Habshi Halwa

Arts & Culture Culture, Arts, Literature & Linguistics
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Re: Habshi Halwa

^Mirch, the interesting thing is that I googled Ethiopian cuisine and while it's said to be similar to South Asian cuisine, I have not come across halwa among their dishes. The closest thing is kashata which is moldable sweetmeat, similar to mithai but not as dark as habshi halwa. If the term Habash encompasses more than Ethiopia...then it's possible that a halwa from another region in Africa could be the inspiration behind habshi halwa.

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Re: Habshi Halwa

Op is one letter shorter than TLK and several letters shorter than many of the other usernames here. I may have saved only a nanosecond in the case of TLK, but it's inarguably convenient.

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Re: Habshi Halwa

That conclusion is arguable.

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Re: Habshi Halwa

Southie, little matters the address of a member when the rest of the post is friggin awesome. :zobo:

Now go eat some habshi halwa…preferably laden with mirchain.

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Re: Habshi Halwa

I was just going to add - does it go well with mirchi?

Inarguably, you thought of all the angles.

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Re: Habshi Halwa

We have one very popular halwa in Pakistan called Multani Sohan Halwa. It does not look like anything like a person from Multan. :p

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Re: Habshi Halwa

:mirch:

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Re: Habshi Halwa

You won't know unless you try it. An inarguably true proverb. Try everything once.

If you're into sweets and haven't tried habshi halwa, give it a go one of these days. It's very sweet; I find it sweeter than the the common sooji ka halwa, but it has very distinct taste to it that sets it apart from other halwas in South Asian cuisine. As for mirchain...I don't imagine it could be too bad. I personally love combining the savory and sweet.

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Re: Habshi Halwa

Will do. I have never heard of Habshi halwa. Halwa is my favorite. Mumbai is famous for it

Unrelated to the sweet, there is an expression - "halwa hai kya?" Translation is difficult.

PS. Op (p lower case) may get upset if you derail too much.

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Re: Habshi Halwa

^The arabs use the word halwa (a derivative) as a term of endearment. So, do you live in Mumbai then? If so, great..it's easily accessible to you then.

By using lowercase, I save myself another nanosecond as I don't have to reach for the shift key.

Will try not to derail anymore, lol. I'm curious to read Op's response.

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Re: Habshi Halwa

Parents in Mumbai. Will check that out. Didn't know halwa is endearing term in Arabic.

Since I was the derailer, not you, an appropriate response from you would be "halwa hai kya?"

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Re: Habshi Halwa

Hmm. I have never heard of the saying until now. After reading it I assumed it meant "Are you daft?" ...or "Are you soft in the head?" The guesses were based on halwa being a soft dish and a supposedly simple one to make. But I did a brief search right now and the idiom is supposed to sarcastically mean, "As if it's easy." ...or "you think it's so easy?" Lol, i don't think ithe saying is applicable to the derailment. It's better left for the more weighty debates, lol.

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Re: Habshi Halwa

Is there any element of degradation of people with darker skin?

I'd agree with you if habshi halwa was a sub-standard product and was called so to demean it. Everyone loves Habshi Halwa!!!!

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Re: Habshi Halwa

If Kala was a racist thing and religiously followed in our society, then songs like ‘Kala Shah Kala mera kala hai dildar, goriyan nu paraaN karo’ and ‘Sanwli saloni si mehbooba’ have not get popularity amongst ‘goray rung ka zamana, kabhi hoga na purana’.

Moreover, its not necessary that ‘Habshi’ got a negative connotation in a society where people got insufficient knowledge of Geography. I mean, many people enjoying Habshi Halwa may not be aware of the location of ‘Habsha’ as now on the globe its recognized as ’ Ethiopia’.

Also reference to Bilal Habshi (RA) with reverence shows that Habshi is not necessarily a racist term.

BTW, to add more examples to racist foods ’ zarda’ as nations of far east are also known as ‘yellow’ :cb:

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Re: Habshi Halwa

A connecting history:

S Abdul Khaliq: 500-year-old mithai brand struggling to expand – The Express Tribune

Based out of Karachi, S Abdul Khaliq Shahi Halwa Sohan Merchant is the oldest mithai brand in the country with roots tracing back to early 1500s and the Royal Court of the Moghul Emperors. The Moghul Emperor Humayun, Queen Victoria and Mirza Ghalib have all tasted Khaliq’s halwas [sweets], claims their website.

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Re: Habshi Halwa

Try getting married one of your sisters who is of darker tone. You will see another type of racism India is involved into :)

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Re: Habshi Halwa

that is your personal opinion...If that's what you believe then I can't change your mind.

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Re: Habshi Halwa

thank you!

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Re: Habshi Halwa

There are problems like you mentioned in your post and that got severe when people contacted with chitti chamRi / gora people. Otherwise, since centuries our grandmothers (with not that fair complexion) have been married. The most racist thing in Indo-Pak is terming a kaala-kalota laRka as Chaand sa beta and dreaming of their mothers / sisters for a gori chitti bahoo/ bhabi :D

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Re: Habshi Halwa

Proper (my) definition of racism:

It is not racism to liken something to a skin tone, or a racial group, except that it is intended to harm or cause degradation through harmful intent.

This means if we say "his hair is curly and knotted like a rope" that is not racism, unless we use that property as a means to remove any of his rights or demean him by insult.

Habshi halwa does not carry a negative connotation ... If anything it is one of the most prized Pakistani sweets and costs more than other varieties.