Monday, June 22, 2009

Shimai er payesh... or Vermicelli milk pudding


Birthdays always bring back fond memories of home.The nostalgia sets in big time and my mind flies back home. There were no elaborate parties but the food was always there...sumptuous and made with a whole lot of love .
And payesh is one such thing which is definitely my mother's birthday specialties.
Back home we made this traditional Bengali pudding/kheer with rice. But at in-laws place Shimai is preferred instead of rice. And over the last two years I too have grown to love this sweet delicacy.I love to see C's face lighting up when he sees his bowl of payesh.

What you need:

milk (full cream!) -1 lt
gur-1 cup crumbled
chopped cashew-a handful
shimai/vermicelli-1/3 cup
oil/ghee-2 tbsp
sugar-2 tsp

In a saucepan start boiling the milk at low temperature. Careful not to scald the milk at the bottom. This is a long process as the heat is low medium.
Meanwhile add ghee /oil to another pan and lightly fry the shimai until they turn deep brown.
When the milk has reduced to half add the shimai and keep stirring.
When you think it is the desired consistency add the sugar.
Next add the gur/jaggery and let it dissolve into the milk and watch the as the color turns a rich chocolaty brown. Add the gur according to taste... depending on how sweet you want your payesh.And the sugar is added before the gur so that the milk does not curdle even if the gur has some impurities in it.
Remove from heat and add the chopped cashews.
Cool and serve.

So long..... enjoy your payesh... and day dream about home.....!:)

2 comments:

A Bookworm said...

Yes!.. Birthdays are the best!.... and yes the food that comes with it makes it all the more wonderful...
This is a traditional Indian dessert... very easy.... and "Shimai" is nothing but vermicelli... if you do not have gur or jaggery... feel free to use fine powdered sugar... and top it off with your preferred dry fruits...

Kalyan Karmakar said...

I was very fond of shemoier payesh...used to ask for this over chaler payesh on my birthdays