Police, ambulance halva shop . That might well have been the order of emergency services in Bombay in the 1880s, going by Kiran Joshi's favourite family story. "Our shop got the fourth telephone number in the city. The first three were emergency numbers," says 55-year-old Kiran.Joshi Budhakaka Mahim Halvawala , located on Mahim's Kapad Bazar road, is not a shop so much as an institution for it invented, around 200 years ago, those wafer-thin sheets of confection that Mumbai calls the Mahim Halva.Veiled in butter paper, these sweets are made from a pulp of wheat, sugar, ghee, and a touch of saffron. The paste is then spread on wooden planks, stretched out and sliced to the size of coasters, then sprinkled with dry fruits before being sold for Rs 400 to Rs 600 per kg.Kiran is the eighth generation descendant of Jetha Joshi, a businessman who had travelled from Pushkar to Gujarat and later to Mahim. For years, Jetha went door-to-door selling halwa, sev bundi, ladoos and mo hanthal made by the women in his family , and became known in the neighbourhood as Joshi buddha kaka (old man).The old man's penchant for experimentation led to the famous halva, says Ki ran. The halva's popularity led the third-generation to open a shop in Mahim in 1829.The shop was registered as `Joshi Budhakaka Mahim Halvawala' by Dhanji Girdhar, the fifth-generation descendant, and was informally known as `Joshi Budhakaka no chokro Dhanji Girdhar Mahim Halvawala, serving eminent British and Indian clients including Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.Kiran holds a letter signed by Nehru which reads: "We have always been pleased with sweets from Dhanji Girdhar". He also has a 1950s magazine clipping that quotes Kiran's father, Purushottam Dungarshi Joshi, complaining about heavy taxes and other rules that treat "sweetmeats" as "a luxury meant for the well-to-do".Now, as then, says Kiran, "our sweets are consumed by one and all." The shop's two branches, a 150-year-old one in Tardeo and a 90-year-old one at Dadar Circle, serves mainly Parsis, Maharashtrians and Muslims. "We even have free deliveries for our privileged Parsi customers in Dadar," says Kiran, adding that Parsis are also partial to `sutar feni', `jalebis' and `Mawa Ni Boi'-a sweet shaped like a fish."You'd be hard-pressed to find something like this now," says Kiran, showing off the ornate wooden, fish shaped mould. The shop also prepares a special barfi for the Mahim fair every year.Called 'Urus ki Barfi', the malai confection is fortified with ghee, malai---and faith."It tastes special because it is sacred," says Kiran solemnly.Today the entire Joshi family lives in one building in Mahim. They meet on the shop floor during festivals and also gather for weekly meetings. These gatherings have resulted in innovations like sugar-free anjeer barfis for diabetics, sandwich halva (a jelly-like layer in between two crisp wafers) and triple-flavoured halva.According to Kiran, some truly radical proposals are slated for the upcoming family meeting: introducing chocolate halva and creating a website.

Stay updated with all the Mumbai Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.