Traditional Semiya Payasam
The creamy, delicious sweet dessert, that is enjoyed by so many. This recipe is fail-proof for a mouth-watering payasam.
The Recipe Intro more Info and the Video for this recipe. Check it out.
This makes a large quantity of Payasam (20 servings). You can easily halve the recipe. Just split all ingredients measures by half.
Ingredients:
| Roasted (Semolina vermicelli) | 350 gms | |
| Full cream cows milk (2 ptrs first and uptown 1 litre more and water as needed) | 2 liters (plus 1) | |
| Sugar (plus 1/4 - 1/2 cup additional sugar if needed) | 1/2 cup | |
| Green cardamom pods | 1 1/2 Tbsp | |
| Sea Salt (crystals) | 1/3 tsp | |
| Raw cashew nuts | 3/4 cup | |
| Kismis /golden sultanas / raisins | 1/4 cup | |
| Ghee / Clarified butter (divided) | 6 heaped Tbsp |
Method:
- Begin heating the milk in a large enough pot. Heat 2 litres of the milk, just till it begins to simmer.
- To a separate, large pot, add 3 heaped Tbsp of the ghee and add the vermicelli. (See notes).
- Once the vermicelli, in nicely coated with the ghee and smells nice, add half the amount of heated milk.
- Stir well and break up the lumps that form when the milk is added.
- Once all the lumps are broken and the milk comes to a boil, add the remaining hot milk.
- Keep stirring on a medium flame. Stir till the milk returns to a simmer again. Constant stirring is required for payasam, even if you are using non-stick.
- While you are doing this, add 1/2 cup sugar to a small grinder with 1 1/2 Tbsp green cardamom. Pulse a few times. Then remove the cardamom skins. Continue to grind to a fine sugar powder.
- Once the milk has reduced a little, and the payasam looks creamy, add the powdered sugar mixture. Use a sieve to make sure there are no bits of the cardamom skin. It will ruin the texture of the payasam when eating. Keep tasting for sweetness as you add the powdered mixture. Most likely you will use all of it.
- Now the milk has thickened further and is quite creamy. Now we loosen it a bit with milk and water ( up to 1 litre more). The payasam should be creamy but not too thick, we need a good amount of milk through the payasam, as it will dry out and thicken further, upon sitting. Keep stirring throughout. The whole process should take about 20 minutes.
- Once all the water and milk is added and sweetened to taste, add the salt and stir through. Using sea salt crytals is reccomended.
- Remove from heat and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Now, add a little water to the payasam that has probably thickened a bit in this resting stage. Also, taste and add extra sugar as needed – to taste (it will still be quite hot, to melt the sugar quickly)
- Heat the remaining ghee in a small pan. Fry the cashews and kismis till golden, separately.
- Add to the rested Semiya Payasam.
- Serve warm. It’s delicious!
Traditional Semiya Payasam
Notes:
- Roasted (Semolina vermicelli) is available at your local South Asian stores.
- Even with store-bought roasted vermicelli, I prefer to roast the semiya(vermicelli) briefly again in ghee at the beginning, this adds flavor and depth to the payasam. If using roasted vermicelli, you don’t need to roast as long as if you use unroasted. If using unroasted plain vermicelli, you need to roast the vermicelli in the ghee till it is golden brown in color.
- Always have extra milk on hand. Payasam thickens very easily upon resting. Yo needed to heat with extra milk when serving. Also add extra sugar, when you add more milk to discretion.
Key Ingredients: Milk, Vermicelli (Semiya), Sugar, Ghee, Cardamom, Salt, Water.
EAT AND TELL!!! Let us know if you tried – Traditional Semiya Payasam
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