Mumbai Street Feeds 100 Years of Ramadan Feasts

Every Ramadan for the past 100 years, one Mumbai neighborhood has turned its alleyways into an outdoor banquet hall where strangers become friends over shared meals.

Mohammed Ali Road's Bohri Mohalla district becomes a maze of sizzling grills and sweet shops each evening during the holy month. Muslim families break their day-long fasts here at sunset with iftar spreads that have fed generations.

Mumbai-based Khaki Tours now guides visitors through this living food museum. The three-hour walking tour stops at 14 family-run eateries, some serving the same recipes their great-grandparents perfected.

The journey starts at Nawab Seekh Corner with minced meat wrapped in warm flatbread. Next comes J J Jalebi, where Haji Chhote Khan's family has twisted spiral desserts since 1947, creating a hickory-colored treat that looks like gulab jamun's cousin.

At Surti 12 Handi, cooks use twelve different spice blends to prepare traditional dishes, each spice matched to a specific cut of meat. The restaurant's name tells the whole story: twelve pots, twelve flavors, one incredible meal.

Taj Ice Cream holds the crown as the oldest stop on the tour. Since 1887, five generations have hand-churned their ice cream using the same copper pots and wooden paddles their ancestors used.

The Ripple Effect spreads beyond full stomachs. These century-old businesses employ hundreds of local families and keep traditional cooking methods alive in a rapidly modernizing city. During Ramadan, many shops serve free meals to anyone who cannot afford to pay, continuing a tradition of communal care that predates India's independence. The food tour also brings economic support year-round, helping these small businesses survive outside the busy Ramadan season.

Visitors wash down malai khaja pastries with bright green variyali drinks made from fennel, and end their nights sampling chicken biryani wrapped in colocasia leaves at shops their great-grandparents might have visited.

Mohammed Ali Road proves that the best traditions are the ones you can taste.