Turkish Delight Recipe

Turkish Delight Recipe also known as Lokum, Remember it from The Narnia movie. This iconic dessert is popular in Turkey made with cornstarch, sugar, flavourings like rosewater. This chewy jelly confection requires few tips and techniques to be followed to achieve the perfect chewy texture. Learn how to make perfect Turkish delight with step by step pictures and video.

Do you guys remember this sweet from the movie narnia. Ever since i watched the movie i always wanted to taste this sweet. But unfortunately it is not available in my place. It was very recently i happened to watch the movie again with maha and mahi. Maha asked me whats that he is eating and she wanted that too. So i thought of making it my own.

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I browsed online and got to know that it needs just basic ingredients except cream of tartar. So I ordered that from amazon. Couple days back I got the product and made this delicious dessert yesterday. It was very easy to make. The only hard thing is getting the sugar syrup to the right consistency which is not that hard. The end result was so worth it.

Authentic Turkish delight which taste so delicious and it is quite easy to make as well. You will need only a handful of ingredients.

What is Turkish delight?

Turkish delight is a delicately flavoured jelly made with cornstarch, sugar and flavourings. Authentic Turkish delight is flavoured with rose water or orange blossom water. Sometimes it is also flavoured with orange, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla, coconut, nuts and chocolate too.

In turkey this is called as lokum and is important part in Ottoman cuisine. It is usually served with coffee or Turkish tea. This is popular during weddings, gatherings, holidays and special occasions.

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Watch Turkish Delight Recipe Video

About Turkish delight

Turkish delight is also known as Lokum in Turkey. It is a delicate, chewy, jelly like candy that is very popular in Turkey ever since Ottoman times. The texture of Turkish delight is chewy, slightly denser than marshmallow. Traditional Turkish delight is flavoured with rosewater or orange blossom water. But you can flavour it with orange, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla and other flavourings as you like.

You basically need to get all your ingredients ready before making Turkish delight. You need two pans, one for making sugar syrup and other for cooking the cornstarch. Usually I prefer to use nonstick pan for cooking the cornstarch paste because we make Turkish delight in the same pan which makes life easier.

Making perfect lokum needs just few ingredients like cornstarch, sugar, water, cream of tartar and flavourings. The method is what tricky. First sugar syrup is cooked till it gets soft ball consistency. Cornstarch is cooked in a separate pan till sticky and thick. Then sugar syrup and cornstarch paste is cooked together low and slow till it gets the right texture.

Traditionally gelatin or agar agar powder is added when making turkish delight. But I didn’t use it, instead I added cornstarch.

Turkish Delight (Lokum) Ingredients

Sugar – as you all know main ingredient in making Turkish delight is sugar. You have to get the syrup to the correct consistency which makes the Turkish delight chewy.

Cornstarch – cornstarch also known as cornflour. It is the starch which form the chewy texture in lokum.

Cream of Tartar – cream of tartar helps prevent crystallisation in the sugar syrup. This helps to get the chewy texture without getting hard.

Flavourings – vanilla extract, rose water is what I used to flavour my lokum. You can use any flavour you prefer.

Food Colour – I used pink colour, but you can use any of your favourite colours.

Important Tips for Perfect Turkish delight

Nonstick is best – I like to make the sugar syrup in a sauce pan. The Turkish delight is cooked in a nonstick pan which makes the stirring process easier.

Getting sugar syrup consistency right – Take sugar, ¾ cup water and lemon juice in a sauce pan and cook till the sugar syrup reaches soft ball consistency. It will take around 10 mins. Cook the syrup in medium heat. When you spoon some syrup in a bowl of water, you will be able to collect the syrup into a soft ball like texture. This is the correct stage. It helps if you use candy thermometer. The exact temperature for soft ball consistency in sugar syrup is 240 degree F or 115 degree C.

Mixing is Important – once the syrup has reached proper consistency, you have to continue to cook and keep mixing till the texture is reached. It takes around 40 to 45 minutes of constant mixing.

Choosing Right Pan – I like to use glass square pan and grease it with oil. Once the Turkish delight mixture is poured into the pan, you have to set this at room temperature till it is set. Greasing with oil is important, else you may have a hard time to remove the Turkish delight from pan.

Coating – cornstarch and confectioners sugar coating over Turkish delight helps create a non-sticky coating over the Turkish delight. It helps them stay non sticky.

