Easy Vermicelli Kheer Recipe - Easy Way To Make Indian Vermicelli Kheer

Vermicelli Pudding or Vermicelli Kheer, also known as Seviyan kheer or payasam, is one of the classic milk based Indian desserts popular throughout the country, especially in South India.

It is one of the easiest Indian desserts which is prepared for almost all the festivals and holidays in most of the households in India.

This is a family favourite recipe. I love this dessert, and whenever I feel I do not have much time left to prepare a dessert for an occasion, this recipe comes to my mind. Its very easy to prepare with very few ingredients like vermicelli, milk and sugar. You can add crushed cardamom and also a pinch of saffron to improve the flavour.

I love to keep the recipes simple, yet tasty and hence this is one of my favorite desserts.

Here you can see the ingredients and instructions to prepare the kheer.

Vermicelli 2 cups

Whole Milk 5 cups

Water 2 cups

Sugar 1.5 cups

Ghee or melted butter 2 tablespoons

Optional Ingredients

Cardamom a pinch

Saffron 4 to 5 strands

Raisins 1 tablespoon

Cashew nuts 1 tablespoon

Here we will see the basic method for preparing the vermicelli kheer recipe. In the next module I will tell you when to add the optional ingredients if you are using them.

Heat ghee or melted butter in a pan and roast the vermicelli for 2 minutes. Keep it aside. If you are using roasted vermicelli, you can skip this step.

In another pan, add milk and water. Heat the milk and water mixture till it boils. Keep stirring to avoid burning the bottom of the pan.

Once it is boiled, add it to the pan containing roasted vermicelli and stir well using a spatula.
Add sugar and stir well again.

Once the mixture starts boiling, cook on low flame till the vermicelli is cooked. Usually you will have instructions on the vermicelli packet to see how long you need to cook it. The cooking time is normally 5 to 8 minutes, but it will also depend on the variety of vermicelli you are using.

It is very important that you keep stirring frequently to avoid burning at the bottom of the pan.

Once vermicelli is cooked, remove pan from the stove and allow it to cool down.

You can serve this hot or chilled or even at room temperature, it tastes great!

It is important to note that vermicelli pudding tends to thicken once it starts cooling. If you want a more liquid consistency you can always add more milk. Also if you want more sweetness, you can add more sugar. Using whole milk and adding condensed milk can improve the taste of vermicelli pudding or kheer.

If you are using the optional ingredients I mentioned above, here is how to add them to the recipe.

Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee in a pan and fry the raisins and cashew nuts till they turn golden brown.

Keep this aside. You can also do this in the beginning when you roast vermicelli.

Crush the cardamom or use cardamom powder.

Also dissolve the saffron in a tablespoon of hot milk.

Add the crushed cardamom and dissolved saffron to the pudding while it is getting cooked in the low flame. This will help the flavours to blend with the pudding nicely.

Once the pudding is completely cooked, you can add the roasted raisins and cashew nuts on top of the pudding.

If you can't find Vermicelli or ghee in your local stores, you can get them from Amazon.

If you are following the usual method to make this recipe, you need to stir the dish frequently while the vermicelli is getting cooked. I found out a way to save myself from this difficulty and it always works for me. This is not something I was taught and I haven’t read about it anywhere. I guess this is something I learnt because of my laziness.

So here is the different method.

Once you add the boiled milk and sugar to the roasted vermicelli, stir once and remove the pan from the stove. Keep this closed for about 15 minutes. I have observed that if you are using thin vermicelli, it gets cooked this way. Once it is cooked, stir well to avoid any lumps that might have formed and add more milk if needed. If you use the thick variety, you may have to give it more time or simply follow the usual method.

Do you think you have no time to gather all the ingredients and make the recipe from scratch?

You can try the instant mix.