For over 62 years now, the Janseva Dugdha Mandir has been serving dollops of health conscious food to Punekars

As buyers flit in and out of shops searching for clothes and jewellery on the busy Laxmi Road in the hot afternoon sun, a small restaurant located on the busy road welcomes customers, young, old all alike. A few minutes in the small restaurant with a glass of cold masala milk, flavoured lassi or steamed milk pudding and people are good to go shopping again.

Meet Suvrat Upadhye fourth generation owner of the Janseva Dugdha Mandir that has been handing out milky treats since 1948. “My great grandfather Vasudev Upadhye started this place with a view of selling healthy foods like milk and milk products for youngsters who used to frequent Iranian cafes back then for the Masca Pav and Chai.”

Started as a small store with a kitchen in the back the place expanded quickly because of the famous masala milk that they would serve at the store. “Actually my great-grandfather sold plain milk, plain milk with sugar and masala milk in addition to products like various sweetmeats and Chakli (savory snack) served with Dahi (yogurt),” adds Upadhye.

As customers continue to flit in and out of the store in its current location Upadhye muses, “Its come a long way from its origins, with just a couple of chairs and tables to a full fledged place where people can come sit, have a quick bite and go. However our mainstay products still retain their old world charm like for instance we have customers who are fourth generation customers and they still swear by the fact that the masala milk is still the same as it was during the times of their parents,” says Sharad Upadhye, Suvrat’s father, who helps his son run the business.

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