In the aftermath of the persecution and subsequent exile of the Iraqi Jews to the UK, Israel, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, and other parts of the former British Empire; the Iraqi Jews brought with them their culinary traditions to their new homes and continued to bake them as part of their Passover celebrations.
When cane sugar was brought back to Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East in the 1500s, it began to gradually supplant the traditional use of honey in most hadji bada recipes.
Iraqi Jews who remained in Iraq and the Indian subcontinent often only used almonds and added rose water, while Iraqi Jews living in nations such as the UK and USA, as well as the New World, would often make a plainer cookie with just ground almonds and walnuts, egg whites, cinnamon and sugar and dusted with icing sugar.
It is a common custom in Israel for Iraqi Jewish families to bake hadji bada and serve them at the Passover seder.
[8][9][10] Hadji bada are commonly baked at home and are also available from bakeries across Israel, as well as in the Iraqi Jewish diaspora in countries such as at United Kingdom, Singapore, and in cities such as London and Hong Kong.