Desi Fiesta

Apricot and semolina pilaf (Turkish dessert )

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Am so happy to be a part of the famous group in this blogging – “Blogging Marathon” this month . BM is owned by sri valli of spicing your life . Thanks to sri valli for  making me a part of this lovely group . Now this month once i heard that they were planning to have a long marathon i was so excited to join and so so tensed whether it is possible for me to complete this marathon or not. I have tried my best 🙂 So this month we are having 4 themes and we have cook for letter A-Z . For first week of marathon i have chosen International recipes.  So here comes this delicious Turkish dessert to start the marathon .Starting the Letter  A – Apricot and Semolina pilaf.. This is an delicious dessert from Turkey  which is some what similar to our Indian kesari but has an rich taste as we have used milk, butter and apricots in this.
Mostly Turkish People use dried apricots a lot and most of their desserts are made with apricots . So i thought this the best way to start my marathon for “Blogging Marathon” This month

This lovely dessert or late-breakfast dish is made by toasting coarse semolina and almonds in butter, then simmering them with sweetened milk and dried apricots. The result is crumbly, aromatic and pilaf-like. It’s called helva in Turkey.

(Recipe adapted from here)


Ingredients


1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup coarse semolina
2 tbsp Almonds slivers / Pistachios 
1/4 cup dried apricots ( diced)
1/4 tsp pure almond extract/ vanilla extract  (optional)
Pinch of salt

Method

  • In a small saucepan, bring the whole milk to a boil with the sugar. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.
  • In another large saucepan, melt the butter. 
  • Add the semolina and pistachio ( i used pistachio) and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until golden and fragrant, about 8 minutes. 
  • Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the milk mixture, apricots, almond extract (optional) and salt. 
  • Cover and let stand until the liquid is completely absorbed, about 20 minutes. 
  • Fluff with a fork and serve with any sorbet
Tips 
  • You can use fine semolina but traditionally  they are made with coarse one.
  • They taste delicious when served with any flavored sorbet   
Sending To  Gujarati zaika

Sending To Cutchi kitchen

Logo courtesy : Preeti

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 32

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Kalyani says

    thats a super yummy sweet – just sweet enough to satisfy sugar cravings.. I like the addition of apricots :-))

    nice to know you Manjula through this BM… I am sure for all of us, its going to be a gastronomical journey all thru Sep !

  4. Srivalli says

    Manjula, welcome to the BM. Those pictures are very tempting and I love the combination of these ingredients..must surely try it out..great..:)

  10. vaishali sabnani says

    Welcome …!!The helwa sure is a wonderful way to begin a marathon…have read about it and does sound like our sooji halwa..apricots surely would have made it unique.

  23. Foodiliciousnan says

    It is so interesting to note similarities between international and traditional dishes. Like you said, this is somewhat like our kesari. Butter for ghee and apricots for raisins! Looks so nice and you've got some really good pics!