Chef Vikas Khanna on Benarasi food

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Michelin star-awardee Chef Vikas Khanna has turned filmmaker with his debut movie, The Last Color. The film is set in Varanasi, formerly Benares, one of the oldest cities in the world. A regular visitor to the city, he shares his best food experiences in Benares whilst shooting for the film.

Breakfast in Benares

Benares is famous for its kachori with raseela alu and jalebi breakfasts. Kachori joints can be found on many street stalls across the city. My favourite is the Chachi ki Kachori stall located near the Benares Hindu University. It dishes out spicy kachori with potato sides and piping hot sweet jalebis.

No place for hunger

In all my visits to this holy city I have found that food is available all over in Varanasi. It’s where the temple of Annapoorna, the mother goddess of food, is located. One of the sacred foods special to the temple is the vrat ke kuttu that is made and distributed on festive occasions. I’ve tried my best to recreate it in my kitchen at Manhattan. It is a delicious combination of flour, yoghurt, khoya or milk solids and buckwheat flour called kuttu ka atta in Hindi. These are deep fried in desi ghee as pancakes and sweetened in sugar syrup flavoured with saffron and cardamom. It tastes heavenly.

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Tandoori chai

Tandoori chai or boiling hot milky tea poured from a tandoori oven has many takers in Varanasi. There are many varieties of tea one can find in the stalls in the city. During the months of making the film in the city I survived on a lemon tea spiced with a hajmola goli or herbal digestive pill, dissolved in hot lemon water that makes for a delicious drink.

Apple pies & Chinese bhel

This ancient city will surprise you with the kinds of food it can offer. You will also find street food that is a fusion of Chinese and local chaat items. The Benarasi Chinese food is quite popular and I recall that the Chinese bhel puri snack packed heat and flavours. A restaurant overlooking the Ganges on Assi Ghat serves amazing apple pies. I remember taking my child actors in The Lost Color for treats of warm apple pies after a day of filming.

Dessert dates

Benares has a mighty sweet tooth. The bade wale laddu and the malai makhan that is a cloudy sweet dish made of cream are sweets that you can’t miss.

Chef Vikas Khanna is the award winning author of cookbooks like Amritsari Cuisine. Find him on Instagram

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