Mawa shortage hits city ahead of Eid amid LPG crunch

At several neighbourhood dairy shops, where fresh mawa is usually prepared in the days leading up to Eid, shelves lay empty, with shopkeepers saying they have been unable to make new batches citing a lack of LPG cylinders for the disruption

Mumbai: With Eid al-Fitr approaching, a shortage of mawa (dried milk solids) - a key ingredient in sheer korma - has affected supplies across parts of the city, with dairy shops citing a lack of LPG cylinders for the disruption.

Mawa shortage hits city ahead of Eid amid LPG crunch

At several neighbourhood dairy shops, where fresh mawa is usually prepared in the days leading up to Eid, shelves lay empty, with shopkeepers saying they have been unable to make new batches.

“We used to prepare and store it, but ever since we ran out of the stock, we haven’t prepared the product due to a lack of LPG cylinders,” said Ashraf Gilani of New Nagori Dairy Centre at Mira Road.

Mawa is typically prepared by slowly reducing milk over several hours, making it heavily dependent on fuel availability. Every litre of whole milk yields around 200 grams of mawa.

Traders said the shortage of the ingredient is likely to peak a day before Eid, when last-minute purchases surge. The crunch has also pushed up prices, with mawa now selling at ₹400– ₹550 per kg, compared to ₹400– ₹450 earlier.

However, availability remains uneven. Some shops said they still have older stock to meet demand.

“The shelf life of nawa is nearly a month. Although we haven’t prepared a fresh batch, we have enough to sell over a fortnight,”said the manager at Sudhir Dairy and Sweets, Lower Parel.

The Dawoodi Bohra community will celebrate Eid on Thursday, while Sunni Muslims are expected to observe it on Friday or Saturday, depending on the moon sighting.