Quick and easy recipe for rich and creamy vermicelli kheer or semiya payasam for those sweet tooth cravings! A perfect recipe for festivals and party gatherings.
Check out how to make this popular semiya kheer with condensed milk and evaporated milk with step-wise pictures.
Indian festive menu is incomplete without a kheer or pudding. In Tamil, we call kheer as payasam, and we make payasam as offering to God on all auspicious days. I continue the same ritual here in the US as well, and I always tend to make some quick and easy kheers on festivals when it falls on weekdays.
This semiya kheer, poha kheer/aval payasam, and Instant Pot rice kheer are my go-to options.
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So what’s makes this semiya kheer special?
✔ It’s effortless to make and delicious.
✔ A semi-homemade kheer. You don’t need to stir the milk continuously and reduce it, yet it is creamy and rich. Thanks to the evaporated milk and condensed milk.
✔ Nut-free, but you can easily do a sheer khurma makeover.
✔ You can make this kheer in less than 30 minutes.
Now let’s get into the nitty-gritty details of this kheer.
Roasted or unroasted vermicelli-
Ok, the purist might say and even vouch only for roasted vermicelli. But I have tried this kheer with both roasted and unroasted vermicelli, and it has come out well. Roasted vermicelli adds a deep flavor, and they are non-sticky, but unroasted ones are equally delicious.
For this recipe, I used unroasted semiya and no clumps, and it was perfect, as you can see in the picture. So I would say use whatever you have in hand.
These days roasted vermicelli is readily available in the stores if you find that go for it. When you can’t source, especially during these challenging COVID times, use the available ones.
If you are fond of roasted semiya, then take the necessary measure, and roast it in ghee for 2 to three minutes till it turns light brown.
Main ingredients for vermicelli kheer | A semi-homemade kheer
Milk – I used reduced-fat milk. But wait, I am using evaporated milk also. So that takes care of the creamy and rich flavor.
Evaporated milk – I used one can (12 oz) of evaporated milk, and it is shelf-stable canned milk with 60% of the water content removed. Evaporated milk is nothing but unsweetened condensed milk.
Sweet condensed milk – I used half of one 14oz can and did not add any extra sugar or sweetener.
Flavor enhancers – I used cardamom and saffron strands to enhance the flavor of this kheer. I soaked these two in the 1/4 cup of warm milk and let the flavors infuse well. You can use either cardamom or saffron or other flavors like rose syrup or almond essence etc.
I used five cardamoms for this recipe. It might sound a lot, but trust me, folks, it adds so much flavor, and you need that amount. So go for it.
If you notice, you need five ingredients to prepare this kheer – milk, sweet condensed milk, evaporated milk, vermicelli, and a flavor enhancer like cardamom or saffron.
Is this similar to sheer khurma?
Not exactly. For sheer khurma, we use thin vermicelli as well as a lot of nuts. But you can convert this into sheer khurma easily. Even with regular vermicelli, you can prepare it, but we can’t call it authentic.
Let me tell you how to convert this into a not-so-authentic sheer khurma. Add a drop of rose essence, but that’s completely optional. Roast 2 tbsps of cashews, almonds, pistachios, walnuts (nuts of your choice), raisins, and finely chopped dates in 2 tbsps of ghee and add it to the kheer.
Ok, now let me share how I made this semiya payasam with detailed step-wise pictures.
Semiya payasam recipe with detailed step-wise pictures-
- Heat a heavy bottom vessel and add the 3/4 cup of regular milk.
- Bring the milk to a boil. Just be careful during this step. You don’t need to bring it to a full boil. As it becomes frothy and when you see the bubbles, you can add the vermicelli.
- Before adding vermicelli, take about 1/4 cup of the boiling milk in a bowl, and add the saffron strands and crushed cardamom. Set it aside.
- Reduce the heat, add the vermicelli, and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes or until the vermicelli is half-cooked. Make sure to stir in-between.
- Now add the evaporated milk and condensed milk.
- Mix well and make sure the condensed milk dissolves completely.
- Let it simmer for 7 to 8 minutes. Make sure to stir in-between.
- Now add the saffron and cardamom soaked milk and mix. Just cook for 2 minutes and turn off the heat.
