Sultans' Halva

Tradionally halva is served and cooked either in religious holidays or in big family gatherings or cooked and served upon the death of a person in a family. There are  many different kinds of halva in the Turkish cuisine like tahini halva, semolina halva, sesame halva, flour halva and many more.

The recipe I am going to share today dates back to the Ottoman Empire period and was only cooked for the Sultans and was described as the "halva fit for Emperors". Later it became popular with the masses.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup wheat flour
• 1/3 cup rice flour
• 1/3 cup starch
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup honey
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• a handful of sliver almonds

How To:

Place butter in a pan on medium heat. Let it melt. Toast the rice flour, starch and flour in the butter until it becomes golden brown.  Allow the mixture to darken and get fragrant, but be careful not to over toast it or else it will burn and the halva will become bitter.

Add the milk and honey into a pan over medium heat and stir until the honey has dissolved and the syrup slightly thickens. Set aside, but keep warm. Remove the pot from the stove and pour in the warm syrup. Stir with a wooden spoon and return the pot on the stove.

Cook the halva (whilst stirring) until the mixture thickens and pulls away easily from the sides of the pan. Remove the pot from the stove.  Pour the halva mixture into a serving plate or into individual bowls. Garnish with silvered almonds.

Bon Apetit!

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