Rice Halva
Homs-style rice halva is prepared in a pot on the stove with water, sugar, fine rice, and fine semolina. Cheese is then added to create a stretchy texture, and it is flavored with mastic and orange blossom water. Serve garnished with Aleppo pistachios, with the option of adding sugar syrup or ashta.
A sweet rice-based dessert or pudding.
Similar to a soft rice pudding or rice sweet.
Ingredients
- 150 g sweetened cheese
- Aleppo pistachios, for garnish
- optional orange blossom water
- 300 ml water
- 100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
- 35 g (1/4 cup) fine rice
- 35 g (1/4 cup) fine semolina
- mastic
- 150 to 200 g mozzarella cheese or shalal cheese, desalinated
- approximately half a finjan crushed Aleppo pistachios, for garnish
- approximately half a finjan orange blossom water
- a few pieces Greek mastic
- a little sugar for grinding with the mastic
- optional sugar syrup
- optional canned ashta or regular ashta
Instructions
- Put 300 ml cold water in a pot on the stove before turning on the heat.
- Start cooking with high heat under the pot on the stove.
- Add the sugar to the water in the pot on the stove.
- Add the fine rice to the water and sugar in the pot on the stove while the water is still warm or cold and before it boils.
- Stir the water, sugar, and rice mixture in the pot on the stove as you add the rice gradually so it does not clump.
- Reduce the heat under the pot on the stove once the mixture begins to boil and thicken.
- Add the fine semolina to the pot on the stove gradually.
- Stir the rice and semolina mixture in the pot on the stove quickly while adding the semolina so it does not clump.
- Continue stirring the mixture in the pot on the stove until the rice and semolina are fully combined.
- Add the cheese to the mixture in the pot on the stove gradually.
- Stir the halva mixture in the pot on the stove after adding the cheese until the cheese melts and the texture becomes stretchy.
- Put the mastic in a glass.
- Add orange blossom water over the mastic in the glass until the mastic dissolves.
- Add the mastic and orange blossom water mixture from the glass to the pot on the stove at the end of cooking.
- Stir the halva in the pot on the stove after adding the mastic and orange blossom water until the aromas and flavors are combined.
- Remove the halva from the pot on the stove when it is ready.
- Serve the rice halva on a serving plate.
- Garnish the rice halva on the serving plate with Aleppo pistachios.
- Add sugar syrup to the serving plate if desired.
- Serve the rice halva on the serving plate with canned ashta or regular ashta if desired.