Seviyan Kheer Recipe - Indian Vermicelli Pudding

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Cooking With Anadi

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What Is Seviyan? What Is Kheer?

Seviyan in English means “vermicelli” and “kheer” is the Hindi word for “pudding.” This dish is also known as “Semiyan Payasam.” Vermicelli noodles are thin noodles made from ground rice. You may have seen vermicelli noodle dishes in Chinese restaurants, but here we’re actually going to use them in this fantastic dessert! Vermicelli noodles cook almost instantly, and they roast very well as you’ll see in this recipe!

About This Indian Vermicelli Dessert

Very recently, I shared my recipe for Instant Pot Rice Kheer. Rice kheer is essentially an Indian-style rice pudding, so the difference between this vermicelli kheer is the fact that we’re using vermicelli noodles instead of rice! This kheer is simply made with milk, ghee, and vermicelli noodles, and some extra touches to really bring the dessert together. This is an epic creamy dessert that you’ll love for any occasion!

If you’re subscribed to me on YouTube (and if you’re not please do by clicking this link! All my video recipes are released on YouTube at the same time as the blog posts go live, and I find videos help demonstrate the recipes well!), you know I’ve been hosting an open collaboration called #mycookingjourney2021. The objective with this collaboration is to encourage those who are new to the world of Indian cooking to get their feet wet by trying out a classic Indian recipe that they’ve never tried before. For those who are experienced at Indian cooking, I’ve challenged them to try fun fusion recipes! What’s fun is that I decided to participate in the challenge too! It’s been so much fun and I’ve learned a lot about myself in the process - it’s been such a blast that I’ve decided to extend the challenge by a week! So if you’re reading this at the time of publishing and you have a YouTube channel, then I encourage you to send in your submissions so I can see your fantastic creations!

One major takeaway I’ve had from this challenge is that I’ve grown much fonder over making desserts. Before this challenge, the amount of Dessert recipes I’ve had on this blog was pretty pathetic! Furthermore, the only Indian dessert recipe I had published prior to this was Sooji Halwa, which is a sweet semolina pudding!

Ho hum, what can I say? I’ve always liked cooking extravagant dinners. When I came to Canada, I jumped right into making the popular restaurant staple Butter Chicken, or Murgh Makhani, despite being in a small residence kitchen shared with a dozen or so other students!

When I eventually finally got my own kitchen and a KitchenAid Stand Mixer, I became passionate about bread baking, but desserts? Those were something I’ve always put off! In my head, I would just put in so much effort into creating main dishes that I’d be too tired to prepare dessert after! I then learned that the key to having an awesome dessert is to make it before your dinner:)

By the end of 2020 and at the start of 2021, I made desserts every week or so with that tip. However, I still wasn’t developing any recipes, as I was learning from some classics. All the content on the blog and on YouTube were still only savory dishes!

For the “Indian classics I’ve never made before” portion of the #mycookingjourney2021 challenge, desserts were certainly dishes that I have not done much of before! In the eight (crazy how time flies!) years I’ve been in Canada, I’ve made this Seviyan a handful of times, but I wouldn’t say I’m a seasoned pro at it! The same applied to the other dessert recipes I’ve shared as part of the challenge, including the Rice Kheer and Carrot Halwa - similar to the sooji halwa but with grated carrots! Yes, after never sharing dessert recipes on the blog, I’ve made three in one month! I’m a changed man everyone!

With that being said, you’ll love this Seviyan or Vermicelli Indian dessert recipe! It’s easy to make, requires only a few ingredients, and you’ll have a creamy, silky pudding with a delicious texture from those roasted vermicelli noodles! Enjoy it hot or cold, the choice is yours! Let’s get to the recipe!

Tips for an Amazing Kheer with Vermicelli

• If using chopped up nuts, make sure to clean the pan before adding the vermicelli to roast.
• Use your favorite combination of nuts, cashews, almonds, pistachio and even dried fruits like raisins for topping.
• Keep a close eye on the milk to ensure it doesn’t boil over, and stir often.
• Adjust the sweetness and sweetener to your preference.
• If everyone in your family likes their own unique sweetener, then make the entire dish without it. Then to serve, mix in the “custom” sweetener.

Tools Needed

• Nonstick pan
• Wooden spoon
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Mortar and pestle

Ingredients for Vermicelli Milk Pudding

We won’t have a long ingredient list for this kheer with vermicelli recipe. We’ve got our core ingredients plus some extra goodies to really elevate the classic kheer! Let’s review everything that you’ll need for a delightful dessert!

