I always describe my blog as a baking blog with a Persian twist so, here is another entry of a Persian sweet. As a kid I remember halva wrapped in lavash, and as a teenager I remember it sandwiched in ice cream wafers (wafers soaked and soggy!). As an adult, I yearn for a halva that is moist and dark with delicately balanced flavours. Let me pause here to insert a disclaimer ... I do not claim halva to be of the Persian origin ... I think as we grow wiser or perhaps older, we certainly do develop a sense of perfection and in essence a sense of originality. That is why in my case I look to the past and try to utilise the knowledge of the past for my own sense of achievement, originality and perfection. This is when I feel without my mother's knowledge I would be struggling to perfect my Persian baking.
I have had many bad halvas as much as I have had many bad coffees! Halva with rice flour, wheat flour, semolina, coconut, carrots, and to all of them I have given E for EFFORT! Halva consists of very humble ingredients as much as the same could be said of the humble scone. Take toasted flour, butter, sugar and water and a few spices and turn it into a gooey brown caramelised velvety concoction. So, I am braving myself to give out a tested and tried recipe and my words of wisdom for a halva that is fit to be classified as a Persian halva.
Take 2 cups of standard flour and place it in a large fry pan (most fry pans are suitable, only avoid heavy copper based ones). Turn the heat on low and stir. Remember flour burns quickly so keep stirring until the flour turns into chickpea colour and taste it. If it tastes burnt, you have to start over. This process will take at least 20 minutes.
Take 2 cups of standard flour and place it in a large fry pan (most fry pans are suitable, only avoid heavy copper based ones). Turn the heat on low and stir. Remember flour burns quickly so keep stirring until the flour turns into chickpea colour and taste it. If it tastes burnt, you have to start over. This process will take at least 20 minutes.
While you do the toasting, place 2 cups of water with 1 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup rosewater in a sauce pan. Bring it to the boil. Let it boil for 5 minutes on high. This sugar syrup is a very runny sugar syrup.
Once you toasted the flour, turn the gas off and sieve it twice through a very fine sieve. Return it back to the fry pan and turn the gas on low. Add about 200g butter and fry the flour in the butter, stirring continuously until it turns into medium brown colour, add cardamom just before you turn the gas off.
Add the sugar syrup slowly to the flour mix and mix with a large wooden spoon and smooth out the lumps with the back of the spoon. If the halva is too dry for your liking, add a little boiling water. Place in a platter and use cookie cutters to cut them into shapes once cold.
You can play around with the butter and sugar content. You can also replace butter with any cooking oil (except olive oil) for extra moistness. Feel free to add saffron to your sugar syrup. Always stick to the ratios for a perfect halva ... Double or triple it if you need larger quantities.
Flour 1 Cup
Sugar 1/2 Cup
Butter 1/2 Cup
Water 1 Cup
