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The partition of India is inarguably one of the most gruesome episodes of Modern Indian history. The mass exodus was riddled with bloodshed and loss. Several established businesses were also uprooted within a day, when the owners decided to leave everything behind and march towards the new nation. Their skill was their only currency, and years of experience and quality work did come in handy to a lot of these shop-owners and businessmen. The legendary Madan Lal Halwai, now located in Sadar Bazaar, started out as a relatively humble sweetmeat shop in pre-partition Lahore. The challenge of setting up a new sweet shop in a completely new city was grave, but Late Madan Lal, the founder of the iconic eatery took the bold step anyway. Madan Lal Halwai has now successfully completed more than sixty years in the business. It has also seen many VVIP guests along the way. India’s first prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru was also said to be fond of their sweets and snacks. Not very long ago, Bollywood director Imtiaz Ali also paid a visit to the shop to savour its delightful delicacies.
Images by Madan Lal Halwai
What Makes Madan Lal Halwai So Special?
The shop is now being looked after by Mr. Siddharth Sethi and Mr. Rupabh Sethi after the demise of former owner Mr. Chaman Sethi due to COVID 19. The sweetshop takes pride in its confectionary made in pure desi ghee. If you happen to visit the shop during the daytime, you would be lucky enough to get a bite of their legendary aloo chole ki sabzi and launji ka achaar and moong dal ka halwa. Thir samosas are also much bigger in size, and filled with fried potatoes instead of mashed, boiled potatoes. Their legendary halwas, patisa, barfi, gulab jamuns and lassi are spoken about with great awe. The queue for their classic melt-in-your mouth Madan Pinnis, and multiple kinds of ghevar is another testimony of their popularity.
At present, the shop and the menu is undergoing a major revamp of sorts. However, that does not mean you would have to lose out on signature delights, but in fact, there’s more in store like more varieties of barfis, season specials and recyclable packaging.
Here are all the details:
Where: Madan Lal Halwai, Sadar Thana Road, Sadar Bazaar
Cost For Two: INR 400
