Bandra-based Gazella Thomas has always looked forward to Shrove Tuesday, popularly known as Pancake Tuesday in India, but always felt one day wasn't enough to celebrate and eat the pancakes. It is why they started celebrating it for a whole week before the day in her family.

Thomas says it was her mom who carried on this tradition and soon enough she would take full responsibility to continue the tradition, which she has over the years by even sharing it with family and friends. The aroma of pancakes with the coconut, whisking sound of the batter, and the play with colours has made it a cherished tradition.

In Malad, Jewel Rodrigues has also been making pancakes for as long as she can remember and with time has changed the way she makes her pancakes. She now uses jaggery instead of sugar in them to make it a healthier option for her family members. Along with the use of jaggery instead of sugar, Rodrigues says she adds generous amounts of dry fruits along with the coconut stuffing in the wrapped pancakes.

Having learned it from her mother, Rodrigues is happy to now pass it on to her three children to not only pass down the traditions but also the skills from one generation to another.

Dinelle Lobo, another Bandra resident, and home baker who goes by @learned_from_mom on Instagram, has also been continuing the family tradition, just like her mother Hilda Gonsalves, who is a self-taught cake artist. Today, Gonsalves makes the pancakes not only for her children but also her grandchildren.

Over the years, she has also taught Lobo and her sister how to make the pancakes and they have taken the liberty to experiment with them. During their mom’s childhood, they made almonds into bits, but now the sisters use cashew nuts instead in their grandmother’s recipe, which is a hand-me-down from generations. Usually the pancakes are pink, green and white, but in the last few years, Dinelle and her sister Gillian decided to change things up, and colour the pancakes, with brush strokes and flowers.

Krislyn Gomes is another Mumbaikar who makes pancakes for Pancake Tuesday and has continued the tradition from her mother. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she took it a step further by starting her home kitchen, Kris's Den, with her cousin Denise, and catering to others. Apart from replacing sugar with jaggery, Gomes has also made them colourful to make them eye-catching for people.

As people celebrated Pancake Tuesday on February 13 this time around, Gomes remembers how they used to share it with their neighbours earlier to extend the celebrations to them and the home kitchen is an extension of that today.