Semiya Payasam is a creamy, fragrant, sweet vermicelli pudding from the South Indian cuisine. It is made with roasted vermicelli (also referred to as semiya), milk, sugar, and flavored with cardamom. It is often garnished with cashews and raisins fried in ghee. This cardamom scented Vermicelli Payasam recipe comes together in 20 minutes and can be made by beginners too. I share both Stovetop and Instant Pot method to make this decadent sweet.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Sweets
  • Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons ghee ((clarified butter))
  • 12 to 15 cashews
  • 2 tablespoon raisins
  • 1 cup semiya ((seviyan or vermicelli))
  • 3.5 cups whole milk
  • 4 tablespoons sugar (or add as required)
  • ½ teaspoon cardamom powder (or 5 to 6 green cardamoms, crushed in mortar-pestle)

Method

Frying dry fruits (stove-top method)

  1. In a heavy kadai, add the ghee. Let it melt.
  2. When the ghee melts, add cashews. On a low heat fry the cashews until they become golden.
  3. Remove the golden fried cashews with a slotted spoon and then the raisins.
  4. Fry the raisins on a low heat. The raisins will soon start to swell up. Stir often while frying.
  5. Once the raisins swell, then remove them with a slotted spoon.
  6. Set the raisins aside with the fried cashews.

Roasting semiya (stove-top method)

  1. In the same kadai add the broken semiya (seviyan or vermicelli).
  2. Mix well. Keep the flame to a low and begin to roast the semiya stirring often.
  3. Roast until the semiya becomes golden. Stir often while roasting semiya for even browning.

Making semiya payasam (stove-top method)

  1. When the semiya has turned golden, add 3.5 cups milk. Milk can be chilled, warm, hot or at room temperature. For a thin payasam, add 4 cups milk. Do note that on cooling the payasam thickens. So add milk accordingly.
  2. Mix very well.
  3. Keep the heat to a low or medium-low and simmer until the semiya softens and are cooked well.Do stir at intervals so that the milk or semiya does not stick or get burnt at the bottom of the pan or kadai.
  4. Simmer until the vermicelli strands are softened nicely.
  5. Then add sugar. You can add less or more sugar according to your desired sweetness.
  6. Sprinkle the cardamom powder.
  7. Mix very well and simmer on a low to medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes more. The sugar should dissolve.
  8. Turn off the heat and then add the fried cashews and raisins. You can even keep a few of the fried raisins and cashews as a garnish.
  9. Serve Semiya Payasam hot or warm.

Instant pot method

  1. Press the sauté button of your IP. When you see the "hot" display on the screen, add ghee. Let it melt.
  2. Add the cashews and stirring often fry them until golden. Remove and set aside.
  3. Tip in the raisins and fry them until they swell. Remove and set aside.
  4. Add the vermicelli. Stirring non-stop roast them until golden. If the heat becomes too much, then press the sauté button to get the "less" option.
  5. Add milk and sugar. Give a good stir.
  6. Close the lid and position the pressure valve to sealing position. Press the porridge button and set the time to 7 minutes on high pressure.
  7. When the cooking is done (after you hear the Instant pot beep), give a quick pressure release after 10 minutes.
  8. Open the lid carefully. Add the cardamom powder and the fried cashews and raisins. Mix and stir.
  9. If the consistency is thin for your liking, then using the sauté function, simmer for a couple of minutes until the consistency thickens a bit.

Serving Suggestions

  1. Semiya payasam can be served hot, warm or chilled. When it comes to a room temperature, then you can refrigerate and serve later if you prefer that.
  2. On cooling and refrigerating payasam will thicken. So keep it to a slight flowing consistency when you want to serve it cold, so that it does not thicken too much. If at all the payasam has thickened too much, then simply add a bit of milk to thin the consistency.

Storage

  1. If there any leftovers, then refrigerate for 3 to 4 days in a covered container. I would not recommend freezing as the taste and texture changes and becomes way off.
  2. After refrigeration, you can reheat the payasam on low heat if you want to eat it hot or warm. Add some milk or water if the consistency has thickened too much.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.