Vermicelli (Shavige)~Dates Payasam/ Sheer Khurma.

"Vermicelli~Dates Payasam/ Sheer Khurma (Khorma)/ Shavige Payasa" ... Festive Greetings to all my friends on the auspicious occasion of Shravana Somavar/ Dwadashi ... Sharing my today's Naivedyam/Prasadam with all my friends here ... Stay Blessed~ Spread Happiness ..... 

** Vermicelli Payasam/ Shavige Payasa is a very common dish prepared in Indian homes during festive seasons. Here the store bought sevaiyan is fried in ghee and then cooked in milk to which sugar and dry fruits are added on at later stage. You can serve it both hot or cold depending I guess on the weather and it tastes awesome either way. This is the traditional way the payasam is prepared in southern parts of India and that is how I have relished it throughout my childhood. After marriage and settling in Thane, a located very next in the outskirts of Mumbai I came across the same dish in different variations. Well as in my home sweets were something not relished much, I never attempted much to try them out. It is in the last decade that hubby and me suddenly started liking sweet dishes and cut down drastically on very spicy dishes as with growing age it did not suit our body anymore. 

** I, who had always wondered how my friends relished so much sweets joined the bandwagon and began loving them very much. Hubby actually joined us say about in the last 5 years only. But it is really a pleasure to note that we both love sweet dishes, though not all, and that has what made me try out new variations. I came across Sheer Khurma (Khorma) in my friends home and loved the taste very much, though I really could not pin point what the difference was between my shevaiyan and her dish. I asked her the recipe and the difference I learnt was dates/khajoor and loads of dry fruits that was added while cooking the payasam. The next festival I prepared this in my home and as it was summer time, I decided to serve it cold and it was instantly loved by all in my home. Well, it has been a part of dessert that is prepared often in my home, especially when there is some excess milk which I want to use over. 

** Here is my simple recipe of preparing “Vermicelli~Dates Payasam/ Sheer Khurma (Khorma)/ Shavige Payasa" on festive occasions … My Style … 

** Boil ½ liter full fat Milk/Dhoodh on medium heat. Once it come to a full boil, lower the heat and let it simmer aside while we prepare the other requirements of the dish. However, keep stirring the milk in between so that it gets evenly thickened without getting the cream layer on top. 

** Chop about 12-15 Dates / Khajoor of soft dark brown quality and discard the inner seed if any. You can use the seedless variety if desired, but do check out if any seeds are left over. Put it in a electric chopper and coarsely chop/crush it and keep it ready aside. You can also crush it with a heavy stone. 

** Heat 3-4 tblsp of homemade cow's ghee in a thick bottomed wide pan. Add in about 8-10 Cashew Nut cut into 2 and fry till they are slightly browned. Remove and keep it on a plate aside. Now in the same oil add in a handful of pickled and cleaned Raisins along with 2 tblsp of Charoli and fry for a minute, remove and add this to the cashew nuts in the plate. 

** Chop about 8-10 Pistachios/Pista and 10-12 Almonds/Badam and keep them also with the fried nuts. Please DO NOT fry the pista and and almonds. Just see to it that all the nuts are kept ready. Now in the same ghee on pan add in about approximately one cup of Roasted Vermicelli and fry for a minute. Add in the coarsely crushed dates/khajoor and fry together for another minute. 

** Now add in the boiling milk and mix well. Cook on medium heat till it gets cooked and mixed in well. The mixture will begin to thicken, so keep stirring to avoid it getting burnt at the bottom. If need be, lower the flame to minimum and if you find the kheer becoming too thick add in a cup of water and mix well. 

** When the vermicelli is cooked and kheer thickens, add in a few strands of Saffron/Kesar and the dry fruits kept ready on the plate along with 2-3 tblsp of Sugar, mix well and further cook for 5 minutes till you see that everything has blended well. Finally add in ½ tsp of Cardamom/ Ellaichi powder and remove from fire. 

** "Vermicelli~Dates Payasam/ Sheer Khurma (Khorma)/ Shavige Payasa" is done and ready to be offered as Naivedyam to God and then distributed among all. This payasam can be served hot or cold depending on the weather and it tastes equally good both ways. In my home we prefer to have it cold, so I put it in the fridge for a few hours and serve it cold. 

** Do try out this awesome recipe of Payasam during any festive season or functions and relish it with your family and friends. I am sure they will love this as dessert after an scrumptious meal. Children are sure to love this and if they fuss about drinking milk, make this during weekends and serve the same, they will enjoy them and will in the process get the requirements for a healthy growth from the dry fruit too. 

** Note : The Dates/Khajoor should be coarsely crushed and added on for that delicious taste and not just cut into pieces. Also do not grind it too fine, though many say they like it that way, but I have noticed that if you grind it fine and add the color of the payasam turns slightly brownish and does not retain the white milk color well. 

** Note : Addition of sugar is as per your taste and also depends on the dates/khajoor sweetness which really cannot be written and has to be judgement by you while adding. Just keep in mind that the dates to makes the payasam sweet so be careful with addition of sugar. 

** Note : The payasam tastes best when prepared with full fat milk. Though the same can be prepared with skimmed milk the taste varies and does not give the texture and consistency the full fat milk gives. The addition of dry fruits makes the dish richer and tastier and filled with calories. So try this out with full fat milk and consume in limited quantities. 

** Note : You can keep this dish for about 12-14 hours in fridge and serve as required. Above the mentioned time frame I would not recommend as not only does it loose taste, it sort of gets solidified and the taste somehow differs. So do consume the payasam within 12 hours for best results. 

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