Irmik Helvasi (Semolina Halva with Pine Nuts)
Butter-toasted semolina soaked in warm milky syrup, studded with golden pine nuts — the most comforting dessert in the Turkish repertoire, ready in under an hour.
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Ingredients
250g (1 1/2 cups) coarse semolina
125g unsalted butter
2 tbsp pine nuts
200g granulated sugar (1 cup)
250ml whole milk
250ml water
1 sachet (5g) vanilla sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, to serve
Clotted cream or vanilla ice cream, to serve (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Put the milk, water, sugar and vanilla sugar in a saucepan, warm over low heat until the sugar dissolves, then keep hot without boiling.
- 2
Melt the butter in a wide, heavy pan over medium heat, add the pine nuts and stir until they turn pale gold.
- 3
Add the semolina and toast over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 20-25 minutes until it is a deep golden colour and smells nutty.
- 4
Carefully pour the hot milk mixture into the pan — it will bubble and steam vigorously — and stir quickly to combine.
- 5
Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring, until the liquid is fully absorbed and the halva pulls away from the sides of the pan.
- 6
Take the pan off the heat, cover with a lid and a clean tea towel, and let the halva rest for 15 minutes to steam and fluff up.
- 7
Fluff with a fork, shape with an ice cream scoop or press into small bowls and invert onto plates, then dust with cinnamon and serve warm.
Irmik helvasi is the dessert Turkish families make when guests appear unannounced, because the whole thing comes from the store cupboard: semolina, butter, sugar and milk. The smell of semolina slowly toasting in butter is so evocative that in Turkey it is simply called "the scent of helva" — no further explanation needed.
There are only two rules. First, be patient with the toasting: coarse semolina needs a good 20-25 minutes over medium-low heat, stirred constantly, until it turns the colour of dark honey. Rush it and the halva tastes raw; burn it and it turns bitter. Second, the liquid must be hot when it meets the pan, so heat the milk, water and sugar together while you stir.
Pine nuts are the classic garnish, toasted in the same butter right at the start so they perfume everything. Serve the halva warm, shaped with an ice cream scoop or pressed into small bowls, with a dusting of cinnamon and, if you are feeling generous, a spoon of clotted cream from Turkish Online Market on top.
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