Friday, May 4, 2012

Tapioca Vermicelli Pudding/Kheer (Seeme akki Shavige Payasa)

We all have our favorites and things we almost hate. But have you ever wondered that our taste changes as we grow? I never liked tapioca pudding or kheer when I was a kid. The slippery tapioca somehow didn't make it interesting for me. That is until I ate it at a friend's place where they had made it with half vermicelli and half tapioca. I just loved it. I have made it a lot of times since then. It looks like a lengthy process, but is pretty easy.
One Year Back - Fenugreek Pulav / Methi Pulav
Two Years Back - Sourdough Chocolate Cake, Sev / Kara Sev
Ingredients:
Pearl Tapioca/ Sago / Sabudana - 1 cup
Vermicelli / Shavige / Semiya - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 Cups
Water - 4 cups (See Notes)
Milk - 3 1/2 - 4 cups (It gets thick as it cools down. You might have to add more to thin it down)
Ghee - 3 - 4 TBSP
Cashews - 2 - 3 TBSP
Raisins - 2 - 3 TBSP
Cardamom - Powdered from 6 pods
Saffron - few strands (optional)
Method:
Soak pearl tapioca in enough water for 30 minutes to an hour. Drain the water after that time. Take the drained tapioca in a saucepan and add 4 cups of water to it. Start cooking till tapioca is cooked and is soft. Keep stirring in between to avoid sticking. When this cooking is happening, dry roast vermicelli or shavige. Alternately, you could use the already roasted vermicelli in which case, you don't have to do this step. When the vermicelli is golden brown, and the tapioca is cooked, add warm milk to tapioca followed by vermicelli. Let the vermicelli cook till soft. Lower the heat and add sugar to it along with saffron strands. Mix well and keep stirring frequently. In a small pan, heat ghee. When hot, add cashews and fry till golden followed by raisins. Add this to the simmering kheer and mix well. Finally add cardamom powder, mix and turn off the heat. Let it cool a bit before serving. You could serve this warm or cold. It thickens as it cools and if it is too thick, add more milk to thin it down to the desired consistency.

Notes:
If you use the tapioca pearls that are very small which are made for kheer, you only need 3 cups of water or even less. 

Enjoy.

7 comments:

  1. Creamy and mouthwatering kheer..

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  2. My maa never made sabudana kheer but I always liked its taste. now even my son loves it and it gets done often. I love your idea of adding both semiya and sabudana. kids would love the texture in the dessert.

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  3. I make both seperately..never tried mixing the sago and vermicelli..
    Looks good.

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  4. Even I mix both vermicelli and sago sometimes when making kheer. this looks very delicious!

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  5. Ah..here is your favorite one..I love this too..I like the way you have presented..I always wonder how will the Kheer looks good for a picture..

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