Sheer Khurma

Ingredients

• 1.5 l full-cream milk
• 60 g fine vermicelli (seviyan), broken into short pieces
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 10 dry dates (chuhara), pitted and thinly sliced
• 30 g almonds, blanched and sliced
• 30 g pistachios, sliced
• 2 tbsp desiccated coconut
• 2 tbsp raisins
• 4 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 80 g sugar, or to taste
• 1 pinch saffron strands, soaked in 2 tbsp warm milk
• 1 tsp kewra water (optional)

Instructions

1. Soak the saffron in 2 tbsp warm milk and set aside. Slice the dates, almonds and pistachios.
2. Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a small pan over medium-low heat. Fry the almonds, pistachios and coconut for about 2 minutes until pale golden, then lift out and set aside. Add the raisins for a few seconds until they puff, and remove.
3. Add the remaining ghee to the same pan. Toast the vermicelli over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it turns deep golden brown and smells nutty. Tip it onto a plate straight away so it stops cooking.
4. Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy pot with the cardamom. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring often and scraping the base, until reduced by about a fifth and slightly thickened.
5. Add the toasted vermicelli and sliced dates. Simmer gently, stirring now and then, until the vermicelli is soft and the dates have broken down into the milk.
6. Stir in the sugar, half the fried nuts and the raisins. Cook for 5 minutes until the sugar dissolves and the milk coats the back of a spoon.
7. Turn off the heat and stir in the saffron milk and kewra water. Rest for 10 minutes, since the vermicelli keeps absorbing milk. Loosen with a splash of hot milk if needed, then top with the remaining nuts.

Tips

• Toast the vermicelli to a deep golden colour. Pale vermicelli tastes floury and turns mushy.
• Stir often and scrape the pot base, because milk catches easily.
• Add sugar only after the vermicelli is soft. Sugar added earlier keeps it firm.
• Dry dates (chuhara) are sweet, so taste the milk before adding all the sugar.