Helva in English Halva is an easy dessert if you are limited in ingredients and don’t have time to make something special for yourself or your friends. Basically, you will need 4 ingredients to make Helva. You need butter, flour, sugar, and water. If you want to enrich your Helva, you can add pine nuts, walnuts, or pistachio to it and top it with cinnamon.
In Turkish cuisine, we have two types of Helva. The first one is Semolina Halva and the other one is Flour Halva. Both of them are usually served at funerals, but they are also known as family gathering desserts. They are the old-school type of desserts that we all love. When we say Helva, we usually mean Semolina Halva.
The Story of Helva
The word Helva came into Turkish cuisine from Arabic culture after Turks accepted the Islamic way of religious belief. In Arabic culture Hulv word means sweet. This dessert was prepared especially for Ottoman Sultans and their family members; however, on special dates such as Ramadan month, it is distributed to the people who are living nearby Sultan’s palace.
In Turkish culture, Helva dessert widely makes after funerals. When I was a kid, I wanted to learn why we are eating this delicious dessert after funerals and then I asked my grandmother. She told me that it is made to remember how sweet and kind that the deceased person is. At that time, I haven’t got the idea, but now it makes sense to remember your loved one as a kind and sweet person by eating a sweet dessert when they passed away.
If you want to eat this dessert, you can find it mostly at fish restaurants. Kebab restaurants usually offer Künefe dessert and fish restaurants offer Helva dessert. Basically, you need to know where to eat the specific dessert in Turkey.
Helva
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup sugar
- 50 g butter
- 1 cup semolina flour
- 1/4 cup walnuts or pine nuts
- 4 tbsp ground pistachio for topping
Instructions
Syrup
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Pour water and sugar in a pan and boil them. Simmer about 4-5 minutes at medium-low heat then remove from heat.
Helva
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In other large non-stick pan melt the butter first. Add the semolina flour and nuts then cook at medium-low heat about 20 minutes or until you see the golden color or smell the toasted aroma by stirring continually.
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When it is done lower the heat and pour the boiling syrup to the pan. You need to be very careful while pouring the syrup for not to burn your self as it may splash out little bit.
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Stir it as much as you can until smooth. When you see that it gets thicker than pudding, it means it is done.
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Remove from heat to a side and let it cool.
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Serve them in a small cups by shaping them with the help of spoon.
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Top it with ground pistachio and/or cinnamon.
Recipe Notes
Tip: Put a ball of ice cream on top at each serving.
