New Delhi, March 1 --





Talk of Mumbai's food scene, and the conversation is hijacked by the likes of vada pao and sev puri, or seafood meals. But, here's looking at the city's sweet side-the iconic sweetmeats that tell the story of Mumbai, its history and its diverse communities.

MAHIM HALWA: Thin, dainty, translucent sheets of flaky halwa, sprinkled with dried fruits and nuts, and strands of saffron, Mahim halwa is a Mumbai speciality. Its invention is credited to Girdhar Mavji, who arrived from Gujarat in Mahim, one of the seven islands bolted together to create colonial Bombay, in the 1780s. He started out by hawking homemade sweets from door to door and later opened a small shop that evolved into a family business now run by the...