Halva-ye-Haveej (Persian Carrot Halva)

Depending on the cultural background of the person making it—the Middle East, Central Asia, or the Indian Subcontinent—halva can have different names, forms, shapes, flavors, and textures. Some are as dense as fudge and need to be sliced before eating, while others are soft and so spoonable. Some are lusciously velvety while others have a flaky consistency. The Canadian culinary researcher and cookbook author Naomi Duguid refers to halva as a chameleon and I can’t think of a better word to describe the diverse nature of this class of sweets. 

While acknowledging its many forms, generally speaking halva is a relatively dense cooked confection made from grain or seed starch (wheat flour, rice flour, chickpea flour, or crushed sesame seeds), some form of fat (butter, ghee, lard, shortening, or vegetable oil), a sweetener (sugar, honey, date syrup, grape syrup, or molasses), aromatic spices or liquid flavorings (rose water, orange blossom water, saffron, cardamom, nutmeg, or clove), possibly nuts (such as pistachios), and water.

The variety of halva that is most known in North America and Europe is the one made from tahini (sesame paste). Tahini-based halva, sold in Middle Eastern markets and in well-stocked supermarkets, comes in beige-colored blocks that often have been topped with vibrant green pistachios. However, there is a diverse world of halva beyond this singular offering.

Carrot halva, which is uniquely Persian, is relatively quick and easy to make at home. It’s unique for its addition of carrots and for using noticeably less added sugar than other varieties of halva. Its soft spoonable texture makes it a wonderful canvas for ornate decorations, either dished out family style on platters or in individual portions in small bowls or other containers. The result is a comforting, velvety, sweet treat that can be enjoyed warm shortly after it’s cooked, as well as at room temperature. 

Halva’s Etymology, History, and Traditions

Halva’s origins can be traced to pre-Islamic Persia. A reference to halva-like treats is present in the oldest surviving culinary-related manuscript from ancient Persia, dating from the Sixth century CE. Following the conquest of Persia in the Seventh century CE, Arabs discovered not only sugar, but also a highly mature culinary landscape that included a wide range of sweets that they adopted and spread. Halva’s names, of which there are many variants and transliterations, such as halwa, helva, halwa, and more, are rooted in the Arabic word “hilwa” meaning sweet or sweetmeat, which Persians pronounced halva. From Persia, halva spread both eastward to the Indian subcontinent and westward to the rest of the Middle East. (It is interesting to note that the word halva eventually entered the English language sometime in the decade of 1840 via Romanian Jewish communities.)

Different types of halva are distinguished by augmenting the word halva with the name of their key ingredient such as tahini-halva, carrot-halva, walnut-halva, date-halva, etc. Even that is not sufficient to distinguish different types of halva from one region to another. For example, the Persian carrot halva is very different from the North Indian carrot halva, which is locally known as Gajrela.The earliest authoritative reference to carrot halva is in a 14th century Persian book focused on Persian culinary practices. It was later, in the 16th century, that carrot halva was brought to India during the Mughal Empire (Persian-Mongol Islamic empire that ruled India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan).

While halva is eaten year round, it's particularly popular during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Formally speaking, there aren’t any specific requirements for the type of food to be consumed during the pre-dawn meal, sahari, or the post sunset meal, eftār. Traditionally, however, these meals often include heavy and rich savory dishes, as well as highly sugary sweets. On the sweet side, date-based sweets, Sholeh-Zard (Persian saffron rice pudding), and various types of halva, including carrot halva, are among the popular ones in Iran and surrounding regions of Middle East, as well as in the associated diaspora.

In addition to halvas taking center stage during the month of Ramadan, it’s enjoyed throughout the year on holidays and as an everyday treat. For example, in many Muslim communities in the Middle East and in the diaspora, halvas are a popular votive dish—a dish offered to others in fulfillment of a vow. Halvas have also been present in the cultural life of Iranian Jews as a favorite food after fasts and are given away on the Jewish holiday of Purim.

Tips for Making Carrot Halva

Carrot halva is sweet and floral from the addition of rose water and saffron and is often served with an impressive decorative design on top, but making and shaping halva is actually relatively simple. It comes together on the stovetop within about 30 minutes, and the final halva has a playdough-like texture that is malleable and easy to imprint a design pattern on with a few basic kitchen tools. Here are a few tips for getting sweet and flavorful halva with the ideal soft texture and how to decorate it.

