IF you're travelling in the plains of Uttarakhand, you'll certainly come across some parts of the Ganges. My enduring memory of the river was from a 2019 visit to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. We took a boat ride during the unmissable Ganga Aarti evening hour when Gods are invoked against a backdrop of burning pyres on the banks. The significance of the Ganges is akin to that of the Hindu holy trinity of Brahma Vishnu Mahesh – it creates, preserves, and destroys.
Death loomed large over my previous encounter with the Ganges until I visited Rishikesh this year. The river enters the town a few kilometres after originating at Devprayag and gains momentum in its formative phase. Rishikesh is also where the Ganges thrives and gives life, in contrast to the rather sombre form it takes on in Varanasi. Staying at Aloha on the Ganges in Rishikesh allowed us to enjoy a new, stunning vantage point on the river, and at the same time, enabled us to embark on a culinary tour through all the places it meanders through.
Its primary restaurant, The Patio, is situated at an interesting juncture – where the Ganges takes a steep turn, entering from between two mountains and then proceeding to the settlement area. You can feel its force, hear its gurgling sound, and take in the misty scent while ordering the regional specialities of all the famous towns that fall on its course. It makes all the more sense because the Ganges is the life force which birthed these towns and their vegetation in the first place, centuries ago.
So we start with Rishikesh itself – where the Ganges descents from the hills to the plains. There's Paudi Ki Pakodi Ka Dagra – a badi (small fritters) platter made of spinach, chickpea, onion, lentils, and green gram. It's served with a trio of homespun chutneys – green (mint-coriander), sweet (tamarind), and orange (garlic). There's also the pita pocket pizza with tandoori mushrooms, pickled vegetables, spinach and cheese in the filling. If you want to try continental fusion, they have something called the “Rama Jhula Special” pasta, made in pesto and coriander sauce, and named after the neighbouring rickety bridge that bridges the spinal stretch of the Ganges in Rishikesh.
Another Rishikesh fixture that makes it to The Patio menu is The Beatles. The iconic English rock band stayed in the town in 1968, a stint credited with giving a spiritual impetus to their music. Naturally, a dish is dedicated to the band – Beatles' Beets – sliced beetroots, tomatoes, and onion in vegan cashew dressing topped with tossed nuts. It is as wholesome and uplifting as their music. The Pahadi influence also weighs heavy on the menu, in the form of a full three-course meal – Pahadi Lemon Coriander Soup, Himalayan Choolhe Se (a plate full of seasonal Pahadi dal, aaloo ke gutke (potato chunks cooked in local spices), chutney made of bhang leaves, Kumaoni raita, and ragi chapatis), and Himalayan Jangoore Ki Kheer (local barnyard millet cooked in sweet milk, and topped with saffron and tossed nuts).
I urge you to not take too long a pitstop right at the start, as the next destination on the culinary map is Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. And what better way to represent the city than the Atram Shatram Chaat? This chaat platter consists of Kanpur favourites like papdi chaat, dahi bhalla, and dahi puri. Allahabad aka Prayagraj isn't far away or less delectable either. Allahabadi Chutney Cheese Pataka offers gooey cheese bombs dipped in spicy coriander chutney and served with pomegranate chutney. There's also Urad Papdi and Aaloo Ki Sabzi which they claim competes with the popular Netram Moolchand & Sons shop in the city. A kachori made of black gram is sure to make your mouth water, especially when served with local potato gravy, fried green chillies, and sweet tomato chutney.
The next stop is Varanasi – with its fresh and crunchy Palak Patta Papdi Chaat (crisp fried spinach leaves in homespun yoghurt, chutneys made with tamarind and an assortment of spices, and topped with fine sev), and hot and soft Banarasi Mirchi Ka Achari Paneer Tikka (grilled cottage cheese chunks laced in a spicy solution). A town by the Ganges that doesn't get enough credit for its food is Patna. Lallantop Litti Chokha from the Bihari capital is also on the menu. And what is the best part? The sattu balls (litti) served with the roasted tomato-potato-brinjal mix (chokha) are bite-sized, thus not killing you with the lethargy that comes with sattu aka roasted gram flour.
Then we enter a new territory with Kolkata, West Bengal. Signature cottage cheese and vegetable kathi rolls, the famous sweet-and-spicy phuchkas, the sumptuous Bangla Dhokar Dalna (green pea and chickpea fritters in mustard gravy) served with a Mughlai parantha, plastic chutney (a semi-transparent sweet and sour chutney made with raw papaya), and begun bhaja (brinjal fritters), and finally, the melt-in-mouth pineapple sandesh. While the Ganges (known as the Hooghly in Kolkata) then exits the country, The Patio also takes into account a couple of delicacies from Myanmar, where the Ganges is known as the Mekong River. A flavourful Burmese Guava Salad, shiitake dumplings, Buddha bowl, and Khao Suey remind us how like the boundary-bridging Ganges, our palates are also truly international.
Thanks to the Godavari, known as Dakshin Ganga, we also get a bite into South Indian delicacies like the Hyderabad Biryani, Mushroom ghee pepper fry, Malabar paratha, sabudana papad, pineapple pachadi, crispy Gobi 65, and cumin masala buttermilk. I'd recommend taking the Chilli Watermelon Sunshine and Orange Tarangini mocktails on the go for this culinary journey along the Ganges. And in case you actually want to get your hands dirty, request the staff at Aloha on the Ganges to arrange a riverside picnic for you. Watching the river's perpetual motion from close proximity would undoubtedly give you an ironic sense of poise.