Just Walking Around

Mawa Cakes and Mutton Puffs

The Brit’s gave us a habit of high tea with evening snacks.Further nutured by our very own gora’s the Parsis.It could be a light snack of Cheese Sandwiches or those light and succulent and fluffy Chicken or Mutton puffs.But sometimes they  also used to have a sweet muffin or a brownie.  A muffin is an individual-sized, baked product. It can refer to two distinct items, a part-raised flatbread and a cupcake-like quick bread. The flatbread is of British or European derivation, and dates from at least the early 18th century, while the quick bread originated in North America during the 19th century. Both are common worldwide today.

Quickbread muffins (known in Britain as American muffin or simply as "muffins") originated in the United States in the mid-19th century. The use of the term to describe what are essentially cup cakes or buns did not become common usage in Britain until the last decades of the 20th century on the back of the spread of coffee shops such as Starbucks. (There is lingering resistance in the UK to the term as being inapplicable to cakes.) They are similar to cupcakes in size and cooking methods, the main difference being that cupcakes tend to be sweet desserts using cake batter and which are often topped with sugar icing (American frosting). Muffins are available in both savoury varieties, such as corn meal and cheese muffins, or sweet varieties such as blueberry, chocolate chip, lemon or banana flavours. They are often eaten as a breakfast food, often accompanied by coffee or tea. Fresh baked muffins are sold by bakeries, donut shops and some fast food restaurants and coffeehouses.

In India especially in Mumbai where there is our very own version of this sweet piece of snack…the Mawa cake . Those perfectly round brown cup cakes sitting in big glass jars or glass top cake display units at the famous Irani Cafes like Jimmy Boy , Café Britannia , Café Modegar inSoBO district or local Irani café’s in old Mumbai areas of Dadar – Matunga like the famous Koolar’s at King Circle or Café Colony in Hindu Colony . Order a cup of chai and peel of the butter paper around these delicious savoury and gobble them up. And if you have sweet tooth you wont stop at one.

The mawa cake is maybe not the most aesthetic looking creation of the cake world, although SodaBottleOpenerWala does seem to have prettified it with icing and such. Everywhere else though, it's just a plain dense cake, made with mawa. Sometimes it is prepared as a slab, and thick slices are lopped off and served. And sometimes, it is served in dainty cupcake form with a little frill of a paper wrapper around it that requires careful unwrapping. The mawa in the cake makes it dense and rich, and adds a caramelised flavour. The richness is laced with a hint of cardamom and sometimes nutmeg. Traditionally, it comes with cashew nuts and sometimes almonds, crowning the top. It is the sort of cake you would order with a cup of hot tea, after a long, miserable day that has dulled your spirit.

Nobody can really say how the cake came about: the birth of the mawa cake is a mystery that has been lost in the shroud of history. Certainly, B Merwan claims to have invented it but then so does Pune's Royal Bakery. Perhaps it was the fortuitous result of twiddling and tweaking the boring old sponge cake, or an upgrade of the traditional kumas (a sort of semolina cake). It may well have been a way to preserve milk from spoiling in the days when there were no refrigerators (after all, mawa is the milk product you get after boiling milk for a long time, until it turns into a blob of dough-like milk solids). There's only one thing for sure - there was certainly no mawa cake before the wave of immigrants that took over all the corner spaces in the city and opened their Irani cafes.

If you want to try the best Mawa Cakes then you should visit the old Irani / Parsi bakeries which double up as Café’s . Like the Kayani Bakery and Café just opposite Metro Cinema at Dobhi Talao. Perhaps the oldest Irani café of them all, it’s located in the most central area of Dhobi Talao, with Metro cinema, and St. Xaviers college serving as its important landmarks. As such, one can safely say that the ever constant popularity of Kyani makes sure it doesn’t need any. Standing out as a proud structure of heritage amidst the bustle of South Mumbai, a peek into the café will always be greeted with crowded tables, and friendly staff.

Located at a stone’s throw away from Kyani, the century-old Sassanian is the one-stop place for anyone craving a serving of great bun maska, puddings, cakes and khari, a flour biscuit one eats with tea. 

Another favourite snack with that hot pipping cup of chai are the special Chicken / Mutton Puffs or pattice as they are colloquially called .These triangular multi-layered fluffy pattice are to die for satisfying those late afternoon hunger pangs and giving you the much needed extra energy to take you through the evening time. If you ask me where do you get the best Mutton puffs only 2 places come to my mind. Sunshine Snack Corner, about ten minutes away from the bustle of Causeway, is one such place, selling the most delicious puffs, cutlets, and sandwiches, and at budget friendly prices. The first thing that drew you into Sunshine Snack Counter is the Pink Panther mural on its walls. 

