Page 7 - Seniorstoday May 2022 Issue
P. 7
There was also a gola, an icicle with a
black currant sherbet or a red rose sherbet
with chaat masala and little fresh lime juice
squeezed on it. Gola cost 6 paisa and each
of these has left their distinctive taste in
my memory. A coke cost 25 paisa. The ice –
creams were made by Kwality.
Then, there was an ice-cream sandwich
that was sold outside near the Brabourne
stadium by a company called K Rustom.
It exists even today. Somewhere off
Mohammed Ali Road, there was a shop
called Taj ice-cream that sold hand churned
ice-cream. In the Custard Apple season he
created a custard Apple ice-cream. They
were sold out so fast one had to almost also served sev puri and bhel. People made
make a booking. a meal out of it. Much later she set up a
Swati restaurant in Tardeo. There is also a
malai kulfi cone on a stick that a man would
go selling door to door; chilled sweetened
frozen milk - it still exists. Little hand carts
that sell a hand churn ice-cream in a steel
cup was another summer trend. Another
popular Mumbai ice-cream is the falooda –
milk, ice-cream vermicelli, rose sherbet. It
is opposite the Crawford market, called the
Badshah Cold drinks house. Do give it a try.
The Natraj Hotel on Marine Drive opened
The Taj ice-cream shop still exists - no an ice-cream parlour in the early 80’s, it
branches. His malai kulfi was simply worth was called Yankee Doodle. We Mumbaikars
the trip. Around the shop were vendors were introduced to new ways of eating ice-
selling heavy meaty stuff — an egg paratha cream, from banana split to all kinds of fruit
stuffed with kheema - baida roti, bheja sundaes. And a large variety of chocolate
masala, bheja fry and assortment of kababs. combinations. It was immensely popular,
Gulped down with fresh sugar cane juice unfortunately they did not innovate and the
and finally Taj ice-cream. Parsi dairy farm place shut down. Post Yankee Doodle, a lot
in Princess Street, Mumbai also has its own of south Bombay clubs introduce ice-cream
version of Malai kulfi that was a served at sundae on their menus.
rich Gujrati/Marwadi weddings. Years later Kwality introduced Softy ice-
The owner of Swati restaurant also sold cream. There is something about eating a
hand churned ice-cream in a studio of Softy twirling your tongue around it. It is
Calico mills in Ballard Estate, her kesar perhaps the most romantic form of ice-cream
pista and malai kulfi were top class, she - as we put it into our mouth and lose our
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #35 | MAY 2022 7