How to Make Turkish Delight (Stepwise Pictures)

Pre-preparation

1)Here I am using around 6 inch glass pan. Since I am using glass pan, I greased the pan lightly with oil. If you are using a metal pan, you can line it with parchment paper. Set this aside, we will be using it later.

Making Sugar Syrup

2)Now let’s make sugar syrup. Take a sauce pan, add in sugar into the sauce pan.

3)Add in water into the sugar.

4)Add in lemon juice. Lemon juice prevents sugar syrup from getting crystallised. So add ½ lemon which I squeezed to extract the juice.

5) Place the sauce pan on low to medium heat and swirl it gently so the sugar melts completely. Once the sugar is melted, increase the heat and boil the mixture. Don’t use spoon to stir the syrup. Else the sugar may get crystallised.

6)The syrup should get soft ball consistency. It will take around 8 to 10 minutes of boiling.

7)To check the consistency. Take a spoon of syrup and pour it in a bowl of cold water.

8)The syrup will set and when you try to gather the syrup together, you should be able to make a soft ball like texture. This is the correct stage.

Mixing Cornstarch Slurry

9)Take cornstarch in a nonstick pan.

10)Add in cream of tartar and mix cornstarch with cream of tartar. Cream of tartar helps prevent crystallisation in the sugar syrup. This helps to get the chewy texture without getting hard.

11)Now pour in water.

12)Mix well so there is no lumps formed.

Cooking cornstarch paste

13)Now place the cornstarch mixed pan on heat and cook till cornstarch gets thickened.

14)Keep whisking so no lumps are formed. Cook on low medium heat till the mixture gets thick.

Combining Sugar syrup with cornstarch

15)Now add in sugar syrup little at a time in a steady stream. Keep whisking the sugar syrup into the cornstarch slurry.

16)Keep pouring the sugar syrup little at a time and keep mixing. You can ask someone to pour the syrup in a steady stream.

17)Once all the syrup is added. Keep mixing and continue to cook on low heat for 30 to 35 mins.

Cooking Turkish Delight

18)Keep mixing using a silicon spatula which makes the process easier.

19)You can see the mixture will get very sticky and thick and leaving the sides of the kadai. This is the correct stage.

Flavouring Turkish Delight

20)Now take your flavourings. I am using vanilla extract, rose extract and a dash of pink colour. You can check my variations to learn about the flavour combos.

21)Add in vanilla extract.

22)Add in rose extract or rose water.

23)Add in pink food colour.

24)Mix all this really well into the turkish delight.

Setting Turkish Delight

25)Pour this in a greased pan and spread with a wet spatula. So nothing sticks to the spatula. Let it rest and cool for at least 3 to 4 hours. I prefer to leave this overnight to set.

Coating Mixture

26)For outer coating of turkish delight. In a bowl, mix cornstarch and powdered sugar.

27)Sprinkle this mixture on a parchment paper.

Cutting Turkish Delight

28)Gently remove the turkish delight from the mould. It should come in one mass.

29)Place it over the powdered sugar cornstarch mix.

30)Coat the cornstarch mix over the turkish delight generously.

31)Slice into pieces. Coat each pieces generously with the cornstarch sugar mix.

32)Cut each piece into cubes. Coat it really well with powdered sugar.

33)Well coated turkish delight.

34)Serve.

Expert Tips

Use nonstick pan for cooking Turkish delight. It makes the cooking process easier.
If you are using rose water add extra rose water. I used rose extract so I used a few drops.
Make sure to get the sugar syrup right for perfect chewy texture.
Coat the Turkish delight generously with powdered sugar.
You can add finely chopped nuts into the Turkish delight for better flavour.
Let the Turkish delight air dry for 24 hours after cutting it. This will prevent homemade Turkish delight from getting sticky.

Serving & Storage

You can enjoy Turkish delight with a cup of coffee. Store it in an air tight container at room temperature for upto a week.

Varieties of Turkish delight

There are hundreds of variations available in Turkish delight throughout turkey. Here are some of the most popular variation you can make.

Coconut Hazelnut – in the end of the making Turkish delight, add in toasted desiccated coconut, chopped roasted hazelnuts and coconut extract.

Chocolate – add 2 tbsp of cocoa powder into the cornstarch and cook them together for a chocolate version. You can even coat the Turkish delight in cocoa, cornstarch and powdered sugar mix.

Citrus – lemon extract, orange extract, grated orange or lemon rind can be added in the mixture.

Some more popular flavour includes mint, cinnamon, cardamom, Nutella, walnuts, almonds, and more.

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