Journey Of An Iconic Indian Sweet – Dharwad Pedha
After its legendary musicians , Dharwad is best known for its Dharwad Pedha. I remember when I first tasted it in Bangalore about 10-12 years ago, my first reaction was – this is Mathura Pedha. I probably invoked the Kannada pride in my friends, and they all claimed that this is pure Dharwad pedha, you get it nowhere but in Dharwad. My gut feeling very strongly said – there is a connection between this pedha and the famous Mathura Pedha. It was years after that conversation when I found myself at the famous Babusingh Thakur’s shop in Line Bazaar of Dharwad that I untangled the connection.
Dharwad Pedha – an Iconic Indian Sweet
Babusingh’s Thakur Pedha Shop is nothing like the iconic status it holds in the state of Karnataka . It is like a hole in the wall being managed by two youngsters. Add to this the fact that this small shop lends the name to this street – Line bazaar, as there used to be a long queue every morning to buy these pedha’s. I would later learn that in its hay days no one could buy more than 500 gms of Pedha in the interest of people in the long queue. I walked up to the shop and asked to meet the owner. The staff was flabbergasted – he does not meet the customers. I persisted and he gave me the number of a younger scion of the family and almost challenged me that they will never allow me to take pictures of the Pedha – Yes, I had the camera hanging around my neck.
I did manage to get a meeting with Babusingh Thakur, grandson of the original BabuSingh Thakur who brought this iconic sweet to the city of Dharwad. Sitting in his house, right behind the shop, I got to hear about the family that originally hails from UP , but reached Dharwad via Unnao in Bengal . He agreed that the Mathura Pedha is the parent of Dharwad Pedha and I suddenly felt proud of my taste buds. I saw him speaking to his staff in Kannada and was curious what language do they speak at home and he promptly said ‘Hindi’ and thereafter I spoke to him in Shudhh Hindi. He then proceeded to tell me how his father and grandfather would make Pedha’s at home every morning and sell them at this very shop. He nostalgically spoke about the long queues and how the sweets used to get finished between 10 AM and 12 AM. Since they made all sweets at home by themselves, they could not make more than 50 kgs or so per day. This reminded me of indian sweets like Chitale Bandhu Bhakarwadi in Pune that also used to be sold out in couple of hours everyday.
Now, of course many Pedha Chains have come up in Dharwad, and incidentally most of them have their origins in UP. As a natural progression in last 7-8 years Babusingh Pedha has also expanded, with three factories and many showrooms across multiple cities. In fact at Dharwad bus stop I could see their imprint everywhere. On an average they produce 700-800 Kgs of Pedha everyday. They have also added other popular indian sweets like Laddu and bakery items including breads to their portfolio. The growing menace of Diabetes is troubling the sweet makers and Mr Thakur spoke about the various experiments they are doing to make sugar free indian sweets.
The baniya in me was curious to see the factory and Mr Thakur agreed to show me on one condition that I will not click any pictures and I understood that it is their business secret that they do not want to let out. In fact during the factory visit I learnt that the family still maintains the formula close to their heart and they do the mixing themselves every morning, so that even the workers working on the Pedha if poached by competition do not know the formula. The only trick I could pick up from the visit was that they still condense the milk on a wooden fire and not on gas or electric heat. I had never been to a sweets factory, so it was nice to walk around with savories being made in a big room – they tasted so fresh right out of the pan. Bread was being baked and packed in another, cakes in another and other sweets in third room. The biggest room was dedicated to Pedha’s of course. They still pack the small boxed in steel trunks to transport them to their shops across the city.
It was fascinating to learn the journey of an iconic indian sweet right from the horse’s mouth and to be able to see it being made right in front of you.
Do taste Dharwad Pedha as and when you get a chance.
You may also like to read my post on Must try food in Varanasi .
Here are a few Places to visit in Hubli Dharwad and near by, read & explore.
- Ancient Chalukyan Temples of Hubli .
- Discovering a Poet at Bendre Bhavan, Dharwad .
- Meeting Mallikarjun Mansur in Dharwad .
- Dandeli – By The River Kali .
- Hidden Inside Dandeli – Syntheri Rock .
- Gol Gumbaz – A Reverberating Dome .
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