll down this lane, a whiff of the tempting bouquet of spices and the his of trying puris are sure to make you feel terribly hungry. The food shops line the narrow lane, and the cooks sit beside huge pans of smoking oil, balanced on earthen ovens. The paris. kacliaurts and pakocoras are fried and served hot with spicy vegetables and pickles. Dessert could be jalebis or a glass of cool lassi made of fresh curd. When a  city names its lanes after food, you  know that it treats eating as a serious business however, Varanasi cannot really claim to have a cuisine of its own. What it has done is blend the cuisine of the region and that of the communities settled in the city to create a superlative menu of vegetarian fare. What Varanasi can truly call its own are the milk and curd-based drinks, the famous lassi and thandai, and, of course, he banarasi pan.varansi has stirng of special dishes connectied to various rituals ,and festivals.  the ritual offerings to the gods, tienaiivdyam, include milk-based sweets.ghee, honey, grain, fruit and vegetables. You can see them being carried into the temples on huge trays. The most elaborate meal to be offered to the gods is the legendary chhappan bhog, with fiffty six sweet and savoury dishes offered to Lord Krishna on Janamashtami. On Makara Sankranti, women add sesame seeds to sweets.

          On Deepavali, the sweet shops sell candy animals, and  a variety of laddua are ubiquitous on Ganesh Chaturthi. The biggest pile of sweets can be seen during the Annakut festival at the Annapurna Temple. Every gali in the city has its own halwai or food shop that prepares tempting spread of alcoholic drinks. The most pupular sanck i9s kachauri- tried pastry  puffs stuffed with spicy lentils served with also bhaji, a spicy potato curry or ghughani, chick peas  in a tangy gravy. them there are puris fried and puffed wheat bread and crunchy pakoras, chaunks of seasonal vegetables dipped in gram-flour batter and deep fried. And, of course, there are the samosas, flour triangles stuffed with cooked potatoes and peas. Besan of gram flour is used to create an inspired selction of crunchies like papad chura, bhujia and dalmoth And then there is the supreme snack of north India - chaat,  a variety of flour and  lentil puffs and fruits with a topping of very hot spices, and a sweet-and-sour chuteney. In traditional homes, during  meals, people sit on the floor or on low wooden stools and the food is served on a shiny brass plate, the thali, surrounded by small bowls, katoris. A variety of lentils, fries, vegetables and curd dishes are eaten with wheat rotis, paranthas and puris. The whole accompanied by a range of vegetable and fruit preserves - the  tangy achar and the syrupy morabbas. Well-off homes often have a Brahmin cook called the maharaj who is the real monarch of the kitchen. In strict vegetarian homes, the food is satvik. that is it is cooked without onions or garlic and, traditionally, the cooking medium is ghee- golden sopoonfuls of clarified butter. the god and goddess. Varanasi olviously adove sweet because kilos of barfi. peda and laddu are offered to them every day. One look at the shelves of sweet shops shows thr inspired range of the cooks of the city.

          The Bengalis have given some of the best cottage cheese sweets like the creamy round rosogollas chamcham and sandesh. Thick, sweetened milk called rabri is served in earthen bowls and  is the favoured dessert after a round of spicy hot. street-side snacks also worth a taste are the peda, malpua khaja balushahi mohan blog, spirals of jalebi and creamy malai gujiya. Sweets in a melange of tastes crunchy, creamy or dripping with sugar syrup. Khoa Call is where the sweet-makers of the city come to buy khoa,cheese-like rounds of condensed milk that is used to make the barfi and pedas. Here cooks labour over huge pans of thickening milk to make khoa, rabri, paneer (cotage cheese) and serve curds in chilled earthen bowls Varanasi also offers a delectable choice ot non alcoholic drinks. The colourful sherbets are made with fruit and aromatics like rose petals and khus. Panna is a delicious seasonal drink made with raw mangoes. The lassi is a fragrant mix of milk and curd, churned smooth and frothy, topped with spices, dry fruits and served in clay cups. The thandai is rich with saffron and dry fruits. During celebrations and the festival of Holi, the thandai is spiked with intoxicating bhang or opium. After all, this  is Shiva's city and bhang is his favourite intoxicant. In summer there is also the incomparable langra mangoes -eaten  chilled, added to drinks  and as a dessert in thickened  milk. The green-skinned fruit has an orange-gold pulp with an irresistible flavour. Connoisseurs rate the Banarasi langra as among the best mangoes in India

