On 5 September 2025, India celebrated Onam and Eid-e-Milad on the same day, a rare alignment of the celestial calendar. Eid-e-Milad, marking the birth of Prophet Muhammad, is celebrated across Mumbai with colorful processions, prayers, songs, and sweets. With Ganesh Visarjan on 6 September, Mumbai rescheduled the Eid procession to 8 September, a reminder of how secularism quietly thrives in a diverse country.
To mark Eid, Team Indulge Express explored Bohri Mohalla, home to Mumbai’s Dawoodi Bohra community. With roots in Yemeni traders, they are known for literacy, discipline, and loyalty to the Syedna. Bhendi Bazaar, or Bohri Mohalla, is a vibrant hub of mosques, shops, and famous food stalls serving kebabs, malpua, and nalli nihari. Landmarks like Saifee Masjid and Raudat Tahera anchor its spiritual life.
The Food Walk: Iconic Eats
We started the food walk from Two Tanki, a historic Bhendi Bazaar neighborhood known for its cultural heritage and bustling street life. The area is named after two 19th-century water tanks built to serve the community, making it a landmark of both history and daily life in Mumbai.
The first stop was Nawab Seekh Corner, located at the Two Tanki crossing, a small yet prominent eatery serving seekh kebabs since 1957. The kebabs were soft, juicy, non-greasy, with a subtle aroma and flavor of coriander and ajwain that made even the mutton feel light!
Next was a sweet stop for freshly fried hot mawa jalebi, slightly crisp on the outside and soft inside. If you are Bengali, you must have had its cousin, chhanar jilapi!
We strolled around Bhendi Bazaar, crossing Chor Bazaar (we will tell its story another day—it deserves a main character treatment) and stopped by Imam Sharbatwala, a humble juice and sharbat stall known for its watermelon sharbat. They combine fresh watermelon pulp with cold milk and ice cubes, creating a refreshingly cool drink. Existing since 1925, this stall is a fabric of the Bohri Mohalla food walk—you cannot afford to miss it!
A few steps ahead, we indulged in the delicious malai khaja from Noor Sweets, a shop standing since 1922, with recipes passed down through generations. The malai khaja was addictive—you could easily polish off two to three khallas at one go. It wasn’t too sweet, but the aroma of pure milk and the crisp crunch of the khaja… uff, heaven tastes like that!
As we soaked in the festive lights around Saifee Masjid, we arrived at Surti Barah Handi. This place is known for slow-cooked meat from twelve parts of the animal, prepared overnight in twelve vessels with secret spices. We ordered the nalli nihari with khameri roti and the meat was tender enough to fall off the bone effortlessly.
Patrel Biryani: Redefining a Classic
No Eid food walk is complete without biryani. In Bohri Mohalla, the simple image of mutton pieces on rice doesn’t apply. Here, Patrel Biryani, a rice-less biryani made with steamed patra leaves and spiced meat, is the community’s signature dish and truly redefines the concept of biryani. Patrel Biryani was invented to adapt the traditional biryani to communal cooking and festive occasions, allowing rich flavours and tender meat to develop without using rice, while keeping the dish portable, easy to serve, and aligned with Bohra culinary traditions. Even though we liked the delicacy, and yes it is adventurous to the taste buds, it does not have the comfort of a well-cooked mutton biryani.
We visited Tawakkal, a landmark sweet shop, before ending at Taj Ice Cream, established in 1887. Their hand-churned fruit ice creams, including litchi, not only delight the palate but also connect visitors to Mumbai’s rich history. From Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to Waheeda Rahman, or Madhubala - generations of icons have visited this place.
Legacy in a Changing City
In Bhendi Bazaar, a sweet shop or ice cream parlour is more than a business—it is a family institution and a keeper of memories. Customers come as much for nostalgia as for taste, and these shops quietly anchor the community amid a constantly changing city.
In contrast, today’s eateries often chase rapid growth and quick exits, valuing novelty over longevity. Century-old establishments like Taj Ice Cream or Tawakkal Sweets are cultural landmarks, linking past and present. They preserve oral history and offer continuity in a city where skylines, malls, and startups change overnight.
Whether future generations understand and value these spaces depends on us. Heritage storytelling, food walks, and documentation can keep them alive, while neglect risks turning them into museum pieces. These old shops represent trust, patience, and tradition—radical qualities in a world obsessed with speed and disruption. By telling their stories today, we ensure that their legacy endures, not just as memory, but as a living, breathing part of Mumbai’s cultural soul.
(Story by Arundhuti Banerjee)
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