This sweet is the favourite of everyone at home, especially the children and is my go-to recipe when I need to whip up a sweet for any festival. GG & BB love it so much that I have to hide some for S, otherwise, he won’t get any when he comes home from work! This is a very easy recipe but takes a little bit of time stirring if you want to get the rich taste.

Semiya/Vermicelli Payasam

Ingredients:

• 1 cup vermicelli
• 1 cup sugar
• 1-litre milk (full cream is the best for taste)
• 10-12 pieces cashew nuts (chopped into half)
• 2 tbsp raisins
• ½ tsp cardamom powder
• 2 tbsp ghee

Method:

• In a deep bottom pan, heat the ghee and when it warms, fry the raisins till they plump up and keep aside in a kitchen towel.
• In the same pan, fry the cashew nuts until they turn brown and crisp and remove into the same kitchen towel.
• With the remaining ghee, fry the vermicelli till it becomes brown and starts to develop an aroma.
• At this point, pour 1/3 to half a litre of milk and let it come to a rolling boil. Reduce the flame and let the milk and vermicelli boil until the vermicelli is completely cooked. This will take between 15-20 minutes. If at any point, the milk reduces, add some more milk to cover the vermicelli.
• When the vermicelli is completely cooked, add the remaining milk and let it come to a nice rolling boil.
• Now add the sugar and let it boil for a while until the sweet has thickened.
• Add the sugar, cardamom, saffron and the nuts and let it boil for another 5 minutes.
• Remove from the flame and let it cool before serving.
• This sweet is very tasty both hot or cold, but we prefer to drink it cold. A few hours in the fridge really improves the taste dramatically.

Tips:

• If you want to increase the proportions, just remember to put the sugar and vermicelli in a ratio of 1:1.
• I prefer to use a pestle and mortar to grind my cardamom on an ‘as I need it‘ basis. I feel that grinding a whole bunch of cinnamon at the same time makes the smell of the spice go away after a while. You will need the pods from 5-6 cardamoms to make up ¼ tsp of the powder.