Ghee Recipes: Sheer Khurma & Meethi Seviyan

The night before Eid, the kitchen smells heavenly with seviyan (wheat based vermicelli) toasting in ghee. Early the next morning, blurry-eyed, we'd start our festive day with sheer khurma, also called seviyan. The warm sweetened milk with seviyan feels like a soft embrace to wake us up.

Sheer khurma and meethi (sweet) seviyan are my dad's go-to recipes for Eid and special occasions respectively. A confession: I wasn't too fond of these dishes before, but I've grown to appreciate them as I've gotten older. 

These long-time family traditions and rituals make me feel hopeful. They bring back fond memories of my late grandparents and childhood. At the same time, it makes me happy that my family is creating new traditions as we go.

And at the heart of it all? Connection, food, and gratitude.
 
It was hard to choose — so, I'm bringing you two recipes by my dad on the blog: Sheer Khurma and Meethi Seviyan with ghee.  

Sheer Khurma

Ingredients:

• 1 package of seviyan (we use Shan Roasted Vermicelli)
• 1/2 gallon of milk (we use Oatly Full Fat Oat Milk)
• whole or pieced dry fruit (ie almonds, cashews, pistachios)
• 3/4 cup of sugar (adjust for taste)
• 4 pods of cardamom
• 1 cinnamon stick (1 in. piece)

Instructions:

1. Bring milk to a boil
2. Simmer on low heat for 20 mins, stirring frequently
3. Add dry fruit and cardamom pods
4. Let it simmer for 10 more mins
5. Add sugar
6. Simmer 10 more mins 

For the seviyan, you can use the meethi seviyan (recipe below) or plain seviyan. You can add the seviyan directly to the sweetened milk or have it on the side, like we do! For plain seviyan, simply: 

1. break seviyan into pieces
2. boil it in water for 5 mins
3. strain it

Meethi Seviyan

Ingredients:

• 1 package of seviyan (we use Shan Roasted Vermicelli)
• 2 tbs. ghee
• 4 cardamom pods
• 2 cups of milk (we use Oatly Full Fat Oat Milk)
• ground dry fruit (ie almonds, cashews, pistachios)
• whole or pieced dry fruit (ie almonds, cashews, pistachios)
• 2 tbs. of sugar (adjust for taste)
• 3 oz. of heavy cream (optional)
• a small piece of mawa / khoa (optional)

Instructions:

1. Break the seviyan into pieces in the packet 
2. Roast the seviyan with ghee on low heat, stir continuously
3. Add 4 pods of cardamom
4. Once the seviyan is roasted, add heavy cream (optional)
5. Add ground dry fruit
6. Microwave milk, sugar, and pieced/whole dry fruit in the microwave or in a small pot until it boils
7. Pour the sweetened boiling milk into the seviyan
8. Cook on medium heat for 3 mins, stirring frequently
9. Add mawa and incorporate into seviyan (optional) 
10. Put a tawa (large flat wok) under the pot and cook for low heat for 15 mins

Recipes by Farooq Abbasi and photos by Ferheen Abbasi