“If you meet a loved one, you generally gift a box of mithai. It represents sweetness, family and tradition,” explains Rushika Gupta. Rushika is part of the third generation of her family to join Gupta’s, a beloved Indian sweet shop established in 1979.
Founder of Gupta’s Indian Sweets and Savouries, Jagdish Prasad Gupta. Standing proudly in front of the Drummond Street shop
Rushika Gupta, Jagdish’s granddaughter
The time-tested shop was opened by her grandparents Jagdish Prasad and Chandtara Gupta on Drummond Street, London’s original ‘Little India’ hidden near Euston Station. Since the 1960s, the street’s independent sweet shops, veggie restaurants and grocery shops have served generations of Londoners. Gupta’s has been a part of that history, specialising in making traditional Indian sweets, made from recipes passed down through generations.
“I come from a family of entrepreneurs,” Rushika says. “My grandpa worked incredibly hard moving over from India way back when, starting a business from scratch. So I think he really instilled that element of tradition and family and just really making sure that we remain close and just spread the love from India to the UK.” Now, Gupta’s is owned and managed by Rushika’s parents, Rikki and Rakhi Gupta, while Rushika and her brother, Ruchir, focus on the digital side of the business part-time.
The shop is especially loved for its mithai, an Indian word for sweets. These range from jalebi (a golden, spiral-shaped sweet made from deep-fried batter drenched in fragrant sugar syrup, so adored that Jason Derulo even has a song dedicated to them), all the way to melt-in-your-mouth, fudge-like barfi and fragrant tiny balls of motichoor ladoo, which Rushika describes as “a little round orange treats” that are tasty when served hot.