A falooda (فالودہ) stall in Kabul city, 1840 (c)

 

A falooda (فالودہ) stall in Kabul city (Afghanistan). The man on the left is a Hazara and is carrying snow, 1840 (c).

James Atkinson (the painter) writes:

"The stall where this delicacy is sold is very neatly and tastefully fitted up. A pillar of snow stands in one corner, a fountain plays behind it, while pots of flowers and loaves of sugar are arranged on either side. The month of May is the season for the Fulloodeh, which is a white jelly strained from whey, and drunk with sherbet and snow. So fond are the people of it that they call it “Rahut-i-jan,” or the solace of life, and in the hot season a draught of it si truly refreshing. One of the Huzzareh’s in the foreground is carrying snow for sale. In the winter these people collect it in pits, lined with chaff, where it is rammed down and covered over. When required during the summer, it is cut in pieces, and taken to market on men’s backs. Another with a pole slung over his shoulders supports a pile of earthenware vessels filled with butter-milk separated from each other by pieces of wood. A third holds a bag containing “root,” (dried curds pressed into hard lumps) some of which he is bargaining to exchange for bread with the baker’s boy seated near him."