Love Lonavala Chikki? Its Innovation Once Helped Build Railroads in India!

Chikki is a traditional evening snack made from nuts, jaggery, and ghee. But, did you know that these nutty-brittles were an innovation that helped build railroads in India?

It all started in the 19th Century when the British used 1000s of workers from Maharashtra to build a railway line connecting Mumbai and Lonavala. Since laying tracks across mountains was a tedious job, a sweet shop owner named Maganlal Aggarwal in Lonavala decided to make them a cheap, high-calorie snack.

That is when he invented the Gud Dani, a mixture of peanuts, melted jaggery and ghee, which is also known as Chikki. Like energy bars, these were distributed to the workers and were a hit among them. Once the project was completed, the chikkis travelled along with workers as it was a convenient snack for the journey.

Seeing a business opportunity, the railway authorities commissioned Maganlal Aggarwal to prepare chikki and sell them to travellers between Mumbai and Lonavala.