The second thing—and this one’s the keeper—is the counter stacked with mutton puffs, cutlets, and samosas. This no-frills eating joint takes up a small corner near Colaba Post Office and is made up of a counter and a couple of tables presided over by the aforementioned cartoon mural. As citizens of Mumbai, I’ve eaten my share of mutton puffs, so when I say these were some of the best I’ve had, I do hope you take me seriously. The pastry outside is light and perfectly crisp and flaky, while the filling—to quote our favourite picky eater—is just right. Not too spicy or bland, not too dry or too soggy, it was just the right amount of piquant with a welcome dash of freshness from the chunks of tomato and onion that hadn’t been cooked down into an unrecognizable paste. The cutlet is similarly tasty, with a rawa-fried batter and a filling typical of most Parsi-style mutton cutlets – erring on the spicy side but tempered with bits of potato. This is a real gem to have your Mutton puff / pattice.

Another famous place is in Bandra goes by the name of Hearsch Bakery. The J HearschBakery that flanks the Holy Family Hospital is a Bandra Landmark that even townies are known to make the pilgrimage to for a hearty meal of burgers , puffs and freshly made lemonade.What no one knows is that this friendly neighbourhood bakery wouldn’t have been around had Britain not declared war on Germay in 1914 and gentleman named Hearsch had not met a Colaba lady. Hearsch bakery is a remnant of a time when Bandra's hub of street couture, Hill Road, was renowned merely for its hospitals. Nearly a hundred years ago, a young and enterprising Goan girl ventured onto the very same street. Having just pulled the curtains down on her most recent venture -- Connaught Bakery on Colaba Causeway -- Sophia Liberata Fernandes was disillusioned about the future. It was here that she first heard of a German baker, who wished to lease out his bakery. Rather urgently as well, from the sound of things

In the wake of the First World War, relations between Germany and Britain had witnessed a significant decay. Britain's colonies, including India, were no longer safe for Germans. It was in the 1920s, under such trying circumstances that a bread man, J Hearsch, reluctantly decided to give up his labour of love, a small bakery, and head for the safer shores of Germany.  Quite by chance, he met Sophia, who was keen to start a bakery in Bandra, after shutting down her shop in Colaba. Hearsch entrusted the passionate Sophia with his life's work, and fled to Germany, and obscurity.

Hearsch bakery is located on the busy Hill Road, and knowledge of its closest landmark, Mocha Mojo, won't do you much good. However, ask the most lethargic local for directions and he will guide you with alacrity, and some pride even. Located within the idyllic premise of a forbiddingly-gated British era bungalow, the bakery is a hidden gem of sorts. Top a juicy burger (Rs 50) off with some velvety mousse (Rs 30) and wash it down with lemonade (made fresh, on the spot and for Rs 20 only), and you are still light by only a hundred rupees. 

By 7 am, the bakery is abuzz with cooks and bakers working on preparations that have made Hearsch famous. A good mixture of youngsters and veterans work round the clock in the kitchen, kneading, baking, frying and decorating all that food which graces the counters of the store. The puffs and sandwiches are the fastest moving items, with about a hundred of each prepared in a single batch. 

The special mayonnaise, Hearsch's best-kept secret, is the trickiest concoction. Vary but a little from the original recipe, and the D'Sa brothers -- Melvin and Steven, who mind the counter at different times of the day -- have to suffer much criticism from patrons

The prices are the least of Hearsch's links to a time long forgotten. The idyllic positioning of the bakery makes it a perfect romancing spot. Construction rocks next to the bakery are inadvertently positioned underneath an ageing tree and are enclosed by furry emerald patches of grass. While the area does not technically fall under the property of the bakery, Mr.D'Sa the current manager admits to witnessing a wealth of romances blossom here over the years. 

Most patrons sit on the well-laid out stones that also serve as table tops for their glasses of shake. The neighborhood cats keep a keen eye on their paper plates too, but being well-mannered, they wait patiently for patrons to throw them in the waste bins. They then proceed to rummage the bins, fighting only with the crows, who tend to get there first.   


This suburban bakery, barely a stone's throw from actor Salman Khan's house, is visited by celebrities too

So next time you are a little bit hungry and want that much needed cup of chai , try these awesome places for a little bit of mawa cakes or mutton puffs to go with your pipping hot cuppa.