Diwali is nearly upon us. It such a lovely time for the year. The festival of lights. Of happiness. A time of the year to put all the bad behind you and start all over again. I love this time of the year. Because it is autumn, a time (as you may have read in my previous post) I absolutely love and then it this beautiful festival that arrives every year too.
Like a lot of festivals in India, the story of Diwali is about good over evil. Stories like these, stories of bad guys being beaten up, stories of super heroes, because thats what our Gods were, are stories I could listen to all day long. Its also the most beautiful festival with all the decorations that you get to do, with flowers, with coloured powder and of course with lights inside and outside your home. I love the traditional earthen pots, filled with ghee or oil, with hand made wicks to make your interior look like magic with all the flickering lights, burning all night long.
Diwali, like any festival anywhere in the world is about food. And there are certain foods, or desserts that are typical to make on this day. My mom is not known for being traditional, but kheer we always got to eat on Diwali. Sometimes kheer with rice (very traditional) and sometimes seviyan/vermicelli kheer. As a kid I disliked the one made with vermicelli but it was time to revisit it. The texture of the vermicelli is so gorgeous, so incredibly delicate that I had trouble breaking it. But when I got down to it, I couldn’t stop! Talk about playing with your food!
I have made my kheer very thick because I like it that way. You could add less vermicelli so that yours is wetter if that is what you prefer.
Happy Diwali!
- 1½ cups vermicelli (use less if you don't want you kheer thick)
- 500 ml whole milk
- 3 tbsps sugar (use more or less according to taste)
- 5-6 green cardamom
- 3 cloves
- ½ cup toasted almonds + some for decoration
- 3-4 tbsps raisins
- 2 tbsps ghee
- handful of blueberries (optional)
- Heat the ghee in a pan. Add the cardamom and the cloves and let the ghee take on the flavours of the spices. Add the vermicelli and fry till golden brown.
- Add the milk and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and add the sugar. Mix well. Let cook for 5-7 minutes on low heat.
- Add the nuts and the raisins.
- Add the blueberries if using.
- Kheer can be served warmed or cold.
Rasgulla
Motichoor ke Ladoo
Vegan Atta Nankhatai / Cardamom Cookies
Rakhee – this looks great, I think I’ve had something very similar, but it was much thinner than your version. An Indian colleague of mine bought some food in that his wife had made – it was delicious, the last dish was a very sweet dessert with vermicelli and milk etc that looked like a really runny version of this.
I will have to ask him what his dish was called. This looks beautiful like all of your photos!
Hey there Angela, thank you so much. Kheer usually indeed is much thinner, but I like this particular one nicer thicker. Its very personal. So I think what you did eat is exactly this, the vermicelli kheer. 🙂