Chalva (halvah, halveh, halwa …)

Chalva has many uses in sweet cuisine, for example to enhance the flavours of porridges, glazes, for decorating, or just to eat, for example with tea or coffee.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sesame seeds

. 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts 2 tablespoons raisins finely chopped 1.5 tablespoons honey

Procedure:

1. Dry roast the sesame seeds until light brown and grind them in a coffee grinder when cool
2. Add the nuts, raisins and honey (you can use other ingredients, like cocoa or chocolate, etc., depending on what kind of challah you want)
3. With a flexible spatula, work into a heavy mass resembling a thick, fatty dough
4. Shape the mass into balls or strips (about 12 balls or 3 strips from the given amount), or leave it whole and put it in a mould lined with food paper 5. Leave the chalva in the fridge to set.

Recommendation:

When the whole challah has set, cut it into slices.

Note:

Not only in Turkey, but also in Greece, Macedonia, Tunisia or Egypt, and in other countries (especially with Arabic culture) we can meet chalva as a sweet dessert. The sweet flavour is usually complemented by vanilla, cocoa and various types of nuts, most often pistachios. There are also varieties filled with dried or candied fruit. There is also Russian chalva, which is flavoured with molasses, so it is not as sweet.