Date halwa

I was on a halwa making roll this weekend, and as I had some half empty bags of dates and figs I decided to make up another batch of halwa. A super easy recipe that is rather tasty, and a good way to use up those half empty random bags of dried fruit at the back of the kitchen cupboards...

Ingredients
110g chickpea flour
250g dried dates and/or figs
4 tablespoons rose water
100g margarine (melted)
200ml milk
100g sugar
50g chopped mixed nuts
Desiccated coconut (to decorate)

1. Cut the fruit into small pieces, put into a container and pour in a little boiling water to just cover them. Leave overnight (or a few hours) to soak and then puree
2. Dry roast the chickpea flour for around 5 minutes in a heavy bottomed pan until it loses its 'raw' smell, then tip into another container
3. Add the fig/date puree, chopped nuts, sugar, milk and rose water to the pan and slowly heat, adding around half of the melted margarine
4. Sift in the chickpea flour and stir well
5. Bring the mixture to the boil and then turn the heat down, stirring constantly
6. Now add the rest of the margarine
7. Keep on stirring until the mixture starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, this takes around 10-15 minutes
8. Pour into a container lined with cling film. Decorate with some desiccated coconut  (optional)
9. Leave to cool and then cut into pieces