Barfe.The Malayii that creamed childhood.
Science weds simplicity
”Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge”, said Carl. Undeniably it is, uneducated village dwellers in India, learned to make ice cream when the concept of a refrigerator or chilling machine was unheard of. Barfe or Malayi, the local ice cream is made in and around district Kangra of Himachal Pradesh. It caught up with the pace of technology more than 70 years ago. The mixture of milk, sugar, and cardamon was cooked and then frozen in the running water with the help of CO2. It is still being made analogously till date.
Bhoomi Singh , the Barfe wala.
himachalwire.in got chance to touch base and interact with one of the sellers. Barfe-malayi….came a voice. The instant reaction to it was..uncle bade dino baad aaye? The old man with a teensy wooden box was asked to enter a house. After he did, he had devoted patrons sitting around him. Barfe was shawled inside the coils of a blanket in the wooden box. The servings were made after he measured small portions of it in a traditional weighing machine. The delicious milk and cardamon ice-cream was served on a fresh green leaf. Bhoomi Singh follows a set routine for 30 years now.
Scientific Simplicity of Indian villages.
The day starts with cooking a mixture of milk cardamon and sugar and then freezing it in the nearby stream with the help of CO2. It takes around four and a half hours of his day.Every morning he sets up his local made technology in the mid of the running water and returns home to have his breakfast .Once he is ready for his regular ferry , he returns to the stream.By this time the mixture has frozen into delicious ice cream. He was taught this by a friend years back. Since then every day he has been making and selling it in and around Kangra, Dharamshala, and Maclodganj.”I have fixed customers. At times tourist also tries my ice cream. They look astonished by the ice cream in my small wooden box without a cooling mechanism.
Childhood treasure box.
This article is a fiesta of honeyed childhood flashback for all those who have devoured kilograms of ice creams from a pint-sized wooden box. Barfe is the regional made ice cream in Kangra, Palampur and Dharamshala area. So common and cherished that they sell it 365 days despite rain or snow.. The moment my weighing machine comes out, my interview starts,” laughed Bhoomi Singh.
The local ice cream is a bond of health and trust .”Every household welcomes me. From the eldest member to the youngest one are all found of Barfe. The kids who ate my ice cream have their kids now.All of them together sit near me and eat Barfe”. It is a mix of the old and new which has made it’s way to new from the old. Changing time and growing technology has made the simplicity of Barfe a novelty. So, This time when you visit, do not miss the taste of perfect joy…Barfe.
