Name: Sheer Khurma
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 5 servings
Cuisine: Indian

Yields

5 servings

Cooking Time

30 minutes

Ingredients

50 g sev
1 L milk
40 g ghee
20 g cashew nuts
20 g almonds
10 g pista
10 g charoli
20 g kharak (dried dates)
20 g raisins
10 g poppy seeds
50 g coconut
120 g sugar
½ tsp cardamom powder
1 pinch saffron

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Eid begins with the early morning special eid namaz (prayers), followed by breaking the month-long fasting period with sheer khurma. Sewai (or sev), along with an assortment of dried fruits and nuts, is boiled in milk to produce this rich pudding.

Our sheer khurma is of 'drinkable' consistency, although some people prefer it thicker, and we like it best hot (it's slurpable!). If you are making this recipe, try getting roasted sewai, rather than using the glassy vermicelli. Some viewers might not be familiar with a few of the fruits/nuts we've used, such as charoli seeds and kharak (dried dates), but we promise you they are easily available in local markets, especially around this time of year, and it will be well worth the effort to try and procure them. This Dawoodi Bohra–style sheer khurma is made extra-special with the addition of poppy seeds and grated coconut.

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Recipe Notes

Method

Chop the cashew, almonds, pistachios and dried dates into 1-cm pieces. Keep the raisins and charoli whole.
Toast cardamom pods in a pan and grind them to a powder. Sift through a fine strainer and set aside.
Heat 20 g ghee in a pan, and roast all the dried fruits, poppy seeds and grated coconut together over low heat for about two minutes, until golden. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add 20 g more ghee and fry the sewai for about 4 minutes. Set aside.
Now add milk to the same pan and bring it to a boil. Scoop about 2 tbsp of lukewarm milk in a small bowl and steep a pinch of saffron in it.
Once the milk comes to boil, add the sewai and the roasted dried fruits. Also add the sugar. Boil everything together for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the milk thickens slightly. We like to keep it of 'drinkable' consistency, so we don't thicken it too much.
Add powdered cardamom, and about 2 minutes before removing the pot from the pan, add the soaked saffron.