Ganpati Mawa Bhandar

The smell of fresh milk boiling is the first thing you notice when you walk toward the New Cloth Market at Mahaveer Nagar 3 Chouraha. We are right there at the corner, and we’ve been making mawa the same way for a long time. It starts very early for us, long before the sun is even up, when the milk cans arrive from the outskirts. We use these large, heavy iron pans to thicken the milk, and you have to stir it constantly so it doesn't burn on the bottom. My arms used to get so sore when I first started, but now I don't even think about it. The shop is usually filled with steam in the mornings, and the floor stays a bit damp from the cleaning. We supply a lot of the local sweet shops around Kota, especially during the festival season when everyone is making laddu and barfi. During Diwali or Holi, the shop is a madhouse with people queuing up outside the door and us trying to keep up with the demand. We don't have any fancy seating or decorations. It’s a working kitchen and a simple sales counter. People come to us because they know the mawa is solid and hasn't been messed with. It’s a lot of heat and hard work, but there is something good about seeing the finished trays of mawa stacked up ready to go. We keep it simple and just focus on the milk.