As far as I can tell, halwa baidh is a true micro-regional specialty happily existing off the international grid in Oman. Piqued your curiosity? Read on…
Today I am sharing an unusual and somewhat mysterious Omani recipe from Omar’s family. You’d be forgiven for assuming this is a citrus curd situation from the accompanying photos, but the sunny yellow confection actually owes its color solely to eggs! Halwa baidh is a rich, sweet breakfast spread or dip made from eggs and sugar, served with fresh bread and cream or cream cheese to round out the intense sweetness. Omar has very fond memories of his grandmother and aunts preparing halwa baidh for him as a child. When I had my wedding shower, I requested friends and family to share favorite recipes in lieu of gifts (are you surprised?) and Omar’s Aunt Fatima was kind enough to share her halwa baidh recipe.
Halawa/halwa (or halava/halva) is somewhat of an umbrella term for a variety of confections from the Middle East, and Western and South Asia with seemingly no common thread other than copious amounts of sugar – which makes sense, as the name is derived from the 3-letter Arabic root h-l-u, meaning “sweet”. The most commonly encountered halwa in the US is delicate, crumbly Middle Eastern/Israeli-style sesame halva, which also has become a popular brownie and cookie addition in the baking blogosphere in recent years. Other versions from the Balkans and Turkey are based on various grains, including semolina and wheat. And in the Indian subcontinent, “halwa” can refer to an enormous universe of pudding-like desserts, from carrot ghajar halwa to almond badam halwa. In the Arab gulf, however, halwa takes a turn towards softer, gelatinous confections, mostly based on ghee and sweetened with sugar, honey, dates or date syrup. One of the most (regionally) famous and treasured is Oman’s traditional halwa Omaniyah, a spiced jelly-like confection based on ghee, starch, and sugar and garnished with nuts and sesame seeds.
Baidh is the Arabic word for eggs, so halwa baidh is simply egg halwa. Unlike halwa Omaniyah, making it at home couldn’t be easier. Its the kind of treat you can whip up for a weekend breakfast that feels indulgent without too much effort, or as a quick and energy-packed suhour (pre-dawn breakfast) if you are fasting for Ramadan. It is simply eggs whisked with quite a lot of sugar, a small amount of oil, and cardamom if you like (I happen to love!). The hardest part is the 10-15 minutes you will spend stirring the halwa on the stove, which is 100% necessary if you don’t want to end up with sweet scrambled eggs. Your efforts will be rewarded with a a sweet, custardy confection, just begging to be thickly spread on warm bread.
So given its simplicity and composition of ubiquitous, inexpensive ingredients, what is so mysterious about Omani halwa baidh? I say it is mysterious because neither Omar nor I have been able to find any record of it outside of Oman and his family, and not for lack of trying! Numerous English and Arabic language searches invariably lead to articles and recipes for the more popular halwa Omaniyah. Searches for egg halva/halwa turned up recipes for a crumbly Pakistani dessert called anday ka halwa, which looks delicious but nothing like Omani halwa baidh. As far as we can tell, halwa baidh is a true micro-regional specialty existing happily off the international grid in Oman.
I always think about food origins the way linguists think about language families, as branching and diverging from what must have been a common root. But is halwa baidh a uniquely Omani terminal branch of the sprawling global halwa family tree? Or does it sit somewhere in the middle, having both descended from and given rise to other sweet confections in the many places Oman was connected to historically? The flavor and texture of halwa baidh does remind me of another famous sweet egg dessert, which leads me to an interesting hypothesis: Given that the Portuguese occupied Oman from 1515-1650, is it possible that halwa baidh is a regional adaptation of the pasteis de nata, the very same pastry that gave rise to the Hong-Kong style egg tart? The main evidence against this hypothesis is the lack of any dairy, while cream/milk are critical to both Portuguese and Hong Kong egg tarts. Dairy is not an uncommon ingredient in Omani cuisine, especially ghee as cooking fat, but I’m not sure at what point cow dairy became widely available. Did local cooks adapt pasteis de nata to only the most readily available local ingredients – sugar (traded from India) and eggs – prior to widespread adoption of dairy?
I have a lot of data to gather on our next trip to visit family, but until travel becomes a possibility, I would love to hear from anyone who has stumbled across this post and has made or encountered halwa baidh and what you think of my halwa hypothesis. Regardless of whether you think I’m onto something or grasping at straws, I hope you give halwa baidh a chance in your own kitchen. It’s too good to remain a mystery.
Omani Halwa Baidh
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 6 Tbsp white sugar
- 1/2 Tbsp neutral oil
- ground cardamom to taste
Directions
- Place all ingredients into a small saucepan and whisk until smooth*.
- Place over medium heat and stir continuously with a wooden spoon until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is gently steaming, about 5 minutes.
- Lower temperature to low heat and continue stirring until smooth and thickened to the consistency of pudding, about 10 more minutes. It is important not to stop stirring or you risk ending up with scrambled eggs!
- Serve with warm bread and cream cheese.
- Halwa baidh tastes best when freshly made and warm, but any leftover halwa will keep for a few days in an airtight container in the fridge.
- If you would like an extra smooth halwa baidh, strain the whisked raw egg mixture before placing over the heat to remove any bits of coagulated egg white.
