Rahat lokum is a favorite tea treat on the Balkan Peninsula, a delicate and aromatic delicacy. It is also easy to prepare it at home.
To prepare Turkish delight, you need good starch, preferably wheat or rice, as well as gelatin, otherwise the delicacy will turn out to be too tight and heavy.
Apple Turkish delight
Cut into pieces together with the peel 800 g of sweet and sour apples like Antonovka, add 400 g of sugar, a few tablespoons of water and simmer over low heat, covered until soft. Rub the apples through a sieve. Cook syrup from 800 g of sugar and 0.7 liters of water, pour into applesauce, add 50 g of starch and a little gelatin, previously dissolved in water. Continue simmering over low heat, stirring continuously, until the mixture begins to lag behind the sides of the pan. Remove the container from heat, add a little vanilla or lemon juice if desired, stir until smooth, put the puree in a mold and place in the cold. When the mixture thickens, cut it into pieces and roll in powdered sugar.
Instead of apples, you can use black and red currants, apricots and plums. You can make strawberry or raspberry Turkish delight. In this case, the berries are rubbed fresh, raw through a sieve. Berry Turkish delight can be lightly tinted with food coloring.
Nut Turkish Delight
String almond kernels of approximately the same size on a thread with a needle - this will be the basis of Turkish delight. Pour 50 g of starch with 2 cups of cold water and let it brew. Add a little gelatin diluted in water and swollen. Boil a syrup with 0.4 kg sugar and 2 glasses of water, skimming off the foam. When the sugar is completely dissolved, pour the starch into a saucepan with syrup in a thin stream with constant stirring. Boil the mixture until it thickens, stirring all the time. Place the syrup saucepan in another larger pot filled with hot water to keep the syrup warm at all times. Dip the threads and almonds into the mixture and hang until the sweet mass hardens on them. Then heat the mixture, stir and dip the threads with almonds again. Repeat the operation several times until Turkish delight has gained sufficient volume. Leave the treat to dry, then carefully pull out the threads and roll the resulting stuffed Turkish delight in powdered sugar.
