Recipe: Helva [edit]

Other Names: Dessert, Ramadan Food, Middle Eastern, Turkish

Photo: Flickr user

Photo helpful? Yes No

See all photos...

Edited by: Melissa Peterman

Related Blogposts

Bloggers, have you written about Helva? Add a widget!

blog.foodista.com

August 20, 2009

full post | More from this user

Related Content

Wikipedia

{|class="wikitable" align="right" |- ! colspan="2" align="center" bgcolor="#CCCCCC" | Halva |- | colspan="2" align="center" | ''Balkan style tahini-based halva with pistachios'' |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Albanian (Shqip) | colspan="1" align="right" | hallvё, hallva |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Arabic (عربي) | colspan="1" align="right" | (''ḥalāwa'') حلاوة |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Armenian (Հայերեն) | colspan="1" align="right" | հալվա (''halva'') |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Azeri (Azəri) | colspan="1" align="right" | halva |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Bengali (বাংলা) | colspan="1" align="right" | হালুয়া (''halua'') |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Bosnian (Bosanski) | colspan="1" align="right" | halva(''halva'') |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Bulgarian and Russian(Български & Русский) | colspan="1" align="right" | халва (''khalva'') |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Burmese() | colspan="1" align="right" | (''hàlawà'') |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Czech(Česky) | colspan="1" align="right" | chalva |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Cypriot Greek(Κυπριακή διάλεκτος) | colspan="1" align="right" | χαλουβάς (''haluvas'') |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Estonian (Eesti) | colspan="1" align="right" | halvaa |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Finnish (Suomi) | colspan="1" align="right" | halva |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Georgian (ქართული) | colspan="1" align="right" | ჰალვა |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Greek (Ελληνικά) | colspan="1" align="right" | χαλβάς (''chalvás'') |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Hebrew (עברית‎) | colspan="1" align="right" | (''halvah'') חלבה |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Hungarian (Magyar) | colspan="1" align="right" | halva |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Hindi (हिंदी) | colspan="1" align="right" | हल्वा (''halvā'') |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Kurdish (كوردی) | colspan="1" align="right" | helaw |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Lithuanian (Lietuvių) | colspan="1" align="right" | chalva |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Macedonian and Serbian(македонски & српски) | colspan="1" align="right" | алва (''alva'') |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Malayalam (മലയാളം) | colspan="1" align="right" | അലുവ(''aluva'') |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Maltese (Malti) | colspan="1" align="right" | ħelwa tat-Tork |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Marathi (मराठी) | colspan="1" align="right" | हलवा (''halavā'') |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Persian (فارسى) | colspan="1" align="right" | حلوا (''halva'') |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Polish (Polski) | colspan="1" align="right" | chałwa |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Romanian (Română) | colspan="1" align="right" | halva |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Slovenian (Slovenščina) | colspan="1" align="right" | helava |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Slovak(Slovensky) | colspan="1" align="right" | chalva |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Somali (Soomaali) | colspan="1" align="right" | حلوو (''halwo'') |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Sinhalese (Sinhala) | colspan="1" align="right" | aluwa |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Tamil (தமிழ்) | colspan="1" align="right" | அல்வா(''alva'') |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Turkish (Türkçe) | colspan="1" align="right" | helva |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Ukrainian (Українська) | colspan="1" align="right" | халва (''halva'') |- | colspan="1" align="left" | Urdu (اردو) | colspan="1" align="right" | حلوہ (''halvā'') |} ''Halva'' (or ''halawa'', ''halaweh'', ''ħelwa'', ''halvah'', ''halava'', ''helava'', ''helva'', ''halwa'', ''aluva'') refers to many types of dense, sweet confections, across the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, the Balkans, and the Jewish world. This term is used to describe two types of desserts: *Flour based: This type of halva is slightly gelatinous and made from grain flour, typically semolina. The primary ingredients are oil, flour, and sugar. *Nut-butter based: This type of halva is crumbly and usually made from Tahini (sesame paste) or other nut butters, such as sunflower seed butter. The primary ingredients are nut-butter and sugar. Halva may also be based on numerous other ingredients, including sunflower seeds, various nuts, beans, lentils, and vegetables such as carrots, pumpkins, yams, and squashes.

Comments

You need to sign in or sign up to leave a comment.

Yield: 10

[edit] Ingredients

1	cup sugar
1	cup milk
1	cup water
½	cup butter
1	cup farina (cream of wheat)
½	cup pine nuts (pignolia)
¼	teaspoon cinnamon
1	cup heavy cream, whipped with 1 tablespoon sugar

[edit] Preparation

Step 1	Bring the sugar, milk, and water to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool.
Step 2	In a heavy pot, melt the butter and sauté the farina and the nuts until light brown. Do this slowly, over low heat for 20 minutes or more, stirring constantly. Be careful not to burn the farina.
Step 3	Add the milk mix and the cinnamon to the sautéed nuts and farina, stirring constantly. Lower heat, stir and simmer until thick, about 5 minutes.
Step 4	Remove from the heat, cover, and stir from time to time. After 10 minutes, turn into a lightly buttered mold. Chill overnight. Unmold, sprinkle with additional cinnamon. Slice thinly and serve with whipped cream.