Sheki Halva

Sheki halva (Şəki halvası) is a sweet of rice flour and nuts handed down in Sheki, in northwestern Azerbaijan. A thin rice-flour batter is drizzled in fine streams onto a hot iron griddle and cooked into lacy nets, which are stacked in many layers with spiced nuts filled between them. When syrup is poured over after baking, the sweet liquid seeps into the gaps between the fine strands of dough, producing moist layers.

Its structure differs from that of the sweets made by setting sesame paste, which the name halva may call to mind. It is also called Sheki pakhlava (Şəki paxlavası), but it also differs from pakhlava, which stacks single thin sheets of wheat-flour dough; its defining feature is the fine net of rice flour.

Pouring rice-flour batter from a vessel with holes

The lacy dough is called rishta. A batter of rice flour mixed with water is placed in a special vessel with small holes in the bottom. Moving the vessel quickly over a hot saj makes fine lines cross one another, forming a thin net. The fine lines are cooked briefly and lifted off the griddle before they bake long enough to become a thick sheet.

Some recipes (the proportions of ingredients and the method) use a tool with 11 holes, and specialist craftspeople repeat this work to prepare many nets. Even the handwork of building the layers differs from rolling out wheat dough one sheet at a time with a rolling pin. Adjusting the density of the lines through the amount of batter poured and the movement of the vessel affects the thickness of the layers later on.

For the filling, crushed hazelnuts or walnuts are combined with coriander seeds, cardamom and other spices. The rice-flour layers take up the sweetness, the nuts add texture and aroma, and the spices complement the richness of the nuts’ oils. These are layered in a round copper tray.

Nets, filling, nets: stacked first, then sweetened

The number of nets laid down varies by craftsperson and recipe. In one example, 8 sheets are placed below the filling and 5 above it; in a demonstration by a craftsman who makes it as a family business, 6 layers are used below. In both cases, the nut filling is spread over the lower nets, covered with more nets and baked.

A lattice pattern is drawn on the surface using saffron and other ingredients. In a 2013 account of a visit to a Sheki workshop, the craftsman uses a bird feather as a brush to draw geometric patterns in colors made by combining saffron, dried carrot and beet. The pattern recalls şəbəkə, the city’s windows of wooden latticework and colored glass; the lattice of the sweet and the lattice of the windows share an appearance common to the city’s crafts.

The assembled sweet is baked over charcoal, and sugar syrup is then poured over it. Some more luxurious versions use honey. It is not finished when baking ends; a period of resting follows so that it can absorb the liquid. A national cuisine introduction gives an example of leaving it for 8 to 10 hours, and letting the sweetness spread through the fine nets and nut layers is also part of production.

Sheki halva, showing the latticed surface and a cross-section containing nuts. Photo: Pannet, 2025-06-03, location unknown. Original image / CC BY 4.0. Reduced-size version from the source; no additional processing.

Halva photographed at a shop in Sheki, in a large round tray, with a lattice pattern drawn on it. Photo: Joshua Noonan (cropped by Shahrux), 2006-11-28, Sheki, Azerbaijan. Original image / CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped from the original photo by Shahrux; no additional processing this time. 402×230 pixels.

Two origin stories and craftsmen in the family trade

As for its origin, one story says that the khan of Sheki ordered his cooks to make a sweet so sweet it would astonish his guests, and the cooks created this halva. Another holds that Mashadi Huseyn, a merchant who moved from Tabriz, brought the method, and Sheki’s merchants began making it. The former is a tradition of a court commission and the latter of introduction by a merchant; neither is a dated historical source confirming the invention.

In Sheki, halva makers are called halvachi, and the method has been passed down as a family craft. At the Samedov family workshop, visitors are shown everything from the handwork of cooking the rice-flour batter to decorating and packaging. The workshop, which bears the name of grandfather Yahya, is now run by Ramin Samedov, and Sheki’s tradition of confectionery handed down within families continues in this workshop as well.

In Sheki, family-run confectionery shops are also part of the historic district’s streetscape. There are also workshop experiences in which visitors can learn everything from preparing the rice-flour batter to pouring on the syrup, decorating and packaging. Eaten with tea and packed in boxes to take home, Sheki halva is also a souvenir of the city. Each slice carries the living handwork of baking rice flour into nets, stacking them in many layers and letting them soak up liquid to finish.

Glossary