A traditional sweet delicacy, the sheer sewai is made of milk, dry dates, and lots of dry fruits. A quintessential festival recipe, sewai, or seviyaan is made in every household on the occasion of Eid. One of the most favorite Indian desserts made quickly and easily with just a few ingredients. A perfect dish to cook up for the festival or just about a tasty dessert to have after a meal.
This Eid dessert is made using nylon vermicelli cooked in milk and dry fruits. Saffron is added to it for a unique flavor. The dish means milk with dates. It is rich and creamy with lots of dried fruits like cashews, pistachios, almonds, raisins, and dates. It is flavored with rose water and cardamom.
The name Sheer Khurma has a Persian origin which translates to milk with dates but itis a popular dish all across Asia and the Middle East and is mostly made on the festival of Eid. Easy and quick to make, Sheer Sewai is a traditional delicacy that is made differently in different households but this sewai recipe here is the classic dish.
Sheer means milk in Persian and khurma means dates, which means milk cooked with dates in English and is made by cooking milk, fine vermicelli, dates, and other dry fruits until they all come together to make a delicious delight. This is a popular sweet that is made in every Muslim household during Eid.
Sheer sewai is a delicate dessert that you need to consume the same day. It is a dessert you can serve it warm and cold both because it can be enjoyed at any time. As the richness of milk with crunch nuts make this delicacy perfect. For perfect sheer sewai you need to have fine vermicelli. Please do not use the regular vermicelli to make this dessert.
What Is Sewai?
Sewai is a type of rice vermicelli popular in Southern India, particularly Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and some parts of Kerala. While typically made from rice, varieties made out of other food grains like wheat, ragi, etc. can also be found. Sevai is popular throughout South India as a meal throughout the day.
Read More : Phirni : Broken Rice Pudding
Tips For Making Sheer Sewai
Use whole milk in the sewai. It gives a nice creamy texture.
The pudding thickens as it cools down, so I suggest adding a little milk before serving. It’s a personal choice anyway, if you like it thick then just let it be.
Be careful about the amount of sugar in this recipe. Dates and raisins also add to the sweetness so start adding 1 tablespoon at a time and then add more as needed.
You need to use lots of nuts and dried fruits in the recipe but the most important one is dates.
Add khoya (dried milk solids) to make it richer and more flavorful.
You can add condensed milk instead of khoya which also gives the nice taste but makes sure that it is sweet so you don’t add too much sugar.
Sheer Sewai Recipe
Ingredients
- Ghee 3 tbsp
- Almonds (crushed) 10-12
- Cashew nuts (crushed) 10-12
- Raisins 10-12
- Dates 5-6
- Vermicelli 1 cup
- Full-fat milk 1 ltr
- Saffron strands (soaked in 2 tbsp milk) 10-15
- Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp
Method
- Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan.
- Add cloves, almonds, cashew nuts, raisins, pistachios, and Chironji and fry till they are slightly browned. Remove them on a plate.
- Add vermicelli in the pan and fry till slightly browned. Remove on a plate.
- Now add milk and dates in the same pan and cook for 10-12 minutes until the milk is slightly reduced.
- Add fried vermicelli and dry fruits and cook for another 10-12 minutes until vermicelli is softened.
- Add sugar, saffron soaked in milk and cardamom powder and cook for another minute.
- Transfer the Sheer Khurma in serving bowls.
- Garnish with almonds and pistachio.
