Enjoy the rich taste of Mysore Pak at these 7 places in Mumbai

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Okay, let's admit it, Mysore pak is not street food. This rich, melt-in-mouth dish that recently ranked 14th on a worldwide list of 50 best street-food sweets compiled by Croatian magazine Taste Atlas was created for the Maharaja of Mysore, Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV 90 years ago. Made first at the Amba Vilas Palace with generous amounts of ghee, sugar, gram flour, it was the result of head chef Kakasura Madappa's quest to make something unusual for the Maharaja. The Maharaja loved it so much that he asked Madappa to open a sweet shop outside the premises of the palace.

The recipe has been fine-tuned and altered through the years but the original sweet is still available at Guru Sweets in Devaraja Market run by Kumar and Shivanand, great-grandsons of Madappa. "Made with pure, local ghee and no preservatives, there is nothing like the original and you'd know the difference only when you taste it," says Mysore-born Chembur resident Sanjay P, who keeps carefully rationing it from the stock bought by visiting friends and family until it is replenished. Sunday mid-day asked around for recommendations from readers.

Texture play

Mysore Cafe's sweet outlet, Nayak Sweets, is located opposite Madras Cafe at King's Circle. They offer soft-and-wet, as well as hard-and-dry mysore pak, and are told that both are just as authentic as a Mysore pak from the original birthplace can get.
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Nayak sweets
Price: Rs 1,000 per kg
Available at: Dulabh Niwas, haudaji Road, Matunga East

Old is gold

Clearly, one piece is never enough to satiate cravings for this melt-in-mouth dessert, so many on their way out or while waiting in queues at Ramashray order Mysore pak. They have two variants: ghee and milk and both are equally delicious.
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Ramashray
PRICE: Rs 800 per kg onwards
AVAILABLE AT: Shreeji Sadan, opposite Matunga Station East

Pure joy

An unusual suspect in their long list of Parsi and Bengali sweets, the milk Mysore pak is grainy, gooey and oh-so-decadent. Made with their celebrated in-house ghee, the after taste explodes into a layer of sugar-loaded happiness on the palate.
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Parsi Dairy Farm
PRICE: Rs 590 per kg onwards
AVAILABLE AT: All outlets across Mumbai

Gujju twist

The mithaiwalas with a rich history dating back more than a century, Purshottam Kandoi Haribhai Damodar Mithaiwala offers this mouthwatering dish as mesub. It comes in both hard and soft variants, and they are equally popular.
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Purshottam Kandoi Haribhai Damodar Mithaiwala
Price: Rs 1,000 per kg
Available at: Malabar Hill, Vashi, Borivali, Matunga and Ghatkopar

Chain reaction

Most people we asked referred us back to this multi-chain outlet and swore by its taste and texture. As its packaging says, melts your heart; we'd agree, it does.
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Sri Krishna Sweets
PRICE: Rs 82 for 100 gms
AVAILABLE: Chembur, Vashi, Mulund and Matunga

Fusion treat

They offer two innovative versions of the Mysore pak, including the kaapi pak that brings together love for the traditional sweet and a strong cup of joe! It is topped with a dash of sea salt and white and black sesame seeds. The badam pak is flavoured with badam milk and topped with a shimmery gold almond flake.
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Bombay Sweet Shop
Price: Rs 650 for a box of 9 pieces
AVAILABLE AT www.bombaysweetshop.com

A taste of home (town)

While the queue outside is for meals served on a plantain leaf, on days that Mysore pak is served as dessert, we've seen people pack some to go too. Their ghee, we are told, is sourced all the way from Coimbatore.
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Mani's Lunch Home
PRICE: Rs 640 per kg
AVAILABLE AT: Komal Building, 86, ground floor, 2nd Road, Chembur