Quick Semiya Payasam: South Indian Vermicelli Pudding
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 8
Description
The condensed milk provides the sweetness in this creamy dessert but you can add additional sugar if you prefer it sweeter still.
Ingredients
- Full fat milk: 1 litre
- Condensed milk: 1 tin.
- Roasted semiya: 1 cup (240 ml).
- Raisins: 1 tbsp.
- Almonds/Badam: 2 tbsp or as needed.
- Cardamon: 3 or 4, crushed.
- Ghee: 2 tbsp (30 ml).
Instructions
- I used full fat pasteurized milk, condensed milk, and 1 cup of semiya.
- In a heavy bottomed pan, heat 1 tbsp ghee and add in the crushed cardamons and raisins, and then pour in the semiya, lower the flame and fry lightly. If you are using plain semiya, slightly fry it a little longer so that it will get roasted.
- Add in the milk, put the flame on high and stir, do not leave the stove as the milk will boil over. Once the milk boils reduce the flame to lowest, dont forget to stir.
- Meanwhile, chop up the almonds or cashewnuts; which ever you are using.
- After about 10 min, the semiya will be cooked and the milk will be slightly thick.
- Pour in the condensed milk, mix well while still on low flame, for about 2 min or so and then switch off the stove when nicely incorporated.
- Serve hot or chilled.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: South Indian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 280
A traditional South Indian milk pudding is a bit of a hassle. We're talking an hour over the pan, stirring and waiting for the milk to thicken. Luckily, there's a quicker way, and the shortcut is a tin of condensed milk. It is a good shortcut too, because condensed milk is already milk cooked down with sugar in it, so the tin has done that slow hour for you.
Semiya is a thin wheat vermicelli, and it cooks for a minute in ghee with crushed cardamom and raisins. Buy it pre-roasted if your shop has it, because plain semiya needs a good while longer in the pan before it takes any color at all.
Then you add the milk, a full liter of it, on a high heat. Now, fair warning – do not walk away! Milk on a high temperature will climb the sides of the pan and be across your stovetop before you have finished reading this sentence. The second it boils, turn the heat down to the lowest setting your stove has.
One tin of condensed milk goes in to sweeten it. Got a serious sweet tooth? Add sugar on top of it, nobody is watching you!
Stop when it is as thick as you want, and remember it sets up a good deal more as it cools. For twenty minutes of work it is absurdly good, and I will take it over the hour version most weeknights. Dessert, sorted.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does lightly frying the semiya in ghee before adding the milk actually do?
Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee with the crushed cardamoms and then add the semiya on a low flame to toast the vermicelli — it adds a nutty depth and prevents it from going mushy in the milk. If you are using plain (un-roasted) semiya, fry it a little longer to get it properly roasted.
Why can’t I just walk away once I add the milk?
Do not leave the stove after adding the full litre of milk — milk boils over very quickly on high heat. Stay, stir, and then drop the flame to its lowest setting once the milk comes to a boil.
When exactly should the condensed milk go in, and why so late?
The condensed milk is stirred in after about 10 minutes, once the semiya is fully cooked and the milk has thickened slightly. Adding it too early would make the mixture overly sweet and prone to scorching; at the end it only needs 2 minutes on low heat to incorporate before you switch off the stove.
