1. Etymology

2. Types
    Flour-based  Semolina  Cornstarch  Rice flour  Nut butter-based  Sesame  Sunflower  Other  Floss halva 

3. Cultural use
    Azerbaijan  India  Iran  Israel  United States 

4. Cultural references

5. See also

6. References

Halva (also halvah, halwa,^[1][2] and other spellings) is any of various dense, sweet confections made in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.^[3] It is also served in the Caucasus, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Balkans, Eastern and Western Europe, Malta and in the Jewish diaspora. In some Indian cultures, the dish is known as a soup-based sweet. Identical sweets exist in other countries, such as China, though these are not generally referred to as "halva". The first known written halvah recipe appeared in the early 13th century Arabic Kitab al-Tabikh [The Book of Dishes].

In global, popular usage it means "desserts" or "sweet", and describes two types of desserts:

Flour-based

This type of halva is slightly gelatinous and made from grain flour, typically semolina (suji- India). Its primary ingredients are clarified butter (ghee), flour, and sugar.

Nut butter-based

This type of halva is crumbly and usually made from tahini (sesame paste) or other nut butters, such as sunflower seed butter. Its primary ingredients are nut butter and sugar.

Halva may also be based on various other ingredients, including beans, lentils, and vegetables such as carrots, pumpkins, yams and squashes.^[4]

Halva can be kept at room temperature with little risk of spoilage. However, during hot summer months, it is better kept refrigerated, as it can turn runny after several days.

Etymology

The word halva entered the English language between 1840 and 1850 from the Yiddish halva ({{lang-he|חלווה}}), which came from the Turkish helva (حلوا), itself ultimately derived from the {{lang-ar|حلوى}} ḥalwá, a sweet confection.^[5] The Arabic root حلو ḥelw means "sweet".^[6]

Types

Most types of halva are relatively dense confections sweetened with sugar or honey. Their textures, however, vary. For example, semolina-based halva is gelatinous and translucent, while sesame-based halva is drier and more crumbly.

Flour-based

Flour based halva is made by frying flour (such as semolina) in oil, mixing it into a roux, and then cooking it with a sugary syrup. This variety is popular in India, Greece, Armenia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Somalia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Semolina

This variety of halva is produced and served in India, Afghanistan, Nepal, Pakistan, and surrounding countries (different versions of it are also found in Albania, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Turkey). It is usually made with wheat semolina, sugar^[7] or honey, and butter or vegetable oil. Raisins, dates, other dried fruits, or nuts such as almonds or walnuts are often added to semolina halva. The halva is very sweet, with a gelatinous texture similar to polenta; the added butter gives it a rich mouth feel. The standard proportions of semolina halva are: one part fat (a vegetable oil or butter), two parts semolina, two parts sweetening agent (e.g. sugar or honey), and four parts water. The semolina is sautéed in the fat, while a syrup is made from the sweetener and water. Then the two are mixed carefully while hot, and any extra ingredients are added. At this point, the halva is off-white to light beige, and rather soft. Depending on recipe and taste, it can be cooked a bit further, which makes it darker and firmer, or left to set as is.

In India, halva is prepared in different forms. The recipes use flour, melted butter or ghee, sugar and optionally acacia gum (gum arabic, also known as Dinka or Goondh or Katira Goond or Gond or Kamarka). It comes in various colors like orange, brown, green and white; in a translucent appearance studded with raisins, cashew nuts, pistachios, almonds, etc. Technically- the term halva is used in native recipes throughout India, and though semolina halva is considered to be a quintessential "Northern" confection, it is also quite popular in South India. A prominent South Indian version of halva (or alvaa in Tamil) is from Tirunelveli, a city in the state of Tamil Nadu. Another semolina preparation widely enjoyed throughout South India called kesari or kesari-bath originates from the state of Karnataka.

Alternative vegetable-based halva recipes popular in India and Pakistan use beetroots, potatoes, yams, and most commonly carrots (for gajar halwa), mung beans (for moong dal halwa), or bottle gourds (for doodi halwa) instead of semolina. Prepared with condensed milk and ghee, without semolina to bind it together, the end result has a moist, yet flaky, texture when freshly prepared. Other examples include the famous Agra Petha- easily available at Taj Mahal, Agra.

Cornstarch

Cornstarch-gelatinous halva is popular in Greece and Somalia {{cn|date=October 2018}}and has many variations. The Farsala recipe is the most well known. It is quite sweet, with caramel-like syrup.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}

Rice flour

This rice flour and coconut milk halva is common fare on the streets of Zanzibar.

