Name: Semiya Payasam / Kheer / Vermicelli-Milk Pudding
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 cup Vermicelli; ¾ cup Sugar / Jaggery; 3 cups Milk; 10 count Raisins / Kishmish; 10 count Cashew nuts; 10 count Almonds; 3 tablespoons Ghee ((or unsalted butter)); 4 pods Cardamom; 7 to 8 strands Saffron / Kesar / Kumkumapuvvu; 1 cup Water ((hot water preferably))

Recipe Cooked, Photographed and Written by Praveena

PrepTime:10 mins CookTime:20 mins Cuisine:Indian

The Indian culture & traditions, are very ancient. And whatever values, rituals that we Indians follow, benefit us in more than one way, like medicinally, wealth, health & at last to lead us to spirituality. As per Indian calendar, each month has a pournami (full moon day). During this night (post sun set) we take the darshan of the divine Moon, offer payasam to him, and whole family take the payasam as a divine prashad (blessing). It is said that, the hearty, pleasure filled, chilled effect of the moon light not only provides good health & enlightens the soul!! 🙂

What is Payasam:

Payasam is the Sanskrit (an Ancient Indian Language) word for a an age old traditional Indian sweet dish/dessert, that is made with any rice or lentil cooked with milk.

It is sweetened with sugar or jaggery, and then topped with dry fruits & nuts fried in ghee or butter.

It’s the quickest dessert prepared by any Indian, among all other desserts, might be as an offering to God or for parties or for guests or for kids snack.

This Payasam or Kheer (as called in Hindi) is a vermicelli based one which is the easiest of all other varieties of the same dessert. Called as semiya payasam / kheer / vermicelli pudding.

Vegan options:

The same recipe can be made Vegan. if the whole milk that I have used is replaced with coconut milk / any plane based milk.

In the place of ghee, you might use any plant based butter or even coconut cream / oil would also work.

Using Roasted Vermicelli:

There are many different vermicelli available in the market. Non-roasted white vermcelli, Non-roasted brown vermicelli, roasted white vermicelli, roasted brown vermicelli.

In case you are using Pre-roasted vermicelli, just skip the roasting step (given below), follow the rest of the recipe as it is with same measurements. And just expect the time taken to be 3 mins less.

Before starting to cook, don’t forget to see the Tips mentioned at the end.

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Ingredients:

Vermicelli – 1 cup
Sugar / Jaggery – ¾ cup
Milk – 3 cups
Raisins / Kishmish – 10
Cashew nuts – 10
Almonds – 10
Ghee – 3 tablespoons
Cardamom pods – 4
Saffron – few strands
Water – 1 cup

Special Ingredients:

Saffron
Ghee

Step wise pics Procedure for ‘Semiya payasam / kheer / vermicelli pudding’:

PREP WORK:

Measure the vermicelli / semiya, keep it ready.

Vermicelli/Semiya in a cup
Chop the nuts you prefer to add.
Powder the cardamom pods. Put aside.
Get the water boiled and put aside.

Chopped dry fruits & nuts

COOKING:

Put a thick bottomed pan / vessel on stove under a medium flame.
Add one tablespoon of ghee / butter and add all the dry fruits & nuts.
Fry them until they turn light brown in colour.

Fried in ghee until light brown
Take them aside into a separate plate.
In the same pan add the semiya/vermicelli.
Vermicelli/Semiya being sauteed in ghee/butter
Saute till they turn light brown.
Now, add the boiled hot water into the semiya / vermicelli and close the vessel with lid.

Hot water added to the semiya/vermicelli
Let the water be completely absorbed by the semiya/ vermicelli so that it would soften. This might take 3-4 mins.

After 5 mins..cooked semiya/vermicelli
Open the lid and check if the water is fully absorbed, then give a mix.
Now add only 2 cups of milk and let it boil along with the semiya/ vermicelli.
Once the milk is half boiled add the saffron strands and the powdered cardamom.
Wait till the milk is completely boiled and check if the vermicelli is cooked perfectly or not.

After adding milk and cooking the semiya together
At this stage, add the sugar and remaining 2 tablespoons of ghee/butter.
Gently mix the whole content from bottom and let the vessel be on stove until the sugar is melted completely. This might take 2-3 mins.
At this stage, remove the vessel from stove top and put aside. Now, boil the rest of the milk and pour it into the semiya/vermicelli vessel.
Top up with the dry fruits & nuts and serve. Done!!

Tips:

Whatever might be the size of your cup, the ratio of the ingredients would be the same.
You can eliminate adding the ghee to the recipe (except for frying the dry fruits).
If you are a vegan you can use a non-dairy (plant based) milk , butter.
I read in an article, that coconut milk goes best for puddings. But you can expect subtle taste of coconut in the dish.
Be careful while you sautee the semiya / vermicelli, such that it doesn’t burn.
Add date syrup or maple syrup or jaggery instead of processed sugar. I used unrefined raw sugar in this recipe.
Don’t worry if you have added more milk, the semiya/ vermicelli would absorb the milk and make the outcome thick and creamy after a while.
You can add either sugar or jaggery as sweetener, either of them taste good.
You can add any dry fruits and nuts of your choice. I added Cashew Nuts, Almonds and green raisins.
This, semiya payasam / kheer / vermicelli pudding, can be served hot or chilled too.
This dessert stays good at room temperature for one day but stays good up to 3-4 days when refrigerated.

Result:

The taste of this, semiya payasam / kheer / vermicelli pudding, is very creamy and nutty.
The texture is very soft, nothing to chew/bite except for the dry fruits.

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