Semiya Payasam: South Indian Vermicelli Pudding
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 6 servings
Description
This flavorful vermicelli pudding is equally good served either hot or cold.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup vermicelli (dry)
- 1 litre milk (approx 5 cups)
- 1/2 cup condensed milk (optional)
- 1/2 cup sugar (reduce as per taste if adding condensed milk)
- 3 tbsp mixed dry fruits/nuts - raisins, cashew, almonds
- 1/4 tsp green cardamom powder
- few strands saffron
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg powder (optional)
- 1/2 tsp khus khus (poppy seeds white)
- 1.5 tbsp ghee
Instructions
- In a saucepan heat ghee, add mixed nuts and toast till golden and raisins puff up. Remove nuts and set aside.
- In the same pan add vermicelli and fry in ghee till aroma emits and is slightly golden.
- Add milk. Let come to a boil and cook till vermicelli turns soft. Add condensed milk, sugar, khus khus if adding, simmer till thickens slightly.
- Add cardamom powder, nutmeg powder if adding, toasted nuts, kesar. Stir and immediately remove from heat.
- Serve hot or chilled.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: South Indian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 290
Semiya payasam is a South indian milk pudding (semiya means vermicelli in Tamil and Malayalam), and it is so delicious. Now, payasam is the umbrella word for the region's whole family of milk and coconut puddings (there are sooooo many), so we're talking about a vermicelli milk pudding here. Thin wheat vermicelli, toasted gold in ghee, goes into milk with sugar, cardamom, a few threads of saffron, and a pinch of nutmeg, simmered until it thickens and turns soft and creamy. Cashews and raisins, fried in the same ghee, go in last, and it is glorious.
Vermicelli in a sweet dessert can sound odd, but if you trust me on this one, you will be rewarded. Tamil and Telugu cooks make it constantly, for a plain weeknight dessert as easily as for a wedding or a festival breakfast. You can serve it straight off the stove, warm and a little loose, or let it sit in the fridge and eat it cold the next day, thicker and firm. Either way works, and most South Indian kitchens keep a jar of both going during festival season.
Saffron and nutmeg are easy enough to leave out if they are not on hand, you can definitely make a fine version without either. Condensed milk is a great shortcut, stirred in for part of the sugar and milk, and it turns the dish a little richer and a shade more caramel at the edges by the time it is ready. You'll find this at the end of almost all South Indian festival tables, the sweet dish that comes out once the rest of the meal is cleared.
