🍬 Turkish delight (lokum)

Name: Turkish delight (lokum)
Total time: 180 min
Yield: 30
Cuisine: Turkey · Istanbul
Ingredients: 800 g sugar; 1 tsp lemon juice; 1.2 litres water in total; 120 g cornflour (corn starch), plus extra for dusting; 2 tbsp rosewater; 100 g shelled pistachios; 50 g powdered sugar

Origin: Turkey · Istanbul

105kcal

per serving · 30 g

350kcal

per 100 g

0 gProtein0.5 g / 100 g

0 gFat0.2 g / 100 g

26 gCarbs87 g / 100 g

Lokum, known in English as Turkish delight, is a soft, chewy confection made by slowly cooking sugar and starch until it sets into a dense gel. It is flavoured with rosewater or other essences, often studded with pistachios, cut into cubes and rolled in powdered sugar or starch so the pieces do not stick. It is traditionally served in small pieces alongside Turkish coffee.

Diets

✓

Vegetarianno meat or fish in a typical recipe

✓

Veganno meat, fish or animal products in a typical recipe

✓

No pork

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

Not keto87 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Tree nuts

What it is made of

sugarstarchrose waterpistachios

Recipe

30 servings180 min

Ingredients

800 g sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1.2 litres water in total
120 g cornflour (corn starch), plus extra for dusting
2 tbsp rosewater
100 g shelled pistachios
50 g powdered sugar

Method

Simmer the sugar, lemon juice and 300 ml water until the syrup reaches about 115 °C.
In a large pan whisk the cornflour into the remaining 900 ml water and cook, stirring, until thick and glossy.
Slowly pour the hot syrup into the starch paste and cook on low heat, stirring often, for about 1½ hours until thick and golden.
Stir in the rosewater and pistachios and spread into a tray dusted with cornflour.
Leave to set overnight, cut into cubes and toss in a mix of powdered sugar and cornflour.

How to make it lighter

One or two cubes alongside coffee is a typical serving.
Choose small cubes and cut them in half to stretch the treat.
Pistachios add flavour and calories alike — a version without nuts is a little lighter.

History

Lokum became famous in Ottoman Istanbul, and a confectioner named Bekir Efendi, whose shop opened in the late 18th century, is usually credited with popularising it. Starch-based sweets of this kind spread across the Balkans and the Middle East, and boxes of lokum remain a classic gift from Turkey today.

Count it in one photo

Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Turkish delight (lokum) and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.

Download on the App Store

Similar 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 →