# Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu: Sohan Halva, Habshi Halva, Dhodha



## Wolverine9

Do these three terms refer to the same sweet?  _Habshii _means "black" due to the dark color, but do _sohan _and _DhoDhaa _have a meaning?  Wikipedia suggests a Persian origin for _sohan _but that seems wrong to me, while Platts attributes it to a person named Sohan Lal.  I didn't see _DhoDhaa _listed at all.

Thank you.


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## lcfatima

Could sohan be from sohna, like beautiful, or could be golden?


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## littlepond

I think golden, since sohan halva does look yellow/golden. I think that it does come from Persian, though I am not sure.


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## Wolverine9

Thank you both.  I would not be surprised if the sweet itself originated in Iran, but I have doubts about the word being Persian.  _sohan_ does mean "beautiful", but I don't know why a halva would be called that.  Golden is connected to _sona _"gold" but not _sohan_.  Platts could be right about Sohan Lal.  Do you have an answer for the first part of my question: Do habshi halva, sohan halva, and DhoDhaa refer to the same sweet?


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## littlepond

^ I have only eaten and encountered sohan halva in my life so far, Wolverine9 jii, so I can't tell if the sweet is same or not.


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## mundiya

lcfatima said:


> Could sohan be from sohna, like beautiful, or could be golden?





littlepond said:


> I think golden, since sohan halva does look yellow/golden. I think that it does come from Persian, though I am not sure.



I think "sohan halvaa" might mean different things in different regions because the "sohan halvaa" I'm familiar with is not yellow/golden but dark brown instead. What would you call it? This is what it looks like: https://www.khanapakana.com/recipe/134df2af-2d65-4dd9-b390-66ea969edc04/multani-sohan-halwa


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## mundiya

What we Saraikis call "sohan halvaa" is often called "DhoDaa" by other Punjabis and in Delhi.  I've heard of "habshii halvaa", but I don't use it.  I suspect it may be the same thing because of the colour.


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## littlepond

For me, this picture on Wiki does represent sohan halva colour.


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## mundiya

^ Interesting.  I don't know what we would call that or if it's even a part of Punjabi miThaa'ii. 

Wikipedia mentions that there is an Iranian confection called "sowhan".  It seems different from the two different types of sohan halvaa we've discussed here, but that could be where the name came from.  If Sapna jii reads this thread maybe she can tell us more about it.


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## eskandar

There is indeed an Iranian sweet called sowhaan (سوهان) which may be the source of the name. It is not exactly like the desi sohan I've had. This is what it typically looks like, though there are different kinds and سوهان بادامی (almond sowhaan) is not unlike what North Americans call almond brittle.


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## shahmukhi

*سوہن حلوا : حلوا کیہ ہے ایہہ تے سب جاندے ہن ، پر ایتھے فورم تے کسی نوں لفظ سوہن دا مطلب نہیں پتا۔ تے سنو سوہن، سوہنی توں نکلیا ہے ، گندم نوں پانی وچ تھوڑے دن لئی بھگو دتا جاندا ہے تے فیر جد ایہہ پُھٹ پیندی ہے تے ایہنوں خشک کر کے پیس لیا جاندا ہے تے ایہہ آٹا ” سوہنی ” کہلاندا ہے ۔ ایس آٹے نال ایہہ حلوا بندا ہے ایس لئی ایہہ حلوا سوہن حلوا کہلاندا ہے۔*​


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## Qureshpor

^ 
تہاڈی ایس گل چ تے کوئی شک نہیں پئی اِتھے کسے نوں وی سوہن لفظ دا صحیح پتا نہیں۔ پر تسیں سہانوں سوہنی دا کوئی ادبی حوالہ دے سکدے او؟ یا کسے ڈکشنری دا حوالہ؟ اساں تے اے لفظ بس ماہیوال دے نال جڑیا ہی سنڑیا اے۔


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## shahmukhi

حوالہ تے میرے کول کوئی نہیں ہے میں ایہہ ٹی وی تے سُنیا سی۔


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## Qureshpor

اسیں وی گھر وچ کنڑک سیڑ کے اودے وچوں چٹا ددھ آٹا کڈھ کے سناسترے یعنی نشاستے دیاں پنیاں بنڑا کے کھاندے رہے آں۔ پر کسے کولوں اے نہیں سنڑیا پئی ایس نوں سوہنڑی وی آکھدے نے۔ ہو سکدا اے ٹی وی والیاں کول کوئی سند ہووے۔ پر چنگھا ہوندا جے سہاڈے ادب وچوں کوئی حوالہ مل جاندا۔


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## shahmukhi

تسی جیہڑا طریقہ لکھیا ہے اوہ نشاستہِ دا ہے۔ کنک نوں پانی وچ تھوڑے دن لئی بھگو دتا جاندا ہے تے فیر جد ایہہ پُھٹ پیندی ہے تاں ایہنوں خشک کر کے پیس لیا جاندا ہے تے ایہہ آٹا ' سوہنی ' کہلاندا ہے۔


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## shahmukhi

ایہہ لنک چک کرو ، ایتھے سوہنی دا ذکر ہے بڑی مشکل نال مینوں تصدیق لئی کجھ ملیا ہے :

mypakdish.com/forum/showthread.php?1150-Dhoda-(Sohan-Halwa)


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## Qureshpor

اللہ تہاڈا بھلا کرے تے تہانوں ساریاں مشکلاں چوں دور رکھے۔ اُمید اے دوجے دوستاں واسظے وی تہاڈیاں گلاں فائدے مند ثابت ہویاں ہوونڑ گیاں۔


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## marrish

mundiya said:


> What we Saraikis call "sohan halvaa" is often called "DhoDaa" by other Punjabis and in Delhi.  I've heard of "habshii halvaa", but I don't use it.  I suspect it may be the same thing because of the colour.


Here is a recipe for "_sohan Halwaa_" where in the first two sentences _Habshii Halwaa_ is being described as its kind: یہ حلوا اس لیے حبشی حلوا کہلاتا ہے کیونکہ اس کی رنگت حبشیوں کی طرح سیاہ ہوتی ہے۔ یہ رنگت بادام کے جلے ہوئے چھلکوں سے دی جاتی ہے۔​


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## Sheikh_14

^Indeed, the two are often mixed and muddled by confectioners as well but from what my keen yet novice eye has discerned is that Habshi Halwa is of a much darker kind than sohan halwa and tends to be chewy either as a solid whole filled to the hilt of tin packaging or simply served as cubes. On the other hand, sohan halwas tend to be golden thence I would assume the name and are brittle rather than chewy, they break with a real Tak Tak clatter. They both originate I assume from the Seraiki belt, at least so far as recent history is concerned. As there properties differ so will their ingredients which fellow members would be far better equipped to pinpoint.


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## marrish

I can but faintly remember those things so all the credit goes to the author of the recipe  And in the least manner to me who searched for it... Bon appetite!


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