Halva recipe

Oriental sweet called halva occupies a leading place in the countries of the East, and in other countries it does not lag behind the popularity of chocolate, cakes and pastries. There are several varieties of this dessert: sunflower, pistachio, peanut and sesame. These are the most basic types; manufacturers also produce halva in chocolate, or with the addition of cocoa, raisins and candied fruits.

How to prepare halva

For many years, the recipe for the oriental sweet was a secret, passed down only from generation to generation by those who were directly involved in the production of halva. The delicacy is prepared by whipping caramel molasses with ground nuts or seeds. In industrial production, manufacturers add a natural foaming agent.

Seeds and nuts are initially cleaned of peels and impurities by friction against the walls of a special container. Then they are peeled from the shells and washed with water. Next, heat treatment is carried out - the raw materials are dried and fried at temperatures up to 300 degrees. Oils and beneficial properties remain, and moisture evaporates.

Using an extruder, seeds or nuts are ground to a paste 2-4 times. In large productions, caramel is made from water, granulated sugar and molasses. It is needed for the plasticity and sweetness of the future halva. The molasses is boiled to a thick and viscous consistency, adding a foaming agent at the end.

After this, the nut or sunflower mass is mixed with caramel and kneaded with your own hands or using a special mixing machine until it becomes solid and crumbly. After this, the finished product is packaged.

Ingredients for halva

Initially, halva was made from roasted and ground nuts or sesame seeds with the addition of a small amount of honey. Occasionally chicken eggs were added to the mass to make the halva more airy. Then they began to replace honey with granulated sugar, making sugar syrup from it and adding it to the main ingredient. It became easier, cheaper and more accessible, since honey was not cheap at all. Nuts were also not cheap, so they began to replace them with sunflower seeds, which became the root cause of the mass production of sunflower halva. And the nut options have become simply variations from the main, sunflower halva.

Today, sweets also include various foaming agents, most often licorice root or marshmallow root. Modern producers of oriental sweets add candied fruits, raisins, cocoa, vanilla, and chocolate to halva. Before purchasing, you should carefully study the packaging and composition. Natural halva is stored for no more than 60 days; if the expiration date is indicated for more than two months, then the manufacturers probably add harmful additives and preservatives, which is not very beneficial for the body.

Halva recipe

Easy sunflower halva recipe

What is needed:

• 300 g peeled raw sunflower seeds;
• a couple of spoons of liquid honey.

How to cook:

1. Heat a dry frying pan and add the seeds.
2. Fry, stirring constantly, for no more than a minute.
3. Pour the seeds into a blender and grind, then continue beating until the mixture becomes moist.
4. Add honey and beat a little more.
5. Make balls, cubes, sticks, or simply transfer the mass into a container. Place in a cool place for 2-3 hours.

Peanut sweetness

What is needed:

• a glass peanuts and dates;
• half a glass of honey;
• glass of water;
• a couple of spoons of raisins.

How to cook:

1. Remove the pits from the dates and steam with water until softened, then grind into a puree mixture.
2. Grind the peanuts in a blender, mix with dates and knead.
3. Pour in honey and some of the raisins, stir.
4. Make a briquette from the mass, or simply put it in a plastic mold, close it and put it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Milk-pistachio halva

What is needed:

• 1.5 glasses of peeled pistachios;
• a couple of large spoons of milk;
• half a glass of granulated sugar;
• 5 tablespoons of butter.

How to cook:

1. Pour boiling water over the nuts for 20-30 minutes.
2. Grind with a blender, adding milk.
3. Add granulated sugar and mix thoroughly.
4. Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the nut mixture, and, stirring, cook for a quarter of an hour until thick.
5. Transfer to a cup and leave to cool.

Halva with cognac

What is needed:

• a couple of glasses of sunflower seeds, peeled and not roasted;
• 4 tablespoons each of flour and granulated sugar;
• a pinch of salt;
• half a glass of hot water;
• a couple of spoons cognac, or Roma;
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil without aroma.

How to do:

1. Heat a dry frying pan and fry the seeds in it for literally 1-1.5 minutes.
2. Grind the seeds with a blender.
3. In the same frying pan, fry the flour until a nice golden hue.
4. Add granulated sugar, salt and water to the flour, mix thoroughly and add to the ground seeds.
5. Pour in the oil and alcohol and whisk a little.

Peanut halva

What is needed:

• a packet of vanillin;
• 1.5 glasses of flour;
• a glass of granulated sugar;
• a couple of glasses of roasted peanuts;
• a third of a glass of water.

How to cook:

1. Pass the nuts through a meat grinder or blender.
2. Fry the flour until golden brown.
3. Make syrup from water and granulated sugar.
4. Combine flour, vanillin, ground nuts, butter.
5. Pour in syrup and knead.
6. Transfer to a container and cool.