Few eateries in Mumbai carry a story as stirring as Cannon, today celebrated as a pav bhaji institution near CST. What many customers may not know is that Cannon began as a modest batata vada stall—and that it belongs to an Army veteran who fought in the 1965 India–Pakistan war
A soldier’s second innings
The man behind Cannon is Parshuram Dandekar, now 87, who suffered serious head injuries and a compound fracture in his right leg during the 1965 war. Years later, when the District Soldier Board invited applications from injured servicemen, he was allotted a 120-square-metre plot opposite Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. There was no financial aid.
“I spent my own money, turned the plot into a small eatery, and decided to name it Cannonball,” Dandekar recalled. A painter, however, shortened the name to Cannon—and friends persuaded him to keep it. The stall was inaugurated in the 1970s by then Mumbai police commissioner M G Mugwe, who remarked that Army discipline had entered business.
Those words stayed with Dandekar, shaping his insistence on fairness—even collecting payment from policemen—and his decades-long legal fight that finally earned Cannon its food licence in 2023.
From batata vada to pav bhaji
With no background in food, Dandekar leaned on his mother Kamla Bai, who taught him to make batata vadas—bigger than table tennis balls, with thin, crisp batter. For years, batata vada was the only item. Samosas arrived in 1982; pav bhaji followed in 1985.
Initially, customers chose vegetables for customised bhaji, slowing service. Dandekar simplified the recipe by combining the most popular vegetables—and popularised it with a shrewd move during a Test match at Wankhede Stadium. As crowds gathered around a TV at the stall, he melted pack after pack of Amul butter on the tawa. “People ate with their eyes first,” he said. The pav bhaji became Cannon’s signature.
Discipline, simplicity, and legacy
Decades later, Cannon still has no chairs—just a marble-topped standing counter. Service is swift and choreographed. Ingredients are non-negotiable: only Amul butter; pav from Yazdani and UP Bakery; no artificial colours or flavours; vegetables sourced carefully, often from Talegaon.
The menu remains limited and homely—pav bhaji, dahi vada, sabudana khichdi, sheera, rabdi, gulab jamun, jaggery-based ladoos, lassi and buttermilk.
Dandekar visits daily with his wife Manisha, 78. About the future, he is reflective. “There is good money here, but you need the drive,” he said. Whether Cannon passes to a new custodian or closes a chapter, its journey—from war wounds to butter-soaked pav—remains a singular Mumbai story.