               ETHNIC DELICACIES OF VARANASI :
Varanasi is considered to be the cuisine capital of India because  of the exotic fare of mouth-watering delicacies it offers. The traditional Senaras/'food is satvik — vegetarian — with the emphasis always on flavours, and very rarely on fancy presentation. What the  city can truly  call  its own are milk and curd-based drinks: the thandai, Lassi and Benarsi paan. The city has a blend of the cuisine of the region with  a superlative  menu of vegetarian fare. There is a string of special dishes connected to various rituals and festivals. In routine, there is the typical menu of breakfast and snacks. Kachaurl jalebi is the perfect morning meal, and evenings and the afternoon are spiced up by samosa and launglata. Hot milk, malai and rabri shops mushroom on roads and streets in the evenings.

                      Morning Mazaa
Subah-e-Benaras in cludes  a  morning dip in the Ganges and  a darshan  in the  mandlr,  and is generally  followed by the in- take of the truly Benarsi   naashta—  Kachaurl- Jalebl,    Every quintessential Benarsi  relishes   the   hot kachaurls    (stuffed purls) and spicy tarkari (vegetable curry). The sight of kachauris simmering golden in the kadhais and jalebis swimming in a vessel of shira is syn- onymous with the sights and sounds of Varanasi. Though the entire city boasts of corner side shops preparing this staple  Benarsi breakfast, a  few names  like Vishwanath Bhandaar at Vishweshwar- ganj, and Shivnath  Halwai in Chetganj stand tall among this list.

                                  Doodh hi Doodh:
Milk is still a passion in the abode of Shiva and the popularity of lactal delicacies remain unchallenged in the city. The summer season offers frothing Lassi as the ul- timate cooler to soothe the senses. There are many Lassi shops  in the city,  the leaders  of the pack be- ing Chunna Sardar of  Chetganj,  Dwarikapuri at Chowk,  Punna Sardar at Thatheri Bazaar, Pahalvan at Lanka and the Lassi  stall at Ramnagar. Another desi drink of the city is the thandai.  The real Benar- si thandhai is spiced with kesar, malai, curd and al- monds,  all mixed with shira.  Thandhai has been the prime cold drink of the  Bahari Alang, which is pic- nicking Varanasi style, along with another culinary delight called the bati chokha. It is still commonly found in Gujarati families of the city, and is a must at all their  functions, be it a birthday or  a marriage.  The   bitter heat     of  summers is   staved by a refresh- ing saunf and nimboo  thandhai, sometimes spiked with bhang.  In   the monsoons, mango and of jamun are in demand. Thandhai is also an inseparable part of the nightlife of the city, as visitors generally walk in to savour these delights after sundown.The main thandhai shops of the city are located at Godulai crossing and Bansphatak. Milmade delicacies in winters take the shape  of malai and ruton that are made by thickening milk.  The shops selling Lassi and curd in summer, switch  to rabri and malai in winter.  But one of the most unique preparations of milk in  the winters is the mallaiyo. Yellow in colour, it is pre-  pared by first thickening milk over fire and then leav-  ing it to be foamed in contact with dew during the  night. In the  morning the same foam is taken in a  kadhai and then sold as mallaiyo.

                  Samosas, Kachauris and Sohals:
The ideal evenings in  Varanasi are accompanied by the munching of crispy samosas, chatpata chaat and sohals and sweet  lavanglatas. In winters lavanglatas and imartis are complemented with hot  milk.  Though samosas and sohal are  available every-  where at sweet shops in the city, some shops like  Jalyog and Madhur Milan, at Godaulia and Sigra re-  spectively, are famous in this quarter.  Chaat stalls  too abound in the city serving some spicy tikkis and  tangy golgappas. Shops like the Deena Chat Bhan-  daar and Kashi Chat Bhandar are the leaders of the  pack.

                                    Sweets
          There is hardly any by-lane in Varanasi that does not  boast of a popular sweet shop. Made of khoa and chhena, Benarsi mithais like malai malpuas, gu-jhias,   lalpedas,  kalakand,   khirmohan,  and khirkadan, besides hundreds of other sweets, tickle your taste buds long after you've had them. The area spanning Thatheri Bazaar, Nandan Sahu Lane and Chaukhambha, to the areas of Pukka Mahal and Bramhanal, is the best place to have these delicacies. Ram Bhandaar,  is  perhaps the most renowned sweet shop of the city that has catered to locals as well as tourists for about a century. A unique blend of premium sweets made of khoa, mewa and pista, makes up the menu of the shop that is located in Chaukhambha and has  also another branch at Rathyatra. Most popular among the sweetmeats available here are butter burfi, karanshahi burfi and mango burfi. Besides, radhaphya, malai sandwich, malai gilauri, Daas Ka laddu, and coconut, almond and pista chooda are also popular.