Serve warm, or you can allow it cool and refrigerate and serve chilled.
Recipe Notes-
- You can use both roasted or non-roasted vermicelli for this kheer. I have tried both, and we didn’t have any issues. If you can get roasted vermicelli, go for it. Or you can roast the vermicelli for 2 minutes over medium heat for about 2 minutes. It adds a depth to the flavor. But for this recipe, I did not roast the vermicelli.
- As I included 7 oz of sweetened condensed milk, I did not add any additional sugar. Adjust the sweetness as per your preference. You can reduce the condensed milk and add sugar like in my poha kheer too. This kheer is slightly on the sweeter side.
- Traditionally for kheer, we add roasted nuts and raisins, but I kept it nut-free. As we are not adding any ghee, you can serve this kheer cold. But feel free to add roasted nuts and raisins. You can freshly roast them in ghee and add it to the flavor.
- You can easily convert this recipe into a sheer khurma by roasting 2 tbsps of cashews, almonds, pistachios, walnuts (nuts of your choice), and raisins plus chopped dates in 2 tbsps of ghee and add it to the kheer. I know it’s not authentic but shared a quick makeover idea.
- The kheer might thicken as it cools down. You can add more milk or evaporated milk to thin it down and serve.
Other Kheer Recipes-
- Sago kheer
- Mango phirni
- Gasagase payasa | Poppy seeds kheer
- No-cook tender coconut kheer
- Instant Pot rice and walnut kheer
- Hayagreeva maddi
- Mixed nuts kheer
- Carrot kheer
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Semiya Payasam | Semi-Homemade Vermicelli Kheer with Evaporated and Condensed Milk
Equipment
- Saucepan or kadai
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vermicelli roasted or unroasted, please see the post above for the details.
- 3/4 cup reduced-fat milk I used 2% reduced-fat milk
- 7 oz sweet condensed milk half of one 14 oz can
- 12 oz evaporated milk; one 12 oz can
- 5 green cardamoms or to taste crushed roughly. If using powder add 1.5 to 2 tsps of cardamom powder
- 1/8 tsp saffron strands one fat pinch of saffron would do
Instructions
- Heat a heavy bottom vessel and add the 3/4 cup of regular milk.
- Bring the milk to a boil. Just be careful during this step. You don't need to bring it to a full boil. As it becomes frothy and when you see the bubbles, you can add the vermicelli.
- Before adding vermicelli, take about 1/4 cup of the boiling milk in a bowl, and add the saffron strands and crushed cardamom. Set it aside.
- Reduce the heat, add the vermicelli, and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes or until the vermicelli is half-cooked. Make sure to stir in-between.
- Now add the evaporated milk and condensed milk.
- Mix well and make sure the condensed milk dissolves completely.
- Let it simmer for 7 to 8 minutes. Make sure to stir in-between.
- Now add the saffron and cardamom soaked milk and mix. Just cook for 2 minutes and turn off the heat.
- Serve warm, or you can allow it cool and refrigerate and serve chilled.
Notes
- You can use both roasted or non-roasted vermicelli for this kheer. I have tried both, and we didn't have any issues. If you can get roasted vermicelli, go for it. Or you can roast the vermicelli for 2 minutes over medium heat for about 2 minutes. It adds a depth to the flavor. But for this recipe, I did not roast the vermicelli.
- As I included 7 oz of sweetened condensed milk, I did not add any additional sugar. Adjust the sweetness as per your preference. You can reduce the condensed milk and add sugar like in my poha kheer too. This kheer is slightly on the sweeter side.
- Traditionally for kheer, we add roasted nuts and raisins, but I kept it nut-free. As we are not adding any ghee, you can serve this kheer cold. But feel free to add roasted nuts and raisins. You can freshly roast them in ghee and add it to the flavor.
- You can easily convert this recipe into a sheer khurma by roasting 2 tbsps of cashews, almonds, pistachios, walnuts (nuts of your choice), and raisins plus chopped dates in 2 tbsps of ghee and add it to the kheer. I know it's not authentic but shared a quick makeover idea.
- The kheer might thicken as it cools down. You can add more milk or evaporated milk to thin it down and serve.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Update Notes: First posted in 2014. Updated the recipe with new pics, and recipe cards in 2020.
