Red Rice Vermicelli Kheer | How to make Kheer | Indian style Pudding | Seviyan Kheer | Semiya Payasam
Red Rice Vermicelli Kheer is an easy to make, classic and rich, popular and delicious Indian dessert or sweet prepared in less than 20 minutes.
As you all know, India is the land of festivals. The number of festivals celebrated here is definitely more than anywhere in the world. From welcoming each season, harvest (Ugadi), the rain, full moon (Holi, Guru Purnima), Ganesh Chaturthi, Janmashtami, Navratri, Raksha Bandhan, Diwali, Eid ul fitr, Ramzan or Ramadan, Christmas, etc.
Any festival or special occasion is incomplete without delicious sweet or dessert. Agree? Kheer is among the favorite dessert prepared along with HALWA, GULAB JAMUN, LADDU
What is Kheer?
Kheer is basically Indian style pudding prepared using whole milk, sugar, elaichi (cardamom powder), saffron (kesar) along with one main ingredient that may be vermicelli (semiya or seviyan), rice (chawal), sabudana (tapioca), millet.
Kheer is prepared during festivals, special occasions and served as dessert after lunch or dinner - either hot or cold.
But it's different situation at my place 🙂
I don't wait for any occasion to prepare our favorite recipes 🙂 I just love cooking as you all know and recently I did some experiment in my kitchen and tried using red rice vermicelli instead of regular vermicelli which is made using sooji or semolina to prepare this kheer. It tastes really good and flavorful.
Kheer is so simple and quick to prepare that I even if I have made it couple of times I did not get time to click any photos as the demand is always high for this dessert and it disappears in no time.
So this time I did a separate batch for photos mainly because my favorite festival Ganesh Chaturthi is coming up next week and I thought that it is the right time to share this dessert so that you all can enjoy it with your family and friends 🙂
What other festival recipes would you like to see on my blog? Please comment below. I would love to prepare it.
Ingredients for Red Rice Vermicelli Kheer | How to make Kheer
60 g (approx. ½ cup) Red Rice Vermicelli or any Vermicelli of your choice
1 ½ to 2 tablespoon of Butter or Ghee
2 to 2 ½ cups Whole Milk
3 to 4 tablespoon Sugar (adjust to taste)
¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder
8 to 10 Saffron strands or thread
1 tablespoon Almonds chopped (you can substitute it with cashews, pistachios or raisins)
Steps to prepare Red Rice Vermicelli Kheer | How to make Kheer
- Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee or butter in a pan. If you are already using pre-roasted vermicelli, skip this step. Else add vermicelli or semiya and roast till light golden and aromatic on medium flame. Keep sautéing during the process so that you do not burn them.
- Add whole milk and bring the roasted vermicelli to a boil on low to medium flame. Keep stirring to avoid any burning at the bottom.
- Continue to cook till the vermicelli becomes soft and is cooked through.
- Add sugar (adjust to taste), cardamom powder, and saffron (kesar) and continue to cook on low flame till the sugar has dissolved completely. Switch off the flame.
- In a small pan heat 1 tablespoon ghee or butter. Add almonds (and/or cashews, pistachios) and sauté till light golden in color. Switch off the flame. Add it to the kheer and mix well.
- Red Rice kheer or payasam is ready. Serve and enjoy.
Tips to make the best kheer
- If you do not find any red rice vermicelli use regular sooji or semolina vermicelli.
- I have added only almonds today for garnish. Use any dry fruits combination of your choice. I love to add combination of all.
- I have used full fat whole milk in my recipe. 2 cups of milk is sufficient. I have added upto 2 ½ cups because this kheer thickens as it cools down. You can thin it down with milk to keep the richness else use water. In both case, adjust sugar accordingly.
- Whole milk makes this dessert rich. You can also use skim milk or fat free or low fat milk.
- The time to cook semiya or seviyan varies for each brand. Check the package instructions. Thin vermicelli needs just 1 minute on the instant pot to cook.
- Vary the amount of sweetness as desired. This sweetness was sufficient for my family.
- This dessert tastes good when served hot or you can also keep it in refrigerator and serve chilled. It tastes good both the ways.
- Depending on how you want your kheer to be – thick or thin, you can vary the amount of vermicelli in the recipe.
