Seviyan Kheer (Vermicelli pudding)

This creamy seviyan (vermicelli) pudding is flavored with cardamom, rose water and nuts. It's a great dessert for anytime of the year.
In south and east India, versions of it are made for certain festivals, like my mom used to make it on 'Raksha Bandhan' day.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fine roasted seviyan (vermicelli) broken into 2-3 cm pieces
• 2 pint full cream hot milk
• 1 pint sweetened condensed milk
• ¼ cup unsalted roasted almonds chopped coarsely
• ¼ cup pistachios chopped coarsely
• 1 tsp chironji
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 tbsp rose water
• Sugar according to taste if required

Method:

• Heat the ghee in a heavy bottomed non-stick pan over medium heat and add seviyan; fry till golden brown.
• Pour the full cream milk, condensed milk, almonds, pistachio and stirring constantly bring to boil. Cook for about 3-4 minutes; stir constantly to avoid lump formation.
• Cool to room temperature, add rose water and cardamom powder.
• Garnish with nuts and serve chilled or hot as you like.

Do You Know:

Rose water is the leftover liquid or hydrosol remaining when rose petals and water are distilled together for the purpose of making rose oil.

Rose water is popular due to its distinct flavor. This is the reason why rose water is used in cuisines of West Asia, South Asia and Middle Eastern areas. Recipes from the 8th century have also included the rose water as an important ingredient.

Many sweets are often flavored with rose water. In India, this is used as an ingredient in Gulab Jamun, which is a very popular sweet. Areas of Malaysia and Singapore use rose water as an ingredient in a sweet drink, which is known as Bandung.