I discovered Punjab Dairy Farm quite by accident. The non–descript looking milk shop on SV Road in Khar East, Mumbai, is a haven waiting to be found and cherished for its milk products.
We were late to a shoot, parked under a huge tree, waiting on a pair of lenses or camera batteries or something else to arrive. Men wearing kurtas and taqiyah caps zoomed past us on their bikes, rushing to offer afternoon prayers at the Khar Mosque. A group of college–going girls compared shades of lipstick as they walked out that Mecca of beauty products, Beauty Center.
I was drumming the steering wheel restlessly when I noticed the shop with all the brown, earthen bowls in the glass display. Was it phirni ? Oh God yes, phirni ! A colleague and I decided to try it on a whim. And it turned out to be perfect.
Javed Bhai, who owns the family–run joint, tells me they make their phirnis and cream-thick lassis , masala doodh , chaas and pots of dahi , all in house in the back of the clean shop. Their caramel custard is fridge–cold and sweet, with just a thin layer of liquid caramel sitting at the bottom.
If you've been to many a restaurant and hated their grainy, yellow, over–seasoned phirni , then this is the place you have to visit.
Soft as a cloud, Punjab Dairy's mawa phirni melts in the mouth. It's seasoned with a smattering of badam , pista and kesar , and has just the right amount of rosewater to keep you cool on a summer day. And then, there is the incomparable favour that comes from eating it out of a bowl made of mitti .
It was love at first bite and I keep going back in breaks between work and intense meetings, after lunch and before tea. It’s a great place to stop at on the way to somewhere more ‘important’, a great place to take a middle of the day pause and enjoy a sweet treat while you watch school kids pass by, licking their ice lollies or draining their water bottles on the road.