Toast and then sift the flour: All-purpose flour is an important thickening agent in carrot halva. (Note that to make a gluten free version, rice flour can be substituted, by weight, for the all-purpose flour.) Without flour, the cooked carrots and sugar would remain just a soft and sludgy mash and the final halva would not have the supple, satiny candy-like texture seen here. To achieve this, a generous 3/4 cup flour is needed for the halva to have the proper structure, but at the same time, the flavor of the flour should not come through. We want the sweetness of the carrots and sugar and the delicate perfumed aroma of the rose water to shine. The best way to minimize the flour's raw-grain flavor is to toast it in a dry skillet before sifting. It’s important to toast the flour just enough to remove its raw-grain flavor, but not enough to darken its natural white color because we want to retain the bright orange color of carrots and saffron with the final halva. I like to test the flour by measuring its temperature with an instant read thermometer. When checking the temperature of the flour, ensure the tip of the thermometer doesn’t touch the bottom of the skillet by tipping the skillet away from you to form a deeper pile of flour on the side to measure. 

Sifting the toasted flour before adding butter and building the halva dough ensures that there are no lumps of flour in the thick dough mixture and guarantees a velvety smooth final halva.

Select complementary flavorings and use restraint when adding:: Rose water is the constant flavoring in Persian carrot halva, but beyond that, there is no universal agreement among Persian historical cookbooks and contemporary Persian home cooks about spices that are used for flavoring carrot halva. Saffron and cardamom are most common, and I include them in this recipe. The combination of rose water, saffron, and cardamom creates a lightly spiced and floral final flavor. But feel free to only use one of these flavorings and/or experiment with adding cinnamon and/or nutmeg as well. Regardless of which flavorings you choose, use a light hand when adding flavorings to the halva so that you do not mask the natural sweetness and earthy undertone of the carrots. 

Add delicate flavors at the right time: Both rose water and saffron are highly perfumed ingredients with volatile and temperature sensitive flavor compounds that lose their flavor if boiled or cooked for too long. To retain both of their floral notes, they are added at staggered stages.The rose water is added after the carrots have been boiled and cooked down so as not to overcook the rose water and dull its flavor. The saffron, which has an even more delicate flavor than the rose water, is added even later in the cooking process, after the dough starts to take shape. The saffron not only adds a subtle flavor but also enhances the bright orange color of the halva.

Cook and flip the halva mixture until a shiny cohesive dough forms: Although there are many types of Persian halvas with differing regional variations and personal preferences about ingredients, sweetness, and flavorings, all Persian home cooks agree and practice the same method for finishing the cooking of the halva. An important concept in Persian cookery is called “roghan-andakhtan.” There is no good English word for this concept; the not so descriptive literal translation is “pulling out oil.” In cooking halvas, the ultimate desired stage of cooking is when the final cooked mass of ingredients—right before it is to be dished out into a platter or into individual small containers—becomes, in look and feel, a single, uniform, oily, shiny, delicate, elastic log, leaving a uniform oily film on the inside of the skillet. (The desire for oily shininess of the resulting mass and the oily film on the inside of the saucepan explains the literal translation of the term.) 

The common way that Persian home cooks achieve this is to use a two-handed rocking technique creating an up-and-down/side-to-side motion with the saucepan held on both sides with pot holders—one hand on the skillet handle and the other hand on the rim or handle on the opposite side—above the burner. The right hand goes up while the left hand goes down, then the left hand goes up while the right hand goes down repeatedly for about 10 cycles. Although not necessary, if you do have a saucier—a shallow, slightly flared pots with rounded sides—among your kitchen cooking vessels, it is the perfect pot to facilitate this rocking motion. This motion flips the dough over itself in a steady natural motion and as the dough flips down, any trapped air bubbles are released and a film of oil rises to the surface—this is the sign that the dough is smooth and cooked throughout.

Be creative with your halva decorations The most traditional serving method for any Persian halva is to transfer the entire cooked halva onto a flat or rimmed platter, then use the back of a spoon or an offset spatula to spread it out into a smooth and even circle that’s about 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick. Then, before serving, you decorate the halva with the back or tip of a spoon, the tip of a knife, or simply by pinching the edges between your thumb and index finger. The goal is to make a small imprint into the halva’s soft surface. Be as creative as you’d like with your design. I’ve included example photos here that can serve as your starting reference, but do not be limited by these presentations. In addition to being served family style, halva can also be dished out into individual ramekins or serving dishes. Whether being served as one large portion or in individual servings, a sprinkling of crushed or slivered pistachios finalize the design and also adds a nice crunch to contrast the halva’s soft texture. However it’s served, carrot halva is soft enough to be eaten with a spoon warm or at room temperature and is great with a cup of hot black tea.