J
jayd
looks very nice mufflon. all i can get local is crap low grade maroc
No, Afghanistan has no commercial production of hand-rubbed charas. This is all gardah and cooked charas overthere. By the way, the word charas is not used only for hand-rubbed resin, but also for sieved resin after it's been cooked, in Afghanistan/Pakistan.
Practically indeed as it rather seems to be a Turkestani practice, the industry moving Southward to Afghanistan after the Russian Revolution. Although the shrine of baba Kuh (the one holy man who is said to have "invented" charas) is near Balkh.
Hand-pressin is actually just one of several traditionnal ways, the one for private use, easy & quick to do. For larger quantities there are larger presses, the traditionnal ones consisting into a large stone mortar underwhich a fire is lit, when the mortar is hot enough, the gardah is poured in the bowl and a heavy stone is manned by one, two, or more people so as to pound the gardah while it is cooked and turn it into charas.
More than you think actually, but the good one mostly goes to neighbouring countries, such as Pakistan and Turkestan nations, Iran & Middle-East countries (Saudi & Emirates) plus Russia, and also Czech Rep for some reason...
I'd rather say it made it to expand as dry sifting is also a traditionnal techniques in the Himalaya. What made it to reach such an extent would rather be the Western influence, through the travellers who've brought with them sieving bags & cloths.
There is commercial export, definitely, but the quantities are nowhere near that of the Moroccan production, making charas a treat indeed, an expensive treat... A pretty large chunk of the Himachali production ends up in Italy (actually, if you know where to look, on Google Earth, you can even spot the house some mafia guy got built in the middle of Parvati valley ganja fields, so as to control the work being done by Nepalese seasonnal migrant workers. Big money to be made up there !
Indeed, depressing it is. So much have been lost, but there still is a lot to preserve ! For how long... ?
Some Kashmiri Twisted Gardah here from 2007, my I love this stuff ! Sorry for pic quality...
Irie !