During the Great Lent in
Greece, the people who fast, are not supposed to eat meat, dairy and fish with some
exceptions like the Annunciation and Palm Sunday that they eat fish. During the Great week some
people don't even consume olive oil.
So, because of these rules, people have adjusted their diets and there are a lot of different
dishes and desserts that make them not to miss anything. One of those
desserts is semolina halva that, well, of course people consume
during the year too,because it is one of our traditional desserts.
It is a sweet made in a saucepan and then turned over in forms, like cakes. Simple to make if you pay attention to it the whole time.The most common recipe for it, is called 1-2-3-4. That means 1 cup oil, 2 cups semolina, 3 cups sugar and 4 cups water. It usually contains cinnamon, cloves, pine nuts and blanched almonds and sometimes raisins too. Everybody makes their favourite version, adding or removing ingredients.
This
halva recipe is different from the classic recipe. The sugar is reduced and it contains chocolate and cinnamon instead of the traditional nuts and raisins. I was looking for a recipe with less sugar and found this recipe on this blog where you can find a lot of delicious mostly Greek recipes. I changed some things and well, I think it has a great balance of flavours. So , go ahead and give it a try.