Nut butter-based

This type of halva is made by grinding oily seeds, such as sesame or sunflower seeds, to a paste, and then mixing with hot sugar syrup cooked to hard-crack stage. This type is popular in eastern Arab nations, the Mediterranean, and in Balkan regions and countries. Some include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Russia, Greece and Bangladesh, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, the Levant, Albania, Central Asia, southern India, the Caucasus region, and Turkey. It is also popular in Algeria and on the central Mediterranean islands of Malta.

Sesame

Sesame halva is popular in the Balkans, Poland, Middle East, and other areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The primary ingredients in this confection are sesame butter or paste (tahini), and sugar, glucose or honey.^[8]{{better source|reason=Citation is a recipe on a random website; there must be more scholarly sources for this.|date=November 2016}} Soapwort^[9][10] (called ‘erq al halaweh in Arabic; çöven in Turkish), egg white, or marshmallow root are added in some recipes to stabilize the oils in the mixture or create a distinctive texture for the resulting confection. A version of sesame halva, called sesame crumble candy (芝麻酥糖) in China uses ground sesame and sugar, cooked to the hard ball stage because it is made crispier than other halvas.

Other ingredients and flavorings, such as pistachio nuts, cocoa powder, orange juice, vanilla, or chocolate are often added to the basic tahini and sugar base.

Sunflower

Sunflower halva is popular in countries in Eastern Europe, including Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, and Ukraine as well as other former U.S.S.R countries. It is made of sunflower seeds instead of sesame.

Other

Floss halva

Pişmaniye (Turkish) or floss halva is a traditional sweet, prepared in Kocaeli, Turkey, made by flossing thin strands of halva into a light confection. Made primarily of wheat flour and sugar, the strands are continuously wrapped into a ball shape and then compressed. The result is a halva with a light consistency, similar to cotton candy. Floss halva can be found in regular and pistachio flavors, and there are brands with halal or kosher certifications.

A similar pistachio-based version of floss halva is popular in North India. It tends to be slightly denser and is often referred to as patisa or sohan papdi. In Chinese cuisine, a floss-like candy similar to pismaniye or pashmak halva, known as dragon beard candy, is eaten as a snack or dessert.

A raw version of halva also has become popular among proponents of raw food diets. In this version, a mixture of raw sesame tahini, raw almonds, raw agave nectar and salt are blended together and frozen to firm.^[11]

Cultural use

Halva can be a snack or served as part of a meal.^[1]

Azerbaijan

In Baku, "halva" is likely to refer to the Turkish style, tahini-based version. The most famous regional variant is from Sheki where Şəki halvası halva refers to a layered bakhlava style pastry filled with spiced-nut mix and topped by criss-crossed patterns of a red syrup made from saffron, dried carrot and beetroot.^[12][13]

India

India has many types of halva, some unique to particular regions of the country. It is one of the popular sweets of India usually made from semolina.^[14]

It is speculated that Halva(or Halwa) was first introduced by the Persian and Arab invaders who brought the dish along with them, but written records of sweets from manosollasa indicate that semolina halwas, the most popular form of halvas in india were already known in india for instance it mentions a sweet called shali-anna which is semolina based sweet today known as kesari bat.^[15] Various types of halva from India are distinguished by the region and the ingredients from which they are prepared. In northern India, the most famous include sooji (or suji) halva (semolina),^[16]{{better source|reason=Any website can claim to be an authority on cooking; there must be more scholarly sources for this.|date=November 2016}} aate ka halva (wheat),^[17]{{better source|reason=Any website can claim to be an authority on cooking; there must be more scholarly sources for this.|date=November 2016}} moong dal ka halva (mung bean halva),^[18]{{better source|reason=Any website can claim to be an authority on cooking; there must be more scholarly sources for this.|date=November 2016}} gajar halva (carrot)^[19] which traditionally belongs to Punjab and is referred to as gajrela,^[20]{{better source|reason=Anyone can post a video of themselves cooking; there must be more scholarly sources for this.|date=November 2016}} dudhi halva, chana daal halwa (chickpeas), and Satyanarayan halwa (variation of suji halwa, with the addition of detectable traces of banana), and kaju halva (cashew nut). Kashi halva, made from winter melon or ash gourd, is a famous and traditional sweet of Karnataka, and mainly makes a regular appearance in traditional Brahmin weddings. Sooji halwa is sold in many eateries in Karnataka as Kesari bhath, usually alongside pineapple.