• Ghee: Used to roast our vermicelli noodles.
• Vermicelli noodles: Also known as Sevai. I used classic vermicelli noodles for this recipe.
• Milk: I recommend 2% or full fat milk to prepare this dish for best results. I made one batch with 2% milk and 1% milk, since I finished all my 2% milk. The 1% milk works fine, but in this case the more fat content the milk has, the better the texture and taste!
• Sweetener: You can use your favorite sweetener for this recipe. Traditionally, table sugar is used, but I used honey to switch things up! Use the amount according to your preferred level of sweetness.
• Ground green cardamom: This adds a lovely subtle flavor that really enhances the dish. I use ground green cardamom in all my Indian desserts, I highly recommend you get your hands on it!
• Saffron: One strand is all you need and it will certainly elevate the elegance of your vermicelli pudding.
• Cashews: Toasted in ghee for garnish. You could also add in chopped pistachios, almonds, or dried fruit including raisins. I kept it simple with using cashews.

How to Make Indian Vermicelli Pudding

1. Heat ghee on medium and add the cashews or any other nuts you like. Saute until light golden brown and set aside.
2. Turn heat to medium high and then lightly crush and break the vermicelli and add to the same pot. Continue to stir and roast vermicelli until it turns golden brown.
3. Add all of the milk and mix well. Continue stirring from time to time to ensure the milk doesn't get burnt on.
4. Reduce heat and bring the milk to a simmer. Add in sweetener of choice and continue to simmer and reduce the milk until it thickens.
5. Then add ground green cardamom and saffron and stir well.
6. Serve hot or chilled, topped with roasted nuts and raisins.

Other Indian Dessert Recipes

• Sooji Halwa: A sweet semolina pudding. This pudding is made by toasting the semolina with ghee and adding milk, topped with cashews!
• Carrot Halwa: A variation of the sooji halwa, where we’ll roast some grated carrots and allow the carrots to boil with the milk.
• Instant Pot Rice Kheer: Similar to this vermicelli kheer recipe, and I shared how to make it with basmati rice in the Instant Pot! This avoids the amount of hands-on time because there’s less babying of the milk, so you won’t have to worry about it burning. Of course I’ve written instructions to make this over the stove if you don’t have an Instant Pot!
• Mango Lassi: A sweet mango shake with milk, yogurt, and sugar! Simple and refreshing, perfect on a hot day!

Seviyan Kheer, Semiya Payasam or Sheer Khurma?

Three names come up for what looks like the same bowl, and they are not quite interchangeable. In North Indian households this is seviyan kheer. In south india the same idea is semiya payasam, and it is usually made with coconut milk rather than dairy and often sweetened with jaggery syrup. Sheer khurma is the Eid version, richer again, built on dates. Mine is the North Indian one: dairy milk, no coconut milk, no jaggery. It turns up at Diwali, at Eid and at Holi, and honestly at any celebration where someone wants a dessert on the table in half an hour.

The spicing is deliberately bare. An eighth of a teaspoon of cardamom powder and twelve strands of saffron, added right at the end so neither cooks away. There is no rose water, which some versions lean on heavily, and there are no cloves. Two cups of whole milk, two tablespoons of ghee, honey to taste, and a quarter cup of cashews. That is the entire list, and dry fruits scattered on top at the end are the only decoration it needs. Maple syrup or agave both swap in one for one for the honey if you would rather.

If you want to take it toward the payasam end, coconut milk works in place of the dairy. Almond milk and oat milk will both carry it too, though you lose some of the body that reducing whole milk gives you and you may want to simmer a little longer.

Roasting, Reducing and the Right Pan

Two things happen in the ghee before any milk goes near the pan, and the order matters. The cashews go in first on medium heat until they are light golden, then come out. Then the heat goes up to medium-high and the vermicelli goes in, lightly crushed and broken, and gets roasted until it turns golden brown. That roast is not optional. It is where the nutty aroma comes from, and skipping it is the difference between a dessert that tastes of toasted wheat and one that tastes of boiled noodles.

Use thin vermicelli if you can. The recipe simply says vermicelli noodles, and the thin kind cooks through in the time the milk takes to thicken. Thin rice vermicelli is the closest swap and happens to be gluten free; angel hair pasta broken up will do at a push. What you do not want is anything made from all purpose flour that is too thick to soften properly, and whole wheat vermicelli behaves much the same as regular if that is what your shop stocks.