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Semiya Payasam - A South Indian Style Vermicelli And Milk Sweet/ Pudding

This payasam is not one traditional to our cuisine, as vermicelli was never an ingredient that featured in our traditional cooking. I have a feeling it must have come in as a variation of the “Sevaiyaan”, a similar but much thicker pudding-like dish made by the Muslim community especially to celebrate Id-Ul-Fitr. This payasam is made by cooking the slightly thicker type of roasted vermicelli in milk and sugar intil it is a bit thick. The consistency of the milk in the finished payasam should somewhat like that of evaporated milk yet drinkable. Traditionally we always serve payasam a bit warm, but this one can be served chilled too and also makes a very easy to cook and serve dessert to finish an Indian meal.
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Course Dessert
Cuisine Indian
Servings 8 serving

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 to 2 tbsps ghee
  • handful golden raisins A small
  • handful cashewnuts A small broken (unroasted, unsalted)
  • 1 litre milk (I used 3% fat)
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cups vermicelli
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cups sugar
  • 3 to 4 pods cardamom , powdered

Instructions
 

  • If you are using unroasted vermicelli, heat 1 tbsp of ghee and roast the vermicelli, over medium heat, till it firsts turns white and then golden brown. Do not let it brown too much. Remove from the pan and keep aside.
  • Heat the remaining ghee in the same pan and, over low heat, fry the raisins till they plump up. Remove and keep aside. In the same ghee, fry the broken cashewnuts till they turn uniformly golden brown. Do not let them become dark brown. Remove them from the pan and keep aside.
  • In another heavy bottomed pan, pour the milk and bring it to boil. Add the roasted vermicelli and stir well. Allow the vermicelli-milk mixture to come to a boil, stirring frequently and then let it simmer until the vermicelli has cooked well. Stir frequently so that the vermicelli does not settle to the bottom of the pan, clump and burn.
  • Once the vermicelli has cooked and the milk has thickened a bit (this should take about 20 minutes or so), add the sugar and stir. Let it cook for a further 5 to 10 minutes. The consistency of the payasam should be a bit thick but still reasonably liquid when you stir it. It will thicken a little more once it cools. Add the cardamom, cashewnuts and raisins, stir a couple of times and take it off the heat.
  • Let it cool, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin from forming on the top. Serve warm or let it chill before serving if you prefer.