Cooking with UK Celebrity Chef Loulla Astin, Semolina Halva

Semolina Halva / Χαλβάς Της Νοικοκυράς

A very old fashioned pudding made with common ingredients which existed, and still do, in every household in a Greek and Cypriot home. The formula for making Halva is 1, 2, 3, 4. This means one cup of oil, two cups of semolina, three cups sugar and four cups of liquid (water, grape juice).
You can use any size cups or glasses and also use less oil and sugar if you prefer.

Ingredients (makes one large mould or 8 small ones):
1 cup light olive or vegetable oil
2 cups coarse semolina
3 cups sugar or less if you prefer
4 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves
Thick peel from 1 orange or lemon
2 tablespoons rosewater

For topping:
Ground cinnamon

Method:
Place the sugar in a saucepan with the water, cinnamon stick, cloves and lemon or orange rind, bring to the boil until sugar dissolves, and simmer for 5 minutes. Cool syrup, remove the spices and lemon rind, and add the rosewater.
Meanwhile, put the oil in a medium deep, heavy bottom saucepan over a medium heat. When the oil is hot, gradually add the semolina, stirring continuously until the semolina turns light brown. The semolina will give a fabulous smell when cooking.
Gradually start adding the syrup into the semolina, taking care as the semolina will bubble and splash.
Stir constantly with a large-handle wooden spoon, over a low heat until the liquid has been absorbed and it comes away from the sides of the saucepan, and then remove from the heat.
Spoon the mixture into a greased 1.5 litre (2 ½ pints) fluted mould ring, flatten the top with the back of a spoon and smooth it out.
Allow Halva to get cold before you turn out of the mould and dust with cinnamon all over, before serving.