Sheer Khurma
Recipe: Sheer Khurma
Sheer Khurma is a thick, rich, creamy, flavourful vermicelli dessert that is prepared during Eid ul-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. This recipe is without any refined sugar. Muslims in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia prepare Sheer Khurma during the Islamic festivals. Generally enjoyed as breakfast or as a dessert on these auspicious days, it can be served warm or cold.
What Is Sheer Khurma?
In the Persian language sheer is milk and khurma or khorma is dates. Long time before modern day borders existed, sheer khurma spread to Afghanistan and then Indian Sub Continent through historic trade and cultural pathways like the Silk Route. What started out as just a date and milk in Iran, when it was introduced to Afghanistan, dry fruits and nuts were added. When it reached the Indian Sub- Continent, fried semia or vermicelli were added.
The Difference Between Seviyan And Sheer Khurma
Yes, there is a slight difference. Most food bloggers interchange the names but there is a difference. Sheer Khurma always has dates in it and is thick and creamy. Also, it is loaded with nuts and other dried fruits. Seviyan on the other hand is the simpler cousin – not too thick, no dates and usually the only dry fruit added is raisins with nuts like cashew or almonds. Nowadays, for health reasons, people have started adding dates to seviyan as the natural sweetener. Seviyan is also known as sevai or semiya kheer or doodh seviyan. Seviyan also refers to vermicelli dishes both sweet and savoury.
Memories
The first time I enjoyed sheer khurma was when I got married. Hubby had many Muslim friends and we would visit them during Eid. One of his friend’s mum made the best ever sheer khurma. That is when I had it – warm, thick, aromatic and so so delicious. It was totally different from the sev kheer or doodh sev my mum made. Every home has its own spice or method of making sheer khurma. It meant that the sheer khurma at other friends’ homes too tasted a bit different. But one thing was common – the thick creamy texture with well cooked vermicelli.
Sharing Sheer Khurma Recipe With The Group Sunday Funday
I am hosting this Sunday. I suggested the following, “Prepare a dish from any of the South Asian Countries. The countries in that region are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.” A good opportunity to try out cuisines from different countries. Redoing an old recipe, first posted Sheer Khurma recipe on 10/6/2019. Sharing it again with better photos and write up.
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Ingredients Required For Sheer Khurma
Vermicelli
Best vermicelli for Sheer Khurma is the thin wheat vermicelli. I prefer to buy the un roasted one so that I can roast it at home in ghee. Break the vermicelli into smaller pieces, by crushing it with your hands. Don’t make it into a powder. Roast it in ghee over low heat and not medium or high.
Milk
Full Fat Milk or whole milk is best for this recipe, for that rich creamy consistency. We need boiling hot 1 litre milk.
Dates
Soft dates of your choice. Medjool, Halawy, Muzzafati or Sukkary variety. Don’t use dates that have become dry. We are going to soak the pitted dates in some hot milk for 20 – 30 minutes. I prefer to rinse the dates before pitting them.
Honey | Maple Syrup
Add either according to your taste. It also depends on how sweet the dates are. Sometimes, you may not need to add as the sweetness from the dates may be enough. Best to taste the sheer kurma and add.
Ghee
We need some ghee or clarified butter for roasting the nuts and vermicelli.
Pistachio
2-3 tbsp chopped pistachios.
Raisins
If you have golden raisins, then those are ideal. However, can use any you have. About 2-3 tbsp.
Almond
About 2 -3 tbsps chopped. Add according to your preference.
Cashew Nuts
About ¼ cup. Can use up broken cashew nuts for this recipe as we are going to soak them in hot milk along with the dates. You can leave a few cashew nuts for garnishing.
Rose Water Or Kewra Water
Kewra Water is an extract from the pandanus flower. It is aromatic with a sweet floral flavour. Or can add rose water. Some add both. The choice is yours. I have added rose water as I don’t have kewra water.
Saffron
A few saffron strands. Adds a sweetish, grassy, earthy flavour.
Cardamom Powder
Add according to your taste. It has a strong floral flavour.
Nutmeg Powder
Adds a distinct sweet, woody and nutty flavour and aroma.
Charoli
Also known as chironji, almondette or Cuddapah almond. It is a popular nut or seed used for sweet dishes in the Indian Sub Continent.
Salt
Adding a pinch of salt to any dessert, brings out the flavours of all the other ingredients.
SHEER KHURMA WITHOUT REFINED SUGAR
Ingredients
- 1 cup broken vermicelli
- 4 cups full fat milk
- 2 tbsps ghee
- 2 tbsp cashew nuts whole
- 2 tbsp cashew nuts chopped
- 8 large dates
- 2-3 tbsp almond chopped
- 2 tbsp pistachios sliced or chopped
- 2 tbsp raisins
- 1 tbsp charoli
- ¼ tsp saffron
- 1 tbsp rose water
- 2-3 tbsp honey or maple syrup
- ½ tsp cardamom powder
- ¼ tsp nutmeg powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
SOAK THE DATES, CASHEW NUTS AND SAFFRON IN HOT MILK
- Heat the milk in a pan till it becomes hot.
