Semiya Payasam/Semiya Kheer

Sweets and festivals are words which go hand in hand! And if you ever have to prepare a sweet within a limited time, this should be your life saver! Semiya, as fondly called in South india is a type of rice Vermicilli with which you can make varied types of recipes - like upma/kheer/pulao!

Having 2 sweet loving people in my home, it becomes necessary for me to prepare some sweets to ease their tummy of the sweet love! What more, added with some dry fruits and milk, it makes a wonderful dessert for the whole family.

Whenever I have to prepare sweet as an offering to the god during my usual working days, this recipe is my to-go-friend! Pretty easy to do for a first timer and its fail proof! Kids love this and it can also be a great breakfast idea on some days!

Payasam/Kheer, as we call in India is a dessert made with rice/vermicelli/tapioca pearls, milk and sugar flavored with dry fruits and nuts.  It is a must-do dessert in any functions or festivals in India and a meal starts with the sweet as a sweet beginning! 

Ingredients:

Milk – 100 ml (or equal amount to semiya)

Raisins/Cashews/Almonds – 10/2/2 (You may add more if you wish)

Semiya – 100 g (as per measurement cup ¾ cup)

Sweetened creamer – 50g

Sugar – 3 TBSP

Water – 300 ml (3 times Semiya)

Ghee – 1 TBSP

Cardamom – 1

Time to make: 25 -30 minutes

Servings: 3

Recipe:

1. Take a pan and add the ghee once it is hot. Make sure not to burn the ghee.

2. Immediately, add the cardamom. Once the Cardamom starts to bulge, add the raisins, almonds and cashews. Fry them till they turn golden brown. This is a very important stage and they might burn easily if the ghee or the pan is too hot.

3. Switch off the flame and keep the roasted dry fruits and nuts aside.

4. In the same ghee where we roasted the nuts, add the semiya and roast it until golden brown (You can add more ghee if you wish to at this stage). Again, make sure not to burn the semiya as you have to keep on turning them in the pan until golden brown. Never leave the semiya unattended as they can change to dark brown (get burnt) very easily. So, keep that cutlery ready and keep on turning the semiya evenly until golden brown (You can see that in my picture as the color changes from pale white to golden brown)

5. Keep your water ready and add it to the semiya. Keep the flame low and let the water boil so that the semiya gets cooked.

6. After you see the water boiling, add the milk and sugar to the semiya mixture. Let the milk boil.

7. At this stage, you can add the remaining creamer. Mix it well and keep in the flame for another 2-3 minutes.

8. I love to add some powdered cardamom at the final stage when I am taking it out of flame. However, this is purely optional and you can skip it if you don’t have powdered cardamom.

9. Add on your roasted dry fruits and nuts once it is switched off the flame.

Note: In this recipe, I have used non-roasted semiya for doing the kheer. However, if you have roasted semiya (which you can get very easily in any stores), you can go ahead and skip the roasting of the semiya and add it directly to the ghee with water. You may add pistachio or even saffron to give it a rich taste.

I used milk and creamer in this recipe so my sugar is adjusted accordingly. However, you can just use milk (or) Sweetened Creamer and add more or less sugar depending on your taste. If using Sweetened creamer alone, just make sure to add twice the quantity specified to match up the milk added and add less or no sugar (since it is sweetened).

The very humbling semiya kheer /Semiya Payasam is ready for serving. You can have it hot or cold as per your liking. It tastes great both the ways!