            The shop introduced special sweets on the eve of Independence and continues the tradition. These include rashtriya or tri-coloured burfi, Jawahar laddu, Ballabh sands and Gandhi aura. Rajbandhu is yet another famous sweet shop of the city. Located in Kachauri Gali, it boasts of sweet delicacies like rasmadhuri, rasmallai and malai gilauri, besides munchy Allahabad! samosas. Lavanglatas and imarti of Gopi  Sweets at Piplani Katra and Pahalwan's shop at Lanka are famous. Raswanti is based in the Nandan Sahu Lane and boasts of unique delicacies like  angoor burfi, santara  burfi,  bel ka rot, raswanti special,   malai paan,   badam bhog, petha ka roll  and  milk peda. Shiv Bhandar at Neelkanth is a 75-year-old shop that  boasts of having   served PM Atal Behari Vajpayee    and many    other celebrities.  The shop is famous for its miniature pedas and  khirmohans.  The yellow peda, nick- named chandrakala is yet another stellar offering of this shop, whose khoa sweets are the most popular. Kuber Bhandaar, is perhaps the lone sweet shop in India that exclusively sells sweet-meats for those on vrat (religious fasts). Rasra/and rasmadhuri, are just two of the specialties of this 50-year-old shop. Madhur Jalpan, another old  sweet shop located A near tne Bansphatak, specialises in maal Pua and JaletJas (tne big brother gal Sweet House, Basant Bahar, Brindavan, Vaishali  Sweets,  Vishwanath  Bhandaar   and Kamdhenu Sweets.

                             South Indian Cuisine:
The heady aroma of South Indian food wafts from almost all restaurants including the starred hotels. But only a few genuine South-Indian restaurants, like Aiyar's Cafe  and Kerala Cafe, exist in the city. Annapurna   at  Ramkatora  and  Naivedyam  at Mehmoorganj SPrunS UP in Mysore  Masala,  Malabar Masala, Coorgi Masala, besides uttappam, upma and a special South Indian meal. Its welcome drink, Butter Milk, adds an- other distinct facet to  its menu. Like Annapurna, Naivedyam too is full of the delectable fragrance of Malyali cuisine. The larger than life Family Dosa, Cheese and  Dhania Dosas are just some of the va rieties on offer here. Special idlis, like the Kanjivuram Idli, Stuffed  Idli, Chilly Idli and Idli Burger add to its distinctive flavour.

                        Multi-Cuisine Restaurants:
 

Many  restaurants in the city are multi-cuisine ones,  offering an  assortment of Indian, Continental and Chinese food. The popular ones in this category are Poonam at Pradeep Hotel (Jagatganj), Shahi and Rahil at Rathyatra, Chahat at Sigra and Aman (Veg  and  Non-veg)  at  New Colony.

                             Chinese and Thai Food:
Like elsewhere in the country, there is a growing demand for oriental cuisine, especially Chinese and Thai. In this category is the Golden Dragon restau rant at Hotel  India  (Nadesar)  which serves the choicest Chinese and Thai food.

                                  Rolls and Biryani:
Kolkata might well have started the craze for non-veg rolls  in the country, but the same chicken, egg,  mutton, egg-chicken and egg-mutton rolls are now being prepared by Bengali  cooks at fast-food joints  in the city.  Try out Roll Corner at Teliabag and Ma- haraja at Jagatganj. Biryani too has  travelled from the hotspots of Hyderabad  and Lucknow to Benia at Varanasi, where Royal Restaurant, Lazeez and Shal- imar are  the places to enjoy this Mughlai delight.

                             Roof-Top Restaurants:
The city has two rooftop restaurants at Hotel Vaibhav (Nadesar) and Hotel Pradeep (Jagatganj). Eden, at Pradeep Hotel has become a very popular joint, especially during the summer evenings and sunny winter days.

                                  Terrific Dhabas:
Situated  on the  highways connecting the city with Allahabad  and  Jaunpur, these new age dhabas serve  as  perfect culi nary haunts  and brief stopovers  on  a week- end  retreat. A drive to  Sanjha-Chulha,    Sahara and   Savera   on   the Varanasi-Jaunpur route,  and Khana- Khazana     and Thikana on other routes are worth the trouble, especially  as  a family  outing