Persian Halva

Halva حلوا means ‘ sweet’ in Arabic language. Halva is a kind of sweet, dense and rich desserts, usually made with plain flour – wheat flour – rice and semolina flour but might be made with vegetables such as carrots or pumpkins as well, mixed with sugar, saffron, rose water, cardamom or cinnamon.

This pleasant dessert in every city and town is prepared differently and garnishing with slivered almonds, shredded coconuts or chopped pistachios.

Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
½ cup butter
1 cup water
¼ cup rose water

1/3tsp ground cardamom
1 cup white sugar or brown sugar
1tbsp Saffron (if saffron is not available use 1/4 tsp turmeric)

Preparation
In a pot with water, add sugar. Combine together and bring it to a boil. Add saffron water or turmeric. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes , then add rose water. Set aside to cool.

Place a pan on a low heat, and melt the butter. Pour flour into the pan. Stir the flour continuously until it turns into a brown colour. Slowly pour the sugar syrup in the flour- butter mixture and Stir it for 1-2 minutes until thickened.
Serve halva in dish and garnish with almond powder or pistachios and coconut powder.

Published by rozinaspersiankitchen

Hello everyone, my name is Rozina. I am Iranian with Azerbaijani roots. I was raised in Iran but I am living in Scotland. I am passionate about cooking and preparing meals for my family and friends. I tell them the story behind the meal, the pronunciation of their Iranian name and the spices that used in Persian cuisine. I am a photographer, a cooking teacher, and very interested to introduce Persian and Azerbaijani meals, desserts and beverages to people from different cultures, as I love to try food from all over the world. Iranian cuisine is a combination of rice with meat ( chicken, beef, lamb, fish, turkey), nuts, fruits, dried and fresh herbs and vegetables. Iranian food is a celebration of flavor, colour and spices such as: saffron, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, dried rose petals, dried limes, cumin, .... I share my recipes in Farsi/English along with step by step photos of preparation. I take all my own pictures. I have learned my traditional Persian and Azerbaijani recipes from my lovely mother, and she has learned from her mother. Over the years, I have experimented and learned more recipes. Some of my recipes are a fusion Western and Middle Eastern cuisine. Some are forgotten from Persian cooking tables and I try with posting and sharing those ones, to preserve them. All my recipes and pictures are property of rozinaspersiankitchen. I would be pleased if you would mention my site if you wish to use any of them. So, if you are interested to know about Persian /Azerbaijani food taste, you can try my website. I will be glad to hear your ideas about my recipes. :) Thank you for visiting my website. View more posts