🍮 Semolina Halva (İrmik Helvası)
İrmik helvası is a traditional Turkish dessert of semolina slowly toasted in butter with pine nuts until golden and fragrant, then cooked with sugar syrup until it swells into soft, crumbly grains. It is warm, buttery and nutty, with a gentle sweetness. It is served warm in small portions, often shaped with a spoon or cup.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 250 g coarse semolina
- 100 g butter
- 40 g pine nuts
- 200 g sugar
- 500 ml water
Method
- Bring the water and sugar to a boil until the sugar dissolves; keep the syrup hot.
- Melt the butter in a wide pan, add the semolina and pine nuts.
- Stir constantly over medium-low heat for 15–20 minutes until the semolina turns golden and smells toasty.
- Carefully pour in the hot syrup (it will splutter) and stir.
- Cover, take off the heat and rest for 10 minutes until the grains absorb the syrup.
- Fluff with a spoon and serve warm.
How to make it lighter
- Keep portions small: about 80–100 g is plenty for one serving.
- Cut the sugar in the syrup by a quarter; the toasted butter flavour carries the dessert.
- Use fewer pine nuts and toast them for flavour rather than quantity.
History
Halva made from semolina or flour has long been part of Turkish and wider Ottoman cooking. In Turkey it is traditionally cooked and shared with neighbours at funerals, memorials and other gatherings, as well as made at home as an everyday dessert.
Count it in one photo
Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Semolina Halva (İrmik Helvası) and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.
Download on the App StoreSimilar dishes
Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →