Mahim’s most wanted

In the 1780s, a man called Joshi Jethabhai travelled to Bombay — then, a group of seven islands — on foot, all the way from Jamkhambhalia, a small town in Gujarat, with his son Mavji and grandson Girdhar. They settled in the island of Mahim, under Portuguese rule, and sold boondi laddoo, thor and namkeen from door to door. Eventually, Girdharbhai, who was keen to whip up new products, invented a paper-thin halwa. 

Crafted out of wheat extract, sugar, ghee and dry fruits, it struck a chord for its thinness and texture, and came to be known as Mahim Halwa (Rs 600/kg) around 1830. In 1921, the shop Joshi Budhakaka Mahim Halvawala was set up in Mahim by the family — budhakaka, a hat-tip to Mavjibhai’s affectionate nickname, shares Hasmukh Joshi, one of the managing partners. “With a shelf life of a month, it is still one of the most popular halwas in the city. It takes 24 hours to make it, and contains no preservatives,” explains Joshi. Known for nearly 18 varieties of halwa today,   they also offer new-age flavours (Rs 1,000/kg) including cranberry, blackcurrant, rose and mango halwas that are popular with millennials as well as loyalists, he adds.
At: Joshi Budhakaka Mahim Halvawala, Mahim, Dadar and Tardeo.
Call: 7208774245