India GOFamous sweets of Mumbai and where to buy them
Mumbai's sweets come from the communities that built the city. Parsi dairies make kulfi and sutarfeni, Irani bakeries sell mawa cake with chai at dawn, the lanes below Minara Masjid fry mawa jalebi and malpua, and the seafront has been a late-night falooda stop for generations. Add hand-churned and real-fruit ice cream and a modern mithai bar, and you have the city's sweet map.
What to try
The sweets Mumbai is known for, and where they come from.
Kulfi and sutarfeni
Dense, creamy kulfi set on a stick is the Parsi dairy classic, with kesar pista the favourite flavour. Sutarfeni, a gossamer spun sweet, is the one to carry home as a gift.
Mawa jalebi, malpua and phirni
The sweets of Mohammed Ali Road: ghee-rich, made fresh and sold warm, with phirni set in clay pots. The street is busy all year and busiest during Ramadan.
Mawa cake
The Irani bakery classic, a crumbly cake made with mawa (reduced milk), eaten with sweet Irani chai and bun maska early in the morning.
Falooda and fruit cream
Rose-scented falooda is served on the Chowpatty seafront late into the night, alongside thick shakes and fruit cream.
Ice cream, the Mumbai way
Pot-churned ice cream that follows the seasons, and real-fruit scoops of tender coconut, sitaphal (custard apple) and Alphonso mango.
Modak
Rice-flour dumplings filled with fresh coconut and jaggery; the steamed version, ukadiche modak, is served hot with ghee. Modak is considered Ganesha's favourite sweet, and Ganesh Chaturthi puja often ends with an offering of 21 or 101 of them. Festival dates: 4–14 September 2027.
Where to go for each
Parsi Dairy Farm on Princess Street, Marine Lines, dates to around 1916 and is the dependable choice for kulfi and traditional Parsi dairy sweets, including the sutarfeni. Suleman Usman Mithaiwala, just below Minara Masjid on Mohammed Ali Road, is the most famous mithai shop in the area, known for its mawa jalebi and malpua; it belongs on any food walk there.
For ice cream, Taj Ice Cream, a century-old hole-in-the-wall in the Bohri Mohalla lanes of Bhendi Bazaar, still churns by hand in a pot set in ice: malai, mango in summer, sitaphal in winter. Naturals, founded in Juhu in 1984, pioneered ice cream made from just milk, fruit and sugar. Bachelorr's at Girgaum Chowpatty, running since the 1930s, is the late-night falooda and fruit-cream stop by Marine Drive.
For something newer, Bombay Sweet Shop in Byculla, from the team behind The Bombay Canteen, reworks mithai: a ghevar tart, puran poli ice cream and a chikki bar beside the classics. These shops are in the list on this page.
For mawa cake, go to the Irani cafes and bakeries: Sassanian Boulangerie in Marine Lines (1913), where the bakery counter is the vegetarian half of the place, and American Express Bakery in Byculla, baking since 1908. Theobroma, born in a small Colaba shop in 2004, is the modern bakery for brownies and also sells mawa cake.
Sweets follow the seasons
Mumbai's fruit ice creams change through the year: Taj Ice Cream makes mango in summer and sitaphal in winter, and Naturals is known for its tender coconut, sitaphal and Alphonso mango scoops. Ramadan evenings turn the lanes around Mohammed Ali Road and Bhendi Bazaar into a food crawl that runs late, and that is when the mithai shops there are most crowded.
Sweets to take home
Sutarfeni from Parsi Dairy Farm is the sweet people carry home as a gift. Kulfi, falooda and the ice creams are for eating on the spot. For more food, see What to eat in Mumbai and Street food in Mumbai.
FAQ
What are the famous sweets of Mumbai?
Parsi kulfi and sutarfeni, mawa jalebi and malpua from Mohammed Ali Road, Irani mawa cake, falooda on the Chowpatty seafront, hand-churned and real-fruit ice cream, plus modak at Ganesh Chaturthi.
What are the best sweet shops in Mumbai?
Parsi Dairy Farm for kulfi and sutarfeni, Suleman Usman Mithaiwala for mawa jalebi and malpua, Taj Ice Cream and Naturals for ice cream, Bachelorr's for falooda and Bombay Sweet Shop for modern mithai.
What is special to buy in Mumbai as a sweet gift?
Sutarfeni from Parsi Dairy Farm, the gossamer sweet that regulars call a must-carry gift.
What is mawa cake?
A crumbly cake made with mawa, milk reduced to solids, sold by Mumbai's Irani bakeries and cafes and eaten with chai in the morning.
Which sweet is offered to Ganesha?
Modak, a rice-flour dumpling filled with coconut and jaggery, considered Ganesha's favourite. During Ganesh Chaturthi the puja often ends with an offering of 21 or 101 modaks.
Sources (4)
Facts checked: 15 October 2026. Prices and hours are approximate; check locally.
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