Chembur’s Sindh Pani Puri House is here since 1951 and had star-studded clientele, including late Rishi and Raj Kapoor

4 min readJun 6, 2026 12:30 PM IST

Ramesh Wadhwa, 72, has been running Sindh Pani Puri House for over four decades. (Express Photo)

Raj Kapoor, we have been told, would park his Ambassador right in front of the shop, step out, and eat. A crowd would gather. This was Chembur Camp, sometime in the 1950s or 60s, and Sindh Pani Puri House was already the kind of place that made a film star stop his car.

It still is.

The shop has been here since 1951, started by Laxman Das Wadhwa, a Sindhi who came to Chembur after Partition. He’d tried other things first, including selling ‘barf ka gola’ (ice gola) on a handcart and a few other jobs, before settling on pani puri. It worked. In 1951, he bought a small 15 x 8 feet shop, the only pani puri shop in all of Chembur at the time.

“My father was an expert at making puri, the kind you can’t find elsewhere in Bombay,” said his son Ramesh Wadhwa, 72, who has run the shop for over four decades. The puri is crispy, made from maida and rava, filled with an aloo-boondi mixture before being dipped in the chilled tangy-spicy pani. They also have a mithi chutney if your spice tolerance is not very high.

But ask Ramesh what actually sets Sindh Pani Puri House apart and he doesn’t hesitate. “No one can make pani puri the way we do in Bombay. You can get the puri, the aloo, the sev — all of that is available outside. What you cannot get is this pani. That is what sets it apart.”

Along with Raj Kapoor, Ramesh remembers Rishi Kapoor, Rajiv Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, and villain Goga Kapoor all coming to the shop over the years. The pani puri they ate cost one anna for six pieces. It’s Rs 40 now.

Ramesh didn’t always plan to be here. He tried readymade garments, cassette recording, and even transport, but none of it bore fruit. Then his father said: “Aaja mere sath (Come with me)”. Ramesh was around 30. He joined, and hasn’t left since.

Pani puri at Sindh Pani Puri House. (Express Photos by Akash Patil)

The menu has grown from selling a handful of items — pani puri, dahi vada, bhajiya of aloo and baingan — to nearly two dozen items. On a regular day they dish out over a hundred plates of pani puri, with dahi vada and dahi puri finding particular takers through summer.

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Over the years, the shop expanded. But about five years ago, the shop split in two. Both retained the name — Sindh Pani Puri House. Both kept similar pricing. Regulars who frequent either stall insist the pani puris taste the same. Ramesh says that is hardly surprising. “Our father taught both of us.”

The shop on his left belongs to his younger brother, Prakash Wadhwa, 70. The two ran the business together for decades before eventually parting ways. Just last year, it saw actor Archana Puran Singh and her family stop by for pani puri. Prakash’s son, Hitesh Wadhwa, 37, joined the business around 13 years ago and now manages the shop. Speaking over the phone, he said he has registered the brand name and created social media accounts to promote the business.

As for Ramesh’s shop, he has two daughters. “They don’t come to the shop,” he said, in a tone that seemed to close the conversation when asked whether either of them was interested in joining the business. When asked about the future, he is matter-of-fact. “I will continue till I am 75. Afterwards, we will see what to do.”

Even if his stall eventually shuts one day, the family legacy will continue next door through Hitesh’s shop.

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Where: Chembur Camp. 11.30 am to 2 pm and 4 pm to 10 pm.

Heena Khandelwal is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express, Mumbai. She covers a wide range of subjects from relationship and gender to theatre and food. To get in touch, write to [email protected] ... Read More

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