Iran

Halva Ardeh is the Iranian term for tahini-based halva, and may or may not include whole pistachios. Ardeh is processed sesame in the form of paste, usually sweetened with syrup.{{cn|date=March 2019}}

In Iran, halva(حلوا) usually refers to a related confection made from wheat flour and butter and flavored with rose water.^[21] The final product has a dark brown color. The halva is spread thin on a plate till it dries into a paste. Halva usually is served at funerals and other formal ceremonies, often with almonds or coconut shavings on the top.

Israel

Tahini halvah (חלווה) is very popular in Israel and among Jewish people all over the world.^[22][23] Spelled "halvah" in English, it usually comes in slabs, nearly-cylindrical cakes (illustrated), or small packages, and is available in a wide variety of flavours, chocolate and vanilla being very common. The halvah is almost always parve. Israeli halvah will usually not contain wheat flour or semolina, but will contain sesame tahini, glucose, sugar, vanilla and saponaria officinalis root extracts (soapwort), which are not usually found in other recipes. It is often served as a breakfast component at Israeli hotels, though it is not usually part of an Israeli breakfast, and it is even used in specialty ice-cream.^[24]

United States

Halva can be found in ethnic Indian, Jewish, Argentine, and Middle Eastern community stores. Besides being imported from the Middle East or India (or Mantecol imported into Argentine stores), one can find the version manufactured in the U.S. by Joyva in Brooklyn, "the largest halvah producer in the United States."^[25][1]

New York based restaurant Ilili -run by Lebanese-American Philippe Massoud- provides Halva based deserts.^[26] Greek Americans have also made this sweet popular, in Greek delis, supermarkets and homes.

Cultural references

In Afghanistan, Turkey and Iran, after the burial ceremony, on the seventh and fortieth day following the death of a Muslim, and also on the first anniversary, semolina helva or flour helva is cooked and offered to visitors and neighbours by relatives of the deceased. For this reason, flour (un) helva is also called in Turkish ölü helvası, meaning "helva of the dead". The expression roasting the helva of someone suggests the person referred to died some time ago.

In episode 46 of the Turkish TV series Winter Sun (Kış Güneşi), İsmail tells a joke:

"Why do we always eat Halva after a meal of fish?

... "So the fish knows it is dead and gone!"

The Greek saying Ante re halva! ("Άντε ρε χαλβά!" – could be translated as "get lost, you halva") is used when the speaker wants to offend someone, usually a man, by calling him a coward and/or chubby. Another saying, dating from the period of Ottoman domination, states "Ρωμαίικος καβγάς, τούρκικος χαλβάς" (roughly translated as "A fight among Greeks is halva to Turks").

In Egypt, it is believed that halawa is a prized item within the incarcerated community, and is offered to inmates by visiting family members; this belief has often been portrayed in literature and media. This has led to the exploitation of this cultural phenomenon by a local halawa manufacturer in a recent advertising campaign.^[27]

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, and also, to a lesser extent, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia (Styrian part of the country), the phrase "ide / prodaje se kao halva" or Styrian dialect of Slovene "re ko' alva" ("sells like halva") is a colloquial expression denoting a product's sales are very high, similar to the English expression "sells like hotcakes" or the German expression "verkauft sich wie warme Semmeln" ("sells like hot bread rolls").

In regions of India where Hindi is a spoken language, "हलवा है क्या?" ("Halwa hai kya?") which literally translates to "(Do you think) it is halwa?" is a snide rhetorical question used to indicate to another person that he or she is about to do or ask for something that's far less trivial than he or she possibly comprehends. "Halwa puri khana" (to eat puri with halwa) is an idiom for a celebration (of possibly modest means). "Lay halwa" is a Bengali interjection expressing exasperation or unpleasant surprise.

In Pakistan, the term Halva Molvi is used to refer to religious people who are hypocritical and indulge in lavish life-styles.

Recurring references to halvah have been made in Mad magazine over the years.

Allan Sherman's song "The Streets of Miami", a Jewish-centered parody of "The Streets of Laredo" contains the line, "I shot and Sam crumbled / Just like a piece halvah..."

A minor planet, 518 Halawe, is named after halva.

See also

• Barfi
• Fudge
• Halvai
• Indian cuisine
• Krówki
• List of desserts
• Mahim halwa
• Marzipan
• Nougat
• Tablet (confectionery)
• Toffee
• Turrón

References

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