My Favourite Sweet Toasted Vermicelli for Ramadan

Submitted by Um Safia

"I do have another recipe for Seviyan posted, but that is a creamier more dessert like dish. I prefer this one as it is not as sweet & is brilliant for Suhor (the meal before dawn). Seviyan is the name of the toasted vermicelli used to make sweets aswell as savoury dishes in countries such as Pakistan & India. It is eaten throughout the year but comes into it's own during Ramadan. You can buy Seviyan / toasted vermicelli at most Asian stores & you can find it in the international isle of the larger supermarkets. Otherwise you can toast your own fine vermicelli in the oven! The fruit & nuts I refer to is the tropical dried fruit & nut mix you buy which typically has coconut, papaya, pineapple, banana, raisins & peanuts. If you don't want to use this then you can use slivered almonds & roughly chopped pistachios instead."

 

• Ready In: 37mins
• Ingredients: 7
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 200 g toasted vermicelli (Seviyan)
• 59.14 ml sugar
• 118.29 ml pre packaged mixed nuts and dried fruit
• 9.85 ml ground cardamom
• 29.58 ml rose water
• 14.79 ml ghee
• 0.25 ml saffron

directions

1. Break the vermicelli in half. Place the ghee, rose water, sugar, cardamom & saffron in a large pan. Heat through gently then add the vermicelli.
2. Mix very well to coat thoroughly & to break up a little. Cook on as low heat as possible for approx 25-30 minutes or until the vermicelli is glossy & has absorbed everything.
3. At this point, stir in the mixed fruit & nuts. Serve.

Reviews

[Nadia A.]

Not very well written, and a complete waste if you do follow the instructions because you need to cook the vermicelli properly before anything else, otherwise there just isn't enough moisture.

 

[COOKGIRl]

Although I loved the flavors in this recipe (all my favorite ingredients), there was just<br/>not enough moisture to cook the vermicelli to a soft consistency. First I browned the pasta<br/>in butter, added water and cooked until the pasta was done. Then I stirred in the rose water and some dried dates. To serve: a splash of cream, slivered almonds, and the dates on top. The pasta only needed to cook about 10-15 minutes. Reviewed for NA*ME Explores OMAN.

 

[UmmBinat]

I must rerate. As I thought upon not adding additional liquid to the vermicelli (rice based) which I found in the Asian section of a supermarket but which I had to toast myself under a broiler, the seviyan never became soft. So I kept adding rose water (Iranian is of best quality) and eventually had to add regular water until it was a soft texture, and I did wait the 30 minutes. It was a nice flavour but if I make this again I will precook the vermicelli in boiling water for a couple minutes before adding it to the rose water - butter mixture which I had tried before and which worked fine. I use slivered almonds, roughly chopped pistachios and yellow and black raisins. I also made another version with yellow raisins and orange flower water and even though I adore orange flower water in sweets I did prefer the rose water version here.