- Transfer about 1 cup hot milk to a bowl.
- Add the pitted dates and whole cashew nuts to it.
- Allow the dates and cashew nuts to soak for 20-30 minutes.
- Take about 1 tbsp of hot milk from the pan and add to a small bowl.
- Add the saffron strands and allow them to soak till required.
SIMMER THE MILK
- Heat the remaining milk and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir frequently so that the milk does not burn at the bottom.
- Lower the heat and keep the milk hot.
ROAST THE NUTS AND VERMICELLI
- Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a wide pan over low heat.
- Add cashew nut and almond pieces.
- Roast them for 2 minutes. Stir constantly.
- Add the raisins. As soon as they plump up add the pistachio and charoli.
- Stir fry for 1 minute.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the nuts and raisins from the pan. Transfer to a small bowl.
- Add the remaining 1 tbsp ghee.
- When it becomes a bit hot, add the broken vermicelli.
- Roast it in the ghee over low heat till it becomes golden brown in colour. Do not burn it.
PREPARE SHEER KHURMA
- Add the roasted vermicelli to the hot milk. Let it simmer over low to medium heat.
- Stir the mixture frequently so that it does not stick to the bottom.
- In the meantime, puree the soaked dates and cashew nuts in a blender.
- Add the paste to the simmering vermicelli milk mixture.
- Simmer the sheer khurma till it becomes thick.
- Add the saffron milk mixture, cardamom, nutmeg and rose water.
- Add salt and honey or maple syrup. Mix well. Add the sweetener after tasting the sheer khurma.
- Add the roasted nuts and raisins. Leave some for garnishing.
- Serve it either warm or chilled. Add the remaining nuts and raisin mixture on top as garnish.
Notes
- Some recipes use condensed milk, but I personally do not like the taste. About a cup of condensed milk is added to the milk and boiled. Reduce the amount of sugar if using condensed milk. Also since this is a refined sugar free recipe, I haven't added condensed milk.
- Choice of nuts that can be used are walnuts, cashew nuts, almonds, pistachios..
- Use unsalted butter instead of ghee.
- Roast the vermicelli properly so it doesn't taste raw and mushy.
- Can replace the honey or maple syrup with regular white sugar.
- Add chopped dried apricot and figs if you want to.
Pin For Later
A Small Request
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
- or comment on Pinterest @mayuri62
16 Comments
Geetha Priyanka
November 4, 2018 at 7:58 pm
Yum Yum!!! seviyan is one simple and delicious dish which I always prefer to make when ever I crave for something sweet. I have never used nutmeg powder, I am sure it imparts the warm and sweet flavour to the already scrumptious seviyan. I try adding it next time. Lovely share…..
mayurisjikoni
November 11, 2018 at 9:58 pm
Thank you so much Geetha.
Shobha Keshwani
November 5, 2018 at 8:59 am
Delicious and inviting sevaiyan kheer. Loved the clicks and presentation too Mayuri.
mayurisjikoni
November 11, 2018 at 9:55 pm
Thank you so much Shobha.
simplysensationalfood
November 7, 2018 at 12:35 am
This is one of my favorite sweets and I love it chilled. The nuts so add extra texture which makes it nice. I love your recipe.
mayurisjikoni
November 11, 2018 at 9:44 pm
Thank you so much Nayna.
Jagruti Dhanecha
November 7, 2018 at 12:39 am
I would never get board of saviyan, a rich and delicious bowl of saviyan always pleases my heart and mind. Beautiful share.
mayurisjikoni
November 11, 2018 at 9:44 pm
Thank you so much Jagruti.
Sasmita Sahoo Samanta
November 8, 2018 at 12:58 pm
Yes I too believe that we can enjoy this sweet in any day, totally this cannot be restricted to Eid festival. Easy one still taste so yumm !!! Love the clicks also here.
mayurisjikoni
November 11, 2018 at 9:42 pm
Thank you so much Sasmita.
Ashima Goyal Siraj
November 9, 2018 at 10:29 am
They look so pretty with all the toppings! We make sevaiyon ki kheer pretty often and actually in our home we have a half way split between the preference for it eating them hot or cold! 🙂 For Eid, dates are a essential addition to our sevaiyon ki kheer and last few years, I replaced all the sugar in my recipe with just dates. They add a deeper texture to it as well.
mayurisjikoni
November 11, 2018 at 9:41 pm
Thank you Ashima, I too sometimes make it adding only dates and love it.
Mildly Indian
November 20, 2018 at 12:58 pm
Any festival is brought alive by a perfect bowl of seviyan. Absolutely love addition of Saffron to bring out the aroma nothing in the world can beat.
mayurisjikoni
November 20, 2018 at 8:39 pm
Thank you so much Seema, I love adding saffron to most of my sweet dishes.
jayashreetrao
November 22, 2018 at 9:14 am
This is one of the sweets essential in most South Indian homes. It looks delectable with all the topping.
mayurisjikoni
November 23, 2018 at 11:12 pm
Thank you so much Jayashree.