Meethi Sewiyan ~ Sweet vermicelli pudding

Have you ever had a dessert for breakfast? No, I’m not counting sweet things like Waffles, Pancakes, French toasts. I’m talking about an Indian dessert. Yes, I have admitted to having Halwa with matthi for breakfast earlier but here I am talking about Meethi Sewiyan. Preparing a good well roasted Halwa or any Indian sweet like Kheer and Malpua can be tedious for some of us, I agree.

But Meethi Sewiyan (literally Sweet Vermicelli) is a really simple dessert that even a beginner cook can prepare.

Preparing Indian desserts at home need not always require a high level of chef expertise.

And this Meethi sewiyan recipe is just an example of that. All you need is a watchful eye and some patience to roast them.

This simple and quick dish is one of my favourites and as a kid I would be so restless when my mother was making it for me that I would be pacing up and down in the kitchen.

“Bann gayiin? (Are they ready?)”, I would ask.

And sometimes I would just prop myself on the kitchen counter when they were being made.

This was food porn right before my eyes before the advent of the internet in my life!

You must be thinking that this kid was such a glutton but I don’t know, I was just a kid with a sweet tooth. Which I probably still am. Only difference is that now I take the matter in my hands and make my own treats.

In my defence, there is a reason for my impatience. These sewiyan tend to stick together once they are cold and thus, are best had when freshly made.

Also read : Dilli, Islamabad, Karak Chai aur Charcha

They are syrupy and melt in your mouth when they are warm.

So these Sewiyan (pronounced Say-wee(n)- aa(n) – and always addressed in plural in our house) are made by roasting Vermicelli made of hard wheat semolina and do not require any milk. Kanika has shared a beautiful Sewiyan Payasam recipe earlier which uses milk but this recipe goes without it.

All you need is some vermicelli/ sewiyan, water, cardamom and sugar. And of course there are the optionals like saffron, nuts and raisins.

If you want a quick Indian dessert then Meethi Sewiyan is the answer!

If you don’t have or find vermicelli you can use angel hair pasta. Some Indian stores may even sell long or broken down Sewiyan which may or may not be roasted.

A great dish for sharing with family on Eid ul Fitr or any other day when you crave an easy homemade dessert.

Ingredients

• Vermicelli/ Sewiyan/ Angel Hair pasta, 1 cup
• Granulated sugar, 3/4 cup
• Filtered water, 3 cups
• 1 tablespoon of Ghee (optional
• A handful of nuts like Almonds and Pistachios (optional)
• Saffron, a couple of strands (optional)
• Raisins, 1 tablespoon or a handful (optional)

Method

Gather all the ingredients. If you are using long sewiyan or angel hair pasta, carefully break them down to almost inch long pieces. Measure broken down sewiyan/angel hair pasta/vermicelli and keep aside. I used Vermicelli. If you think you got lucky by stumbling upon roasted sewiyan or vermicelli in the Indian store, I won’t spare you the work! I still recommend you roast them for sometime to get the right aroma for this dish.

Wash and soak the raisins in a cup of water to be used later.

Measure the sugar in the same size bowl as the one used for the vermicelli. In the ingredients above I mention the quantity of sugar as 3/4th cup. You can add more or less according to your taste or health preferences.

Crush or chop the nuts roughly. The cardamom seeds need to crushed too and you can remove the peel and use only the crushed seeds.

Now place a heavy bottom saucepan or kadhai on medium low heat and add ghee, if using. Next add the vermicelli and start stirring to coat them with the ghee.

The Roasting process

Roast the vermicelli by stirring continuously till they turn golden brown. After 3-4 minutes of roasting the sewiyan, throw in the chopped/crushed nuts after saving a small amount for garnish.

This entire step of roasting sewiyan will easily take 7-10 minutes and should be paid attention to. Especially if you are using pre roasted sewiyan.  You don’t want your sewiyan to be an unsavoury dark brown colour. So if you think they are getting burnt, reduce the heat to low. If you think your sewiyan have already turned too dark brown, then don’t despair. The colour does become lighter when water is added.

Let’s make them syrupy!

So now, after some 10 minutes of cooking the sewiyan and when you are satisfied at the toasty colour of the nuts and vermicelli, add the 2 cups of water and be careful of any splashes.

Stir in vermicelli because they sometimes tend to stick to one another. Next add in the crushed cardamom seeds, mix and cover and let the sewiyan cook on low heat for another 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, check the pan as the water should be boiling by now. You will notice that the sewiyan are bigger but I must tell you they are still thirsty. I added another cup of water to the pan and gave it a good stir. Cover and cook the sewiyan for another 5-7 minutes till the water content reduces but is not completely dry.

Check the pan and you’ll notice that the sewiyan are much bigger in size and softer now. Now is the time to tip in a cup (or less) of sugar. Stir to incorporate the sugar and you’ll notice it quickly melts. The sewiyan now look syrupy again.

Finally, cover and cook the sewiyan in the sugar for another 10 minutes on low heat.

After 10 minutes, you will notice that the syrup is slightly thicker and has reduced in quantity. I do not recommend that you dry the liquid syrup completely as it anyway does thicken overtime.

Take out in small bowls and sprinkle chopped nuts on top.

Enjoy the syrupy goodness of flavourful Sewiyan

Serve these delicious Meethi Sewiyan warm on festivals or whenever you want a humble homemade treat ❤