Every year Varanasi plays host to thousands of tourists hoping to discover their spiritual side. That has been the temple town's calling card and commerce. But foodies know that Varanasi's crowded streets and bylanes are also avenues of gastronomic delights. Many famous hawkers appear with their pushcarts in the evening. Some don't even have a signboard. Hygiene isn't their forte. But their offerings -- golgappas, rasedar pakoras, lassi - are addictive and available at a price that would buy you only a snigger in a city like Delhi.Quality street food, to anybody who pursues it like an obsessive lover, isn't just about feeling good. The best snacks take you into an unchartered zone where the taste buds groan with delight. It's like discovering an unknown erogenous zone. In their own way, the street-side hawkers of Varanasi are everyday artists in the business of producing and peddling pleasure.You might get that kind of feeling wolfing down Lalman's golgappas, or paani puris, sold from a handcart in a bylane near Lahurabir Chowk. What makes them irresistible isn't the tangy tamarind water but the filling, a slushy mix of chickpea, boiled potato and spices. He also serves a sweet version of the snack that feels almost like a dessert. Like most golgappa sellers in the city, the stuff he serves is customized to the amount of spicy heat your tastebuds can handle. Varanasi is a city of paan eaters. A long-lasting love affair with the paan makes a tongue hypersensitive to spice. This is primarily due to the use of chuna (lime), an essential ingredient for paan; hence the adjustment.Like Lalman, there are several other artistes of the palate strewn across the city, which is now Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's Lok Sabha constituency. One of the go-to places for breakfast is the late Chhanni Devi's, who sold puri-sabji and jalebis from a rundown shop in Lanka area, near BHU. Popularly known as "Chachi", she showered abuse on customers asking her to hurry up; the customers, in turn, were addicted to her rantings.Among the famous who graced the place was superstar Rajesh Khanna. The sabji served with the puri is made of pumpkin, potatoes and black gram. There is a rhythm with which her son Kailash Yadav flattens and shapes the dough before it is deep-fried, twice. The shop opens at 3.30 am. "We start serving jalebis by 5 am and puri-sabji by 6. By 11.30 am, we are through," he says. A plate of four puris and sabji costs Rs 24.Adjacent are three shops selling lassi, all run by sons of Panna Sardar who ran the legendary original Pehalwan lassi. This is the third generation in the business. Lassis, with a dash of malai and saffron on top, are sold in clay cups. Some are so thick you almost need to chew.A kulhar (clay cup) of lassi is about beauty in minimalism. No frills; just the best of natural ingredients: curd made of buffalo milk, sugar and a hint of rosewater or saffron. It's part of the city's living heritage, created and consumed every day, sustained by a commitment to tradition. Places like these created a popular expression called 'Lanketing', going specifically to Lanka for snacks.Then there's Pappu's, the legendary tea stall in Assi mohalla that serves milk and lemon tea. The political gyan is free. The lemon tea here is flavoured with Hajmola, giving it a distinct whiff of heeng (asafoetida).There's much more. Near Lahurabir Chowk stands Jwala Prasad 's push cart selling rasedar pakora made of gram flour (besan), spinach and spices. The three are kneaded into a ball, deep fried and dipped in a fiery curry. Then it's served with a sprinkling of sohal, a salty savoury. The pakoras have two variations: sada and rangeen. The rangeen version is stuffed with bhang, a popular intoxicant generally laced with sweets.At Chetganj, Umashankar Sahu's family has been selling kachoris for three generations. As a peddler, Sahu has the smallest of stands where he keeps the kachoris, a little larger than a Rs 10 coin, garnished with shredded radish and carrot, and served with tamarind chutney.Varanasi is also famous for its sweets to which the city's Bengalis have also made a singular contribution. Shops with signs of desi and Bengali mithai can be seen. Some shops located around Pucca Mohal area along the ghats, sell their stuff only between 7 pm to 2 am. On offer are sweets suggestively named: Palangtod (Bed-breaker) and Malaipuri.One has deliberately avoided referring to the iconic Kashi and Deena Chat Bhandars at Godowlia Chowk which are more established joints. Crowds, including tourists, throng to Deena for a taste of their tamatar chaat, a rather unique snack which uses tomatoes ingeniously and which is eaten out of kullars. In the winter, chura matar, dripping with desi ghee, is the rage.Sometimes one wonders why food doesn't figure in the narrative of the holy city. Is it because it is primarily a business of yadavs and baniyas, who don't figure high in the city's intellectual story? There is no simple answer.What one does know is that there is a self-confidence to Varanasi; the way it looks at life, culture, and itself. The eternal city seems to stand a little above everything it surveys. There is a rhythm to its existence that's yet unspoiled by the ravages of time. And food is an inseparable part of it.

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