: Single Mom Behind Mumbai’s ‘Swati Snacks’; Loved by the Likes of M.F Zakir Hussain #IndiaNEWS #Food The year is 1963. In Tardeo, a quaint neighbourhood in Mumbai, Minakshi Jhaveri frantically

Single Mom Behind Mumbai’s ‘Swati Snacks’; Loved by the Likes of M.F Zakir Hussain #IndiaNEWS #Food
The year is 1963.
In Tardeo, a quaint neighbourhood in Mumbai, Minakshi Jhaveri frantically slices onions and keeps an eye, albeit a watery one, on the boiling potatoes. Her children are already off to school, which means she can give her undivided attention to the first day of her new snacks business.
Even though her friends and relatives have already given their stamp of approval to her finger-licking good chaat, her anxieties are soaring, for this food venture is not to test her culinary skills. It is, in fact, a single mother’s determination to make a better life for her two children — Asha and Anand.
Being self-employed at this homemade food venture will not only give Minakshi control over working hours, but also help her create a culinary legacy. For now, she thinks at least her children will inherit something.
The pressure cooker’s whistle snaps her back to reality, and she quickly packs the chopped veggies, hand pound masalas in newspapers. A taxi and her Maharaj (cook) are waiting downstairs.
A 20-minute cab ride later, the duo arrives at a cramped 110 sq-ft room with a single partition. At 4 pm, Minakshi opens ‘Swati Snacks’, her unassuming eatery that will one day create history in more ways than one.
All four items on her tiny menu — sev puri, bhel puri, ragda pattice and pani puri — are priced at four aanas. The place, with four tables and a modest kitchen, is anything but pretentious.
A picture from the 90s
Unlike most Gujaratis, Minakshi neither has business acumen, nor does she offer any delicacies that are specialities, such as fafda, ghatiya, jalebi or undhiyu. And yet, she would manage to carve her signature into the hearts of Mumbaikars with her dazzling smile, a warm atmosphere, and a homemade taste.
Minakshi passed away in 1979 and, as desired, her daughter Asha took over the reins of the iconic brand, followed by Anand. Today, Swati Snacks has four outlets (two each in Mumbai and Ahmedabad) and their monthly turnover touches Rs 4 crore (pre-pandemic). Anand’s son, Shaan, and Asha’s nephew, Karan, are third-generation entrants who have taken the eatery to new heights.
The Better India chats with Asha, Anand and Shaan on the phone (yes, the pandemic did kill my desire to savour the dishes while interviewing the family in person). With their infectious laughter and enthusiasm on an early Thursday morning, the trio takes me on a gastronomic journey and shares why Minakshi is the OG mompreneur.
‘Homeliness is our USP’
The family carrying forward Minakshis legacy
It is only now, in the last few years, and of course, during the COVID-19-induced lockdown, that we have seen an enormous rise in women entrepreneurs starting their ventures from home and scaling it into a successful enterprise.