Sharing another helva recipe with you, this one is without pumpkin! My mother is the queen of helva, but I am learning over the years and getting better at it! I got the pine nut and milk addition from my husbands hala (aunt). I really enjoy the toasted pine nuts in the halva and thought the milk was a good idea.
My grandparents made helva with cream of wheat when they came to Canada as they couldn’t find the semolina needed for this, and they just stuck with it over the years, so I use it as well. You can use irmik Turkish semolina if you can find it, otherwise cream of wheat works perfectly, you can use just plain semolina as well if you desire.
What you will need:
- 2 cups farina (I use Cream of Wheat)
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup semolina
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup light olive oil
- 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 2 cups sugar or desired amount you may use less
- 5-7 cups boiling water
- 1 cup heated milk
Melt butter, add oil and stir in cream of wheat, flour and pine nuts…stir until brown on low heat it will look like brown sugar (takes a while so be patient).
Remove from heat, and add the boiling water & milk while stirring at the same time (using a whisk) you may need assistance. The amount of water depends on how much you need, if it’s too dry add more than 5 cups up to 6 or 7 depending on the texture. Add, sugar and raisins if using. You need to stir fast with wooden spatula or whisk, add back to heat and cook on very low heat till mixture is cooked and is pulling from sides of pot.
You may transfer to a pyrex pan and cut into squares or diamonds or you can scoop the halva out with an ice cream scoop, or shape them with your hand. Serve warm, can be served warm or cold, it’s best when freshly made.
Enjoy!
It sounds delicious…My mom makes it without milk or pine nuts. She usually uses walnuts and half butter half olive oil……Donika, Sot e pashe faqen tende te internetit dhe po i lexoj te gjitha recetat qe ke vene. Urime e uroj te vazhdosh te gatuash e ekspozosh receta te tjera. Me behet shume qejfi qe po e prezanton guzhine shqiptare ne bote.