"Halla" Recipe

I think that if you will ask any person in Israel what is his strongest memory from Friday's morning as a little kid in the kindergarten - many people will say that it is the smell of a hot and fresh Halla baked in the kindergarten's oven!

Like many people, I also used to make Halla on Friday morning in the kindergarten and bring it home to the Kidush.

Today, I understand that as a children, we didnt maintained cleanliness while cooking, we didnt followed the swelling times and most of the time we even didnt recognized what was our personal Halla. inspite of this, I was proud and happy, every Friday from the Halla that I brought home.

Today, after many years, I think I am much more professional in the process of making the Halla, I pay attention to the swelling times and I the quality of the ingredients. But the smell? It is exactly the same intoxicating and addictive smell as in those days in my kindergarten. In the above guide I will detail in stages the way we used to make Halla in kindergarten - with some highlights that I learned during my life.

• 500 milliliters of warm water
• 2 tablespoons of dry yeast
• 1 kilo of sifted white flour
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 3/4 cup of oil
• A spoonful of salt

For Topping

• 1 egg
• A spoonful of salt
• A spoonful of onion oil
• Sesame, seeds, almonds, herbs

(Corrin Gideon's recipe)

Put the ingredients in a large bowl in the following order -

• Warm water
• yeast
• flour
• Sugar
• Oil
• Start mixing them for a minute or two and then add the salt

In the kindergarten we used to knead the dough for long minutes with our hands. It was physical work and made our hands hurt, but it is very important to knead the dough properly. I think that we did it for motorical issues.

Today, I usually knead the dough with a mixer for 10 minutes, it makes the process much easier and makes all the ingredients form into a uniform dough.

After mixing all the ingredients and getting a uniform dough, let the dough rest for at least one and a half hour, covered with plastic wrap and a towel so that it swells. The duration of the swelling time depends on the season and the room temperature, so it may change according to these condition.

• After the dough has doubled its size in the bowl, take the dough out of the bowl and divide it into three balls of equal size.
• Divide each ball into three/four smaller balls.
• Flatten each of the balls using a rolling pin and make a snake shape from each piece.
• Start braiding the Hallas. There are many guides on the internet that explain the sequence of braiding operations, it's a relatively simple process.

It is important for me to say, this is the time to be creative! You can knit small Hallahs from one piece, you can make shapes that resemble snails, you can knit Hallah's from three/four and even five pieces!

It's the most fun part and it's absolutely my favorite part as a child, and also these day :)

After braiding your Hallahs, let them swell once more, for about half an hour.

At this stage you can heat the oven to 165 degrees.

• Mix an egg, olive oil and salt in a small bowl.
• Brush the Hallahs with the mixture you received, it will make them shiny and beautiful.
• Decorate the Hallahs.

As in the days in the kindergarten, my favorite topping is of course is sesame, but at this stage, you can also be creative - you can use herbs, black sesame, almonds, nuts, za'atar, etc.

some important things I want to say...

In the kindergarten as young children, we did not pay attention to quantities, swelling times, etc. along with that, the Hallah turned out very tasty and will always be remembered as the sign that the weekend has started :)

Today I tend to be careful about these things, which gives the Halla a more impressive look. Sometimes, I replace the white flour with spelled flour, this makes the Halla more nutritious.

In the last six months, following the war, I make Hallah every Friday and during the preparation I perform a short ceremony called "Hafrashat Halla". I pray for the safety of the soldiers and that they will return home soon and safely.