Persian Halva

Persian Halva

Category: Cooking/Baking

Halva is a Persian dessert made with mainly flour, sugar, saffron, and rose water. It is generally prepared for formal events, especially those that celebrate one’s life. That’s also exactly what inspired me to made this. After the passing of my grandmother two years ago, I found a recipe of Persian halva in her diary book. This year, for her memorial dinner, I decided to make the Halva based on that recipe.

First, I had to bake the flour for around 15 minutes as I boiled some water with saffron and sugar. Then, I added rose water to the flavored water. After the flour turned brown, I slowly added the water to the pan and started mixing on low heat. The mix hardened quickly, which let me put it into a dish for it to cool down. I, then, decorated the halva with pistachios.

But, all in all, it’s not always easy to make halva. For a second in the middle, I thought that the mix was going to stay watery. My mom was standing next to me with a disappointed face, telling me that I would have to remake it. However, after letting it boil for a little longer, it all came together. The mistake I made was that I poured the water in too quickly without stirring the mix first.