Sevai Kheer or Biranj

Sevaiya, Sevai or Biranj is a sweet dish made using wheat vermicelli and milk. I made it during Navratri this year as an offering. Here is the recipe for this simple but tasty desert.

Ingredients:
3 Cups milk (whole milk preferable for rich taste)
1 Cup Wheat Vermicelli
1 Tablespoon Ghee or Unsalted butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Big Pinch Saffron
1/4 Cup Sliced Almonds
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1/2 Teaspoon Corasly Ground Cardamom Powder

Method:
Heat milk in a pan and bring it to boil. In the mean time, heat the ghee in another pan. Once it is hot, add the wheat vermicelli to the pan. Turn the heat to medium-low and roast the vermicelli till it turns light brown. When the milk comes to a boil, add it to the vermicelli. Add sugar, saffron, cardamom powder and nutmeg powder and mix thoroughly. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the milk starts to bubble. Take off of the stove. Garnish with sliced almonds.
This desert can be served warm or cold. It tastes good either ways.

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Suji Halva or Rava no Sheero

Navratri just got over yesterday. I make prasad on all 10 days of navaratri. This year I made Rava no Shiro(Suji Halwa) Ghau na lot no sheero (whole wheat Halwa), Sevayia (or Biranj), Firni, God papdi(or Sukhadi) etc.
Here I am providing recipe for Suji halwa. I will try to post recipes of the rest of the sweets as soon as I can.
We get different types of Suji here in the USA. Try to find the variety which is not very fine, but not very coarse either. If you go for the very fine variety, the sheero will turn out very sticky and if you go for the very coarse variety, it will turn out very dry.

Ingredients:
1 Cup Suji (Medium grain)
3.5 Cups Milk (Whole milk preferable)
2 Tablespoon Ghee (you can use up to 4 teaspoon per your preference, I use less ghee in cooking)
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Teaspoon coarsely ground Cardamom
1/4th Teaspoon Nutmeg Powder
A pinch of Saffron
1/4 cup Golden Raisins
1/4 Cup Slivered Almonds

Method:
Start by heating up milk on one stove. Bring it to a boil. Then turn down the heat and let it simmer. In another pan, heat the ghee. Once it is hot, add the suji to it and mix well. Turn the flame to medium-low and roast the suji until it turns pink or light brown. Stir often to prevent burning. When the suji is done, turn the flame to medium-high and add the hot milk to the rava. It is very necessary to add hot milk to the rava, but be very careful while adding milk to the rava. Stand as far as you can, as the milk will splatter once it touches the hot pan. Mix well and break all lumps with the help of the back of the spatula. Stir constantly for a minute or two, then add the sugar, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, saffron and raisins. Stir to mix well. Cook until the suji soaks up all the milk. Stir frequently to avoid formation of lumps. While stirring you will realize that the mix has started to come together to form a big lump (in about 10-12 minutes). Turn off the gas at this time. Garnish with slivered almond and server.

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