Halva with Semolina and Saffron

27-06-2012

Preparation time: 1 hour

Serves: 10

500 g semolina
200 g butter
350 g sugar
500 ml water
Zest of one lime or lemon
Juice of one lemon
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
3-4 cloves
3-4 cardamom pods
2 pinches saffron
100 g raisins
50 g of other dried fruits - cherries, blueberries
100 g raw walnuts
100 g raw almonds
3 tbsp sunflower seeds
3 tbsp coconut flakes

Separately toast walnuts, almonds and sunflower seeds in a hot skillet. Put them to cool on separate household papers. When cooled – roughly chop the almonds; slightly grind the nuts with hands to remove the skins and also chopped them.

Put the water, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, saffron, cloves and cardamom in a deep saucepan and place on the stove at medium temperature. Bring to a boil over low heat about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Then remove from heat and set aside.

Grease the form which you will use for the halva with butter. I used a round pie form with a diameter of about 25 cm and a height of 5-6 cm.

Cut the butter into cubes and place over medium heat in a deep non-stick pan to melt. When the oil starts boiling add semolina. Mix until crumbs are formed. Fry semolina tilll golden, stirring constantly. When finished, turn off the heat.

Strain the syrup through a strainer. Gradually add to semolina mixture, stirring vigorously. Add chopped almonds, walnuts, dried fruit and lemon juice. Stir until the mixture becomes homogeneous. It is important to work quickly and vigorously, because the syrup is absorbed very quickly from semolina. Do not worry if the mixture seems very thick and sticky, it is important to cover all dry parts.

Pour mixture into the greased form and distribute evenly. Sprinkle with lemon zest, coconut flakes and sunflower seeds. Allow to cool and then store in refrigerator. Serve on the next day.

Cut into pieces, halva can be stored for a week in a firmly tight container in the refrigerator.

Conclusion: Semolina halva was something served very often when I was in the kinder garden. My apologies to the cook, but it was disgusting. Since then, I haven’t thought of it as something which I will ever try again. But recently, I saw a recipe in the "Menu" magazine for halva with saffron. And then, I remembered that I have a small box of saffron and I said “why not?” . And I did not regret - It was very delicious ;)

Enjoy,

Desi

Products:
semolina
dairy » butter
nuts » almond
nuts » walnut

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