Semiya Payasam/Seviyan Kheer/Vermicelli Kheer

Blogging Marathon #45: Week 4/Day 2
Theme: Festival Recipes(Diwali)
Dish:Semiya Payasam/Vermicelli Kheer

For today’s edition of Festival Recipes, I have a simple, yet decadent kheer – made with semiya or vermicelli. Yesterday, I had mentioned that all my festival recipes were gonna be ones that even novice cooks can make. This is again one such recipe that you very easily make with items you have on hand. There are again no special techniques that you need to be a master of to make this recipe. It is a great item to serve as dessert if you have a festival get together planned or if taking a dish to a potluck. This is a great make ahead recipe and can be served warm or chilled. I personally prefer to have it warm.

Without more ranting, here is the recipe.
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Ingredients:
1 cup semiya/vermicelli
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk(whole milk)
2 tsp ghee
1 tbsp cashews, broken
1 tbsp raisins
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
pinch of salt
4 cups water

Method:
Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan. add the broken cashews and fry until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add another tsp of ghee to the pan and fry the raisins until plump. Remove with the slotted spoon and set aside. In the same pan add the semiya or vermicelli and roast until golden brown. Set aside. I roast the vermicelli even if if the packed says roasted vermicelli. Coating the vermicelli strands in ghee while roasting, helps in keeping them separate so that they don’t clump together in the payasam.

Bring the water to a boil in a pan and add salt. Add in the roasted vermicelli and the pinch of salt. Cook until the vermicellis cooked and transparent. Add in the sugar, milk and bring to a boil again. The starch from the vermicelli will thicken the payasam. Add the cardamom powder and fried cashews and raisins. Serve warm or cold.

Verdict: A bowl of this kheer is a comforting end to any meal. This used to be the ubiquitous sweet dish served at weddings or made for any occassion such as birthdays, anniversaries etc. when I was a kid. I realized now that we have so much variety that I don’t make this very often. It brought back fond memories tasting this payasam. I hope it does for you too. 🙂

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