Oriental delicacies can leave few people indifferent. One of their most famous varieties is halva. It appeared in Iran before the beginning of our era and spread throughout the East. The name of this dessert appears in many fairy tales, sayings, sayings of Eastern sages, and evokes associations with something incredibly tasty. In our country, this delicacy is not in short supply, but halva prepared at home differs significantly from store-bought in taste, appearance, and beneficial properties. Despite the fact that in the East special confectioners are engaged in making halva, an ordinary housewife can easily cope with this task if she carefully follows the instructions accompanying the chosen recipe.
Cooking features
The technology for preparing homemade halva may vary slightly depending on the chosen recipe, but in general terms it looks like this: chopped nuts and seeds are fried separately, syrup, caramel or a similar sweet mixture is prepared separately, after which both parts of the dessert are combined, laid out in molds and are cooling down. In industrial production, a foaming agent is added to the composition (licorice extract, soap root, egg whites), thanks to which the halva is stratified, but when making a dessert at home, they often do without the listed components.
- From the description it is clear that the process of preparing homemade halva is not very complicated, but it still has a number of features that you should be aware of.
- Before use, seeds or nuts are well cleaned and dried in a dry frying pan. They are then crushed and fried again in a frying pan, often with flour. Oil is not used at these stages of dessert preparation, although it may be added later.
- You can grind seeds and nuts using a blender, meat grinder or coffee grinder. Experienced housewives are inclined to the latter option, but if you are preparing a large amount of halva, it is advisable to use a meat grinder.
- The basis for making halva can be any nuts or seeds. Sunflower seeds and peanuts are most often used as they are the cheapest, but no one forbids you to prepare a dessert from walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, and sesame seeds. Instead of sugar syrup, you can use a mixture prepared on the basis of condensed milk and honey. Cocoa and chocolate are often added to it.
- To prepare halva, it is better to use unrefined vegetable oil, then the dessert will be more flavorful and healthier.
- The molds are filled with halva while it is warm, after which it is cooled by pressing it with a press. Often the cargo is cans and bottles filled with water.
Usually halva is served cold or at room temperature, cut into pieces, but there are dessert options that are usually served hot. The serving method is usually indicated in the recipe itself.
Homemade halva
Sunflower seed halva
The most “native” taste and color of dessert for Russians. Try making it at home.
Ingredients:
- Sunflower seeds - 2-3 cups;
- Wheat flour - 1.5-2 cups;
- Sugar - 1-1.5 cups;
- Sunflower oil - half a glass;
- Good water.
Preparation:
Grind the seeds in a coffee grinder together with the husk to a paste-powder state. It is not advisable to do this with a blender - it will ruin the blades. At worst, if you don’t have a coffee grinder at home, you can use a meat grinder.
Prepare the syrup - add sugar to water, put it on the stove and boil until the taste of raw water disappears. Don't forget to remove the foam periodically. Remove the syrup from the stove and add butter to it.
Add flour to the seed paste and mix. You can once again turn the resulting mass through a meat grinder so that the future halva is airy. Add the paste to the syrup, stir and place in some form that allows you to use pressure pressing. We put the halva in the refrigerator to harden, put pressure on top.
And, - where is my big spoon?
***
Peanut halva
To prepare peanut halva you will need the following ingredients:
- Roasted peanuts - 2 cups;
- Flour - 1.5 cups;
- Sugar - 1 glass;
- Vanillin - 1 sachet.
Preparation:
Grind the peanuts in a coffee grinder, food processor, electric meat grinder, or grind through a meat grinder 3-4 times.
Fry the flour in a frying pan until golden brown. Mix with roasted peanuts (twisted) until evenly colored, pour a glass of oil into it all and mix well.
Pour sugar into an aluminum pan and add a glass of water, put on fire and let it boil. Be careful not to burn.
Pour the sugar syrup into the prepared mixture and stir as quickly as possible. Let cool. Let's enjoy the taste.
***
Sunflower halva with flour and sugar syrup
Compound:
- sunflower seeds (hulled) – 0.3 kg;
- wheat flour – 0.3 kg;
- water – 0.2 l;
- sunflower oil – 100 ml;
- sugar – 100 ml;
- vanillin – 2 g.