- Also for all pasta lovers, Feel free to use angel hair pasta or spaghetti pasta instead of vermicelli to make this kheer.
- To make kheer vegan, Sauté nuts in vegan butter and use dairy-free milk like almond, soy, or coconut.
Detailed recipe for Red Rice Vermicelli Kheer | How to make Kheer
RED RICE VERMICELLI KHEER | HOW TO MAKE KHEER (STOVETOP & INSTANT POT)
Ingredients
- 60 g Red Rice Vermicelli or any Vermicelli of your choice (approx ½ cup)
- 1 ½ to 2 tablespoon Butter or Ghee
- 2 to 2 ½ cups Whole Milk
- 3 to 4 tablespoon Sugar (adjust to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder
- 8 to 10 Saffron strands or thread
- 1 tablespoon Almonds chopped (you can substitute it with cashews, pistachios or raisins)
Instructions
STEPS TO MAKE VERMICELLI KHEER ON STOVETOP
- Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee or butter in a pan. If you are already using pre-roasted vermicelli, skip this step. Else add vermicelli or semiya and roast till light golden and aromatic on medium flame. Keep sautéing during the process so that you do not burn them.
- Add whole milk and bring the roasted vermicelli to a boil on low to medium flame. Keep stirring to avoid any burning at the bottom.
- Continue to cook till the vermicelli becomes soft and is cooked through.
- Add sugar (adjust to taste), cardamom powder, and saffron (kesar) and continue to cook on low flame till the sugar has dissolved completely. Switch off the flame.
- In a small pan heat 1 tablespoon ghee or butter. Add almonds (and/or cashews, pistachios) and sauté till light golden in color. Switch off the flame. Add this to the kheer and mix well
- Red Rice Vermicelli kheer or payasam is ready. Serve and enjoy.
STEPS TO MAKE VERMICELLI KHEER ON INSTANT POT
- Even before you start, make sure your instant pot is clean and dry to avoid milk from curdling. Press the sauté button on the Instant Pot. Add 1 tablespoon of ghee or butter to the steel insert. When it melts, add almonds, and saute till it turns light golden. Transfer this to plate.
- Add another 1 tablespoon of ghee or butter, add vermicelli, and roast till it becomes light golden in color.
- Add 3 cups milk, sugar, cardamom powder, saffron. Press cancel and stir well. Close IP with lid and pressure valve should be in sealing position.
- Press the porridge button and set the timer to 6 minutes. Wait for the pressure to release naturally.
- Simmer on sauté mode if you feel the kheer is runny and cook for another 2 minutes. Remember this kheer thickens as it cools down so do not thicken it a lot here.
Notes
- If you do not find any red rice vermicelli use regular sooji or semolina vermicelli.
- I have added only almonds today for garnish. Use any dry fruits combination of your choice. I love to add combination of all.
- I have used full fat whole milk in my recipe. 2 cups of milk is sufficient. I have added upto 2 ½ cups because this kheer thickens as it cools down. You can thin it down with milk to keep the richness else use water. In both case, adjust sugar accordingly.
- Whole milk makes this dessert rich. You can also use skim milk or fat free or low fat milk.
- The time to cook semiya or seviyan varies for each brand. Check the package instructions. Thin vermicelli needs just 1 minute on the instant pot to cook.
- Vary the amount of sweetness as desired. This sweetness is sufficient for my family.
- This dessert tastes good when served hot or you can also keep it in refrigerator and serve chilled. It tastes good both the ways.
- Depending on how you want your kheer to be – thick or thin, you can vary the amount of vermicelli in the recipe.
- Also for all pasta lovers, Feel free to use angel hair pasta or spaghetti pasta instead of vermicelli to make this kheer.
- To make kheer vegan, Sauté nuts in vegan butter and use dairy-free milk like almond, soy, or coconut.
- The amount of milk for the stovetop and the instant pot cooking method is different.
If you like this kheer or Indian style pudding recipe,
Don't miss to check out some of my favorite and delicious Indian desserts and sweets (meetha or mithai) to try this festival season or any time of the year.
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Ryan Zofay
I have never tried anything like this before. It's so culturally different than what we can get where I am from. I absolutely loved it though and would recommend everyone to try it. Very fun and easy to make.
Emman Damian
Red Rice Vermicelli Kheer sounds so delicious! I can't wait to try it. So yummy!