The Banarasi Paan and Thandai

Paan is basically our very own Indian mouth freshner made with beetle leaf, areca nuts and some other sweet spices. People prefer having it after meal to remove bad odour from mouth and sometimes tobacco is also added as an ingredient to consume it as a stimulant. The preparation of Paan totally depends upon the type of ingredients added into it.

Banarasi Paan in in the making.

But when it comes to the very famous Banarasi Paan which has proven its fame from the old Bollywood songs to the menu of top notch Indian weddings, we do not really need any introduction to define it.
And as I was in Varanasi last week for 3 days I tried many different varieties of Paans and had my mouth stuffed with the tasty Paan almost everytime I went out.

Preparation Of Banarasi Paan

Beetle Leaves kept in front of the shop.

My first experience of Banarasi paan was at Deepak Tambul Bhandar which is just after a few shops on the right side of Vishwanath Gali. This is a century old shop and it really served the tastiest Paan. And they also have a very particular style of serving it, they served with right hand, with left hand touching the elbow of right one which is the famous Nawabi style. 

Quite interesting

THE MAKING OF BANARASI THANDAI.

And yes of course Thandai is another must have drink from Varanasi. Thandai is a milk based drink mixed with crushed almonds and other dry fruits and finally served with a large scoop of malai over the top. 

Syrup of almonds and dried fruits

A little amount of Bhaang being mixed

This drink can also be consumed with bhaang (a paste prepared from the leaf of cannabis plant). 

If you really want to enjoy the drink, have it with a little amount of bhaang.

You will find many thandai shops around the main Godowlia chowk. I had my thandai at a shop named Badal Thandai which is run by Manoj Mishra whom you can see in the picture below serving freshly prepared thandai.

Thandai ready to be served.

This is the 3rd part of my travel story from Varanasi a lot more coming soon.