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The Veggie Indian

Healthy Vegetarian & Vegan food recipes, from around the world.

Vermicelli kheer (semiya/seviyan payasam)

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vermicelli kheer semiya payasam
Some dishes bring a whole lot of nostalgia rushed inside your heart, each time you make them. Memories of you sitting with your family, fun and laughter around, or some kind of festive spirit tingling your senses. It’s just amazing how our mind weaves memories around food, its taste and aroma.

Do you have any such dish  which takes you back to your childhood? Tell me, I would love to hear from you. :- )

Click for more recipes for the lazy, happy days or family weekends

So anyway, for me this Vermicelli kheer (pudding) is one such dish which never fails to kindle my memories associated with special occasion like any festival or just a lazy, happy day with family.

vermicelli kheer semiya payasam

What is vermicelli?– Vermicelli is basically a pasta in the form of long slender threads. Typically it is made of all purpose flour or semolina or bleached whole wheat flour depending on the type and the region its produced in. In India, it is known by the names of seviyan or semiya, this is quite a versatile ingredient for both savoury and sweet dishes.

This recipe for today is called Seviyan kheer or semiya payasam depending on whether its made in the north or south of India. The words, kheer and payasam are sort of synonyms here.

More Indian sweets recipes-> Badam halwa (almond halva) | Mango rava kesari (Semolina halva) | Besan ki barfi | Rasmalai  | Kesar badam pista kheer 

vermicelli kheer semiya payasam

This kheer was usually prepared at home when we had no other ideas or little time for preparations. Or simply when we were to lazy to make an elaborate dessert like Gajar halwa (carrot pudding) or chawal ki kheer (rice pudding) or gulab jamun. It was an escape even when there were unannounced guests at home. What i mean to say here is that, this is really a simple and quick sweet dish which needs no planning and is made under half an hour. Click for more dishes that get ready under 30 minutes.  

I love to flatter myself and add lotss of nuts into this Vermicelli kheer, half of them in powdered or coarse form and half into chunks. This method adds quite rich texture to the kheer which makes it tastes creamy and deliciuos like basundi or rabdi.

This kheer or payasam can be made for fasting (vrat) purposes like during Navratri, Ganesh Chaturthi or Janmashatmi etc. While I havent used phool makhana (lotus flower) into this recipe, you can by all means add them if making for fasting. Check out more fasting dishes here.

vermicelli kheer semiya payasam

I have got another super tasty recipe on the blog made using seviyan/semiya which is Sheer Khurma. This is another version of vermicelli kheer/payasam where dates are added to the pudding to make it richer and basically more awesome. It is mostly made during the month of Ramadan. You can check the recipe out here.

OK, so now without much ado, lets learn how to make this simple and super tasty Indian dessert- vermicelli kheer/payasam. Do write to me if you try this recipe and it comes out to be good. Even if not, I would love to hear from you. Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to see more of these recipes and inside fun.  

vermicelli kheer semiya payasam
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Vermicelli Kheer | Semiya/seviyan Payasam

Super tasty Indian dessert (kheer/payasam) made under 30 minutes from scratch. Perfect for lazy days, weekends or unannounced guests.
Course Sweet or dessert
Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Author Nupur @ The Veggie Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup vermicelli pasta
  • 2 tbsp ghee
  • 5 cups full fat milk
  • 1 ½ cup water
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • tbsp Few strands of saffron + 1 milk
  • cup About ½ of pounded/chopped nuts (Almonds cashews, pistachios)
  • A pinch of cardamom powder
  • 2 tbsp raisins optional

Instructions

  1. Soak saffron in 1 tbsp of milk and keep aside.
  3. Heat ghee in a pan and roast vermicelli for about 7-8 min at low gas setting.
  4. In the meanwhile, heat 1 ½ cup of water in a pan or microwave and add it to the roasted vermicelli. Cover the pan and cook for about 2-3 minutes at medium gas.
  6. Turn the gas to low, add milk slowly and gently stir the vermicelli. Cover and cook again at low for 5-7 minutes. Stir in between to avoid the sticking of vermicelli at the bottom of the pan.
  8. Now add sugar and nuts, mix well and cook further for 5-7 minutes stirring in between. Once it gets to your desired consistency, add cardamom powder and soaked saffron+milk. Stir once and turn off the gas.
  10. Keep it covered for a few minutes so the flavour from saffron gets sunk in. Garnish with more chopped nuts when serving.

Recipe Notes

Can be served both chilled and hot. When chilled it thickens up, so be ready for a creamier version. It’s my favourite! 🙂 For reheating just add few tsp of milk and micro for a minute. For a quicker version, just add 3 cups of milk with 1 can of condensed milk. Skip the sugar in that case.

Some more kheer/paysam recipes that you might like:
sheer khurma ramadan
Mung dhal payasam
 carrot kheer recipe
Rice kheer

Related posts:

Easy and healthy South Indian rice and dhal payasam recipe.South Indian Payasam with dal, rice & coconut milk| Arisi paruppu payasam Easy Mango halwa or rava kesari/sheera as it is called in different parts of India is a tasty dessert made during fesival time like Diwali , Navratri etc.Mango halwa | Rava kesari/sheera Sooji ka halwaSooji ka halwa | Rava sheera/kesari besan laddooBesan Laddu | Easy Indian sweets recipe

Comments

  16. Glad to finally discover ur space…when we became friends in FB I didnt actually know ur space ,discovered ur space just now ! u have got a lovely space with beautiful pics 🙂
    Where in u.k do u live ? I live in London 🙂

    Reply

  21. Though not a great fan of kheer, your pictures are just tempting! 🙂 Love the props as well. First time here, glad to follow u back 🙂

    Reply

  23. This looks so good.

    I have a question:
    Do you add the 5 cups of milk in the same pan with the 1 1/2 cups of water and pasta?? Wouldn’t that be very soupy/watery?? Or do you drain the water first?

    Reply

    • Pamela, Vermicelli is a kind of pasta which soaks a lot of liquid in. So all the water and milk gets absorbed by the threads fairly quickly resulting in a rich and thick dessert. In fact, if you want to reheat the pudding, you will need to add more milk in to bring it back to the desired consistancy. The pasta threads do not break or dissolve easily though unless you purposly mash them. The results would be very different if you make this pudding using normal pasta.

      Hope that would help 🙂

      Reply

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