Semiya Payasam

Semiya Payasam – Vermicelli Payasam

Easy and quick recipe for Semiya Payasam. Semiya Payasam is a popular dessert for lunch made by south Indians for all festivals like Tamil new year and Onam.

No south indian meal is complete without a sweet ending of Payasam. I am a Payasam girl. I love it all. Semiya Payasam / vermicelli pudding is luscious and creamy and has a textural bite from the vermicelli. Its flavored with cardamom and ghee. This is also a very popular dessert made on all festival days in Tamilnadu. They make this Semiya Payasam dessert in Kerala for Onam. Cardamom adds a very nice aroma to the Semiya Payasam. Cardamom is the world’s third most expensive spice after saffron and vanilla.

The main thing about Semiya Payasam is to roast the vermicelli till golden brown. Indian vermicelli is way thinner than its American equal. So if you are in the US, use angel hair pasta broken into 3/4 inch pieces. I like to dry roast the vermicelli till golden brown. All eyes on the pan y’all! Vermicelli tends to burn quickly. Keep sauteing all the time.

Main Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vermicelli
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• pinch of salt

For the Garnish

• 2 tablespoon Ghee
• 3 tablespoon golden raisins
• 3 Tablespoon broken cashew nuts

1. Dry roast the vermicelli on low flame sauteing until it turns golden brown and it gives the wonderful toasted aroma.
2. In a heavy saucepan, heat milk on medium flame. Add the fried vermicelli. Simmer on a low to medium flame for 6-8 minutes, or until the vermicelli is cooked. Add the sugar, salt and simmer for five more minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.
3. In a separate pan fry the cashew-nut and raisins in ghee until lightly browned. Add it to the boiling pudding.
4. Add in the cardamom powder (I use a mortar and pestle for powdering small quantities of cardamom and it works really well. )
5. Serve it hot or chilled. We like it hot.

• Author: kannamma @kannammacooks.com
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Category: Dessert
• Cuisine: South Indian

Main Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vermicelli
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• pinch of salt

For the Garnish

• 2 tablespoon Ghee
• 3 tablespoon golden raisins
• 3 Tablespoon broken cashew nuts

1. Dry roast the vermicelli on low flame sauteing until it turns golden brown and it gives the wonderful toasted aroma.
2. In a heavy saucepan, heat milk on medium flame. Add the fried vermicelli. Simmer on a low to medium flame for 6-8 minutes, or until the vermicelli is cooked. Add the sugar, salt and simmer for five more minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.
3. In a separate pan fry the cashew-nut and raisins in ghee until lightly browned. Add it to the boiling pudding.
4. Add in the cardamom powder (I use a mortar and pestle for powdering small quantities of cardamom and it works really well. )
5. Serve it hot or chilled. We like it hot.

• Author: kannamma @kannammacooks.com
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Category: Dessert
• Cuisine: South Indian

Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/semiya-payasam-vermicelli-pudding-seviyan-kheer-recipe/

Hawaiian Sweet Buns (Almost Kings), Hawaiian buns recipe.

Easy and quick recipe for making Hawaiian sweet buns (Almost kings) with step by step pictures. Hawaiian Sweet Buns (Almost Kings), Hawaiian buns recipe.

There are very few pleasures in life that can equal the joy of eating warm, sweet buns out of the oven. I love kings Hawaiian sweet buns from the US and I miss them here in Bangalore. I adapted this recipe to satisfy that kings craving. Those soft and sweet buns were a picnic staple in our family. The buns are sweet with citrus notes, soft and delish! Its actually an adaptation of the Portuguese sweet bread!

I used the tangzhong method to get the soft and fluffy texture. So what is tangzhong? A simple water flour roux is made by heating water and flour where the starch in the flour gelatinizes. Adding this flour-water roux to the dough results in an unbelievably moist fluffy bread. Tangzhong adds structure to the inside crumb of the bread.First lets make tangzhong. Mix the water and flour and heat it on medium flame until it starts to become a watery custard/pudding like the picture below.

Second lets get the yeast working. Indian yeast is temperamental. so do not skip this step if you are in India. Add quarter cup of warm water plus a pinch of sugar to the yeast and leave it aside for 5 minutes so it becomes foamy. If it doesn’t foam, discard and start again with a fresh batch of yeast.

Mix the dry ingredients and whisk till combined – flour, sugar, milk powder, salt, lemon zest and orange zest. In a separate bowl mix together Milk, eggs, vanilla, all of the tangzhong, butter, and all of the yeast mixture. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and start kneading. Knead for 5 minutes on medium speed on a stand mixer. If kneading by hand, knead for a good 10 minutes. The trick in kneading by hand is to avoid the temptation of adding flour. Too much flour alters the moisture content which results in dry dense dough. Once the dough becomes cohesive, form into a ball and let it rise in a draft free place until doubled. About 60 to 90 minutes.

Once doubled, Shape the dough. Divide the dough into 16 equal parts. Make a ball and crimp the bottom. Put it in a 9×13 pan with seam side down. Do the same for remaining dough. Cover it and let it double again. About 60 to 90 minutes.

Coat the dough with egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 200C/400F for 30 minutes.

For the tangzhong – water roux

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon all purpose flour

For the Yeast mixture

• 1/4 cup water
• 2 teaspoon yeast
• pinch of sugar

For the dough

• 400grams (around 2.5 - 3 cups) all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 25g ( 1/4 cup ) milk powder
• 6 tablespoon milk
• 1 egg
• 2 Tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
• 1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)
• 1 more egg, beaten with a splash of water, for eggwash

1. Mix the water and flour and heat it on medium flame until it starts to become a watery custard or tangzhong.
2. Add warm water plus a pinch of sugar to the yeast and leave it aside for 5 minutes so it becomes foamy.
3. Mix the dry ingredients and whisk till combined – flour, sugar, milk powder, salt, