morsels45

morsels45 said

Halva

Sesame, crumbly and far too sweet. One slice is plenty.

Halva
Photo: Shuhrenataxmedov, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. A photo of the dish, not of these exact recipes.

That was somebody else’s answer. Yours takes about twenty seconds: a handful of either-ors, then one dish.

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How to make halva

2 genuinely different takes — a classic, and a faster or lighter route. The same ones the app hands you once you have decided.

Tahini halva

25 minutes · serves 12 · Medium

What you need

  • 400g tahini, well stirred
  • 300g sugar
  • 100ml water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Pistachios

What you do

  1. 1Warm the tahini gently to about body temperature.
  2. 2Boil the sugar and water to 120C. A sugar thermometer is the difference between halva and toffee.
  3. 3Pour the syrup into the tahini in a thin stream, stirring, and keep stirring only until it thickens and turns matt — about 30 seconds. Over-stirring makes it grainy in the wrong way.
  4. 4Press into a lined tin with the pistachios, cover, and leave 12 hours before cutting.

Semolina halva

30 minutes · serves 8 · Easy

What you need

  • 200g coarse semolina
  • 150ml oil
  • 250g sugar
  • 600ml water
  • Cinnamon
  • Pine nuts

What you do

  1. 1Boil the sugar and water to a syrup, then set aside.
  2. 2Toast the semolina in the oil, stirring constantly, for 12 minutes until it is properly brown and smells of biscuits.
  3. 3Pour the hot syrup in — stand back, it erupts — and stir until it thickens.
  4. 4Lid on, off the heat, 15 minutes. Then spoon out and dust with cinnamon.