Ingredients
The base
- 400 gplain flour
- 250 gbutter or ghee
- or 250 ml oil
Syrup
- 350 gsugar
- 250 mlwater
- a pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoonlemon juice
To flavour
- 1 teaspoonground cardamom
- a pinch of saffron, optional
- 1 teaspoonvanilla, optional
Nuts
- 100 gwalnuts, chopped
- or 100 g pistachios
- or 100 g almonds
To serve
- green tea
- a shallow tray or dish
Directions
- Butter or ghee gives the best flavour of all. Oil gives a lighter and more neutral result. Reducing it gives a dry and dusty sweet. Put the sugar and water in a small pan. Add the pinch of salt and the lemon juice. Lemon juice stops the sugar crystallising later. Warm it until all the sugar has dissolved. Bring it up to a boil for three minutes.
- Keep it hot beside the main pan. Melt the butter in a wide heavy pan. Use a medium low heat throughout. Add the flour to it all at once. Stir it immediately with a wooden spoon. Stirring it takes real and constant effort. Stir it without stopping for the whole time.
- Flour sinks and catches within seconds. Give it a good twenty-five minutes of stirring. Take it off before it goes properly dark brown. Adding the syrup takes real care and attention. Take the pan off the heat entirely first. Pour the hot syrup in very slowly indeed. Stand well back from the pan as you pour.
- Stir hard the whole time you are pouring. Hot syrup meeting hot fat boils instantly. Use a long-handled spoon if you have one. Keep children well away from the pan. Return the pan to a low heat again.
- Stir it steadily and continuously. Give it another ten or fifteen minutes. Stir in the cardamom and the saffron. Add the vanilla if you are using it. Stir in most of the chopped nuts.
- Keep some of them back for the top. Setting it takes a few hours of waiting. Grease a shallow tray with a little butter. Tip the hot halva into the tray. Press it out flat with a greased spoon.
- Work quickly, since it stiffens as it cools. Press the remaining nuts into the surface. Let it cool completely at room temperature. Give it at least three hours to set firm. Cut it into small diamonds or squares. Use a sharp knife wiped between the cuts. Serving it is done in small pieces only. Layer it with paper so it does not stick.
Technique
- Halvaitar in Uzbekistan is poured out liquid while halvo in Tajikistan is cooked much further until thick enough to set and cut; the two are the same idea at different stages, with more cooking and less liquid giving the firmer one.
- Every region of Tajikistan makes its own version, from pale soft pastes to dark sliceable blocks, and there is no single correct recipe.
- Hot syrup meeting hot fat boils instantly and throws steam and fat upwards, so take the pan off the heat, pour very slowly, stand well back and use a long-handled spoon.
Substitutions
- Oil can replace butter or ghee, giving a lighter and more neutral result.
- Walnuts, pistachios and almonds all work equally well.
Variations
- Some regions make it pale and soft and others dark and firm.
- Halvaitar is the pourable version of the same idea.
- Similar flour halvas are made across Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan.
History
Toasted flour cooked with oil and sugar into a dense sweet paste.
Frequently asked questions
What is Halvo?
Halvo is a dessert from Tajikistan: dense flour-sugar-oil sweet in many regional styles. Toasted flour cooked with oil and sugar into a dense sweet paste.
How long does Halvo take to make?
Halvo takes 15 minutes of preparation and 50 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes one tray, about 24 pieces. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Halvo?
Yes, within limits. Oil can replace butter or ghee, giving a lighter and more neutral result. Walnuts, pistachios and almonds all work equally well.
What is the most important thing to get right in Halvo?
Keep it hot beside the main pan. Melt the butter in a wide heavy pan. Use a medium low heat throughout. Add the flour to it all at once. Stir it immediately with a wooden spoon. Stirring it takes real and constant effort. Stir it without stopping for the whole time.
