- 4 cups of water
- 3 cups of brown sugar
- 2 cups of semolina (1 cup coarse semolina and 1 cup fine)
- 3/4 cup of vegetable oil
- the zest of 3 oranges
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves
- 150 g almond slivers, toasted
- mint leaves, for serving (optional)
- Greek strained yogurt, or ice cream, for serving (optional)
Greek Halvah
40 minutes
Preparation Time
Family
Portion(s)
2
Difficulty
Method
- Toast the almond slivers in a pan over medium heat. Stir continuously since they burn easily. Set aside until needed.
- Place a non-stick pot over low heat. Add the vegetable oil, fine semolina and coarse semolina.
- Sauté and stir the mixture continuously for about 10 minutes, until the semolina becomes golden brown. Do not rush this process since semolina burns easily.
- Sauteeing the semolina gives it a rich and nutty flavor.
- When ready, add the brown sugar, water, orange zest, cinnamon and cloves.
- Stir for another 10 minutes until the mixture thickens and start to bubble. You will know it is ready when it starts to pull away from the bottom of the pan.
- Add the almonds and stir.
- Transfer mixture to a 20 cm cake pan and press it in to the pan to give your halvah a nice shape. You can hit the cake pan on a hard surface to make sure the mixture settles and no gaps are left and your halvah is nice and compact.
- Turn it out after 5 minutes.
- Halvah can be eaten warm or cold. Serve it with a some Greek strained yogurt or ice cream, some orange zest and mint leaves.
Tip
Keep a close eye on the semolina while cooking. If it looks like it might burn, simply lower the heat!
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