Cooking method:
- Fry the sunflower seeds for 3-5 minutes in a dry frying pan, making sure to stir them with a spatula.
- Pass the seeds through a meat grinder twice.
- In a dry frying pan (can be the same one in which the seeds were fried), fry the flour until a caramel color appears, add the seeds to it, stir. Wait a minute and remove from heat.
- Mix the flour and seeds with a blender, grinding them again.
- Boil water, add sugar to it. Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved and a couple of minutes after that.
- Remove the syrup from the heat, mix it with butter, add vanillin.
- In small portions, stirring well each time, add the mixture of seeds and flour into the syrup. Mix thoroughly so that the paste has a uniform consistency.
- Place in a mold that you can grease with oil beforehand. Cover with a plate and place a weight on top.
- Place in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.
Before serving, the halva must be removed from the mold and cut into convenient pieces.
Walnut halva
You will need:
- walnuts - 150 g,
- butter - 100 g,
- sugar - 200 g,
- milk - 400 ml,
- corn starch -15 gr.
Preparation:
Pour the milk into the pan, adding sugar. We are waiting for it to boil. Add corn starch diluted in milk (1 to 5) to the syrup and bring to a boil again. In this case, it is necessary to stir constantly so that lumps do not form.
Cleaning the walnuts. Cut the kernels in half and fry until dark brown.
The nuts then need to be placed in a pan, poured with syrup and the lid of the pan tightly closed. Place the pan on the fire and wait 20-30 minutes. Serve the halva hot.
Good luck in making halwa at home. Bon appetit!
Sunflower halva with condensed milk
Compound:
- peeled sunflower seeds – 150 g;
- sugar – 40 g;
- sunflower oil – 40 ml;
- condensed milk – 30 g.
Cooking method:
- Dry the sunflower seeds in a frying pan and grind them using a blender or coffee grinder.
- In a separate container, mash the butter, sugar and condensed milk until smooth.
- Combine the sweet mass with crushed sunflower seeds and mix everything as best as possible.
- Wrap the prepared mass in gauze and place it under a press.
Homemade semolina halva recipe
This dessert looks very beautiful and appetizing, so it’s impossible to resist tasting it.
Semolina halva turns out very tender and melts in your mouth. It can be an excellent alternative to semolina porridge, which not all children like. This halva can easily be prepared in a slow cooker. Melt 200 g of butter in a multicooker, set the heating mode, pour 100 g of pine nuts into the bowl, set the baking or frying mode for 30 minutes. After 5 minutes of frying the nuts, add 500 g of semolina to them and stir it periodically - as a result, the cereal should acquire a golden color. Pour 500 ml of milk into the semolina and add 500 g of sugar. Soon the halva will thicken, and when the multicooker gives a signal that cooking is complete, turn it off and wait 15 minutes. Place the semolina mass in a mold, put it in the refrigerator and, after hardening, cut into pieces. You can roll the halva into balls or cool it in molds. This dessert looks very beautiful and appetizing, so it’s impossible to resist tasting it!
Chocolate cake with cocoa
Peanut halva
Compound:
- peanuts – 0.4 kg;
- water – 60 ml;
- sugar – 0.2 kg;
- wheat flour – 0.3 kg;
- vanilla sugar – 10 g.
Cooking method:
- Fry the peanuts in a dry frying pan for 7 minutes, then turn them through a meat grinder several times.
- Fry the flour in a dry frying pan until caramelized.
- Combine flour with peanut crumbs.
- In a small container, combine water, regular sugar and vanilla. Simmer this mixture over low heat, stirring until the crystals are completely dissolved.
- Combine all components, turning them into a homogeneous mass.
- Place the resulting mass in the mold and keep it under pressure for 3-4 hours.
When combining the ingredients, you can add several uncrushed nuts to the halva; they will look good when cut when you serve the delicacy to the table.
The best homemade recipes
Real oilseed halva does not contain flour; to make it correctly, you need to know not only the products included in the composition, but also the manufacturing technology.
