Sheki halva

Sheki halva
Şəki Halvası

Sheki halva on a round tray
Alternative names	Sheki pakhlava
Type	Dessert
Place of origin	Azerbaijan
Associated cuisine	Azerbaijani and Avar
Serving temperature	Warm
Main ingredients	Rice flour Sugar Hazelnuts Coriander seeds Cardamom Saffron Syrup

Sheki halva (Azerbaijani: Şəki halvası) or Sheki pakhlava (Azerbaijani: Şəki paxlavası) is a type of dessert specific to the Sheki region of Azerbaijan.

Origin

Origin stories include that it was prepared by cooks of the Sheki khan, who loved sweet desserts and ordered his cooks to make something very sweet.^[1] The cooks prepared Sheki halva and it became very popular in this region. Another story explains it halva came via Mashadi Huseyn, a merchant from Tabriz, who came to Sheki and spread the recipe.^[1]

Ingredients

The main ingredients are rice flour, sugar, peeled hazelnuts, coriander seeds, cardamom, and saffron.^[2] Traditionally the rice flour must be ground in a water mill.^[3]

Preparation

Sheki pakhlava is made by pastry professionals, known as halvachi, and is not traditionally made at home.^[1] It is a daylong process.^[1]

Sheki pakhlava has three main parts: the rishta, a thin webbing of dough; the stuffing; and syrup. The rishta is made by pouring kneaded batter onto a hot griddle through a special funnel in with eleven holes, moving it to form a web, and to bake very quickly.^[2][3][4]

Stuffing is made of crumbled hazelnuts, ground cardamom and coriander seeds.^[5][4] After placing 8–10 rishta layers on a round copper tray, the stuffing is added and then it is covered with 5–10 rishta layers.^[4][2] The top layer is decorated with saffron in a square shape reminiscent of shabaka. It is generally baked over charcoal for 10–20 minutes.^[2] Hot sherbet syrup is poured on Sheki halva before leaving it to rest over 8–10 hours.^[5][2][3]

See also

• Sheki
• Azerbaijani pakhlava

References