Homemade sunflower halva recipe
Products:
- sunflower seeds – 500 g;
- sugar – 250 g;
- vanillin – 1 pack;
- egg - 1 white;
- water – 70 ml.
Preparation:
- Fry the seeds in a cast iron frying pan. Turn the heat to medium and fry for 10-15 minutes until golden brown and smells pleasant.
- Place the sunflower seeds in a cup and puree them using a hand blender. There should be no grains in the finished mass.
- Syrup is boiled from sugar and water to a temperature of 120 °C. To check readiness, a drop of the mass is dipped into cold water; it should harden and become viscous.
- Whisk the egg white until it reaches a white, stable foam. Then, without turning off the mixer, pour the finished syrup into the protein mass.
- Combine the ground mass of seeds, vanillin and protein caramel in one bowl. Stir with a spoon, lifting it as high as possible to make the halva fibrous.
- When the mass becomes homogeneous, transfer it to a mold and put it in the refrigerator to harden for 10 minutes.
Homemade halva tastes very aromatic, not too sweet. Those with a sweet tooth should add more sugar. In this halva, before transferring it into a mold and putting it in the refrigerator, you can put raisins, cocoa or pieces of dried apricots.
Sunflower halva with added sesame
Products:
- sunflower seeds, peeled and fried – 350 g;
- sesame – 50 g;
- liquid honey - how much the seeds will take.
Preparation:
- Sesame and seeds are ground in a coffee grinder.
- Transfer to a bowl.
- Add enough liquid honey so that you can knead the mass like a tight, homogeneous dough.
- Wrap the resulting halva in cling film and place it in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Homemade halva is very tasty, filling and healthy. It emanates the aroma of honey and fresh seeds. The ratio and quantity of sesame and sunflower can be changed at your discretion.
Chocolate peanut halva
Compound:
- peanuts – 0.42 kg;
- rye flour – 0.32 kg;
- vanilla sugar – 10 g;
- dark chocolate – 90 g;
- vegetable oil – 0.2 l;
- sugar – 0.2 kg;
- water – 100 ml.
Cooking method:
- Dry the peanuts in a frying pan and grind them in any convenient way to the consistency of dust.
- Fry the rye flour in a dry frying pan for 5–10 minutes. Mix with chopped nuts.
- Make syrup from water and sugar, including vanilla.
- Melt the chocolate separately and mix it with vegetable oil.
- Add syrup to chocolate and mix thoroughly.
- Add peanuts and flour to the resulting mixture, stir until a homogeneous consistency is obtained.
- Divide the halva into small molds and cool.
If you used small molds (for muffins or similar), then before serving, just remove the dessert from them; it is not necessary to cut it.
1Beneficial properties of halva
Halva has a unique nutritional value; its beneficial properties directly depend on its composition. They recognize sunflower, sesame and peanut halva.
- Sunflower halva is made from sunflower seeds, which are deservedly considered a natural preservative. This halva is valuable for its vitamin B1 and F content, thus having a beneficial effect on the functioning of the heart and digestive tract and stabilizing acidity. Very useful for nursing mothers, improves the quality and quantity of lactation.
- Vitamin F improves the condition of skin and hair, and is also necessary for those who suffer from excess cholesterol.
- Peanut halva is a source of folic acid, which is primarily necessary for pregnant women. Also, folic acid promotes cell renewal.
- Peanuts are an excellent preventive remedy that has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the cardiovascular system.
- Sesame (tahini) halva has a beneficial effect on the nervous system and improves blood circulation. This halva is rich in various macro-, microelements and vitamins, and therefore is widely popular.
- Recently, combined halva has been found, for example, sesame mixed with walnuts or peanuts, sunflower seeds with almonds, etc. Also an excellent combination of nuts and candied fruits. Recently, glazed halva has appeared, and an oriental sweet with chocolate is also popular; although it is a high-calorie product, it is very tasty.
In order for the product to be stored longer, halva manufacturers often add various preservatives, which have an adverse effect on the human body, so it is better to use homemade halva, which is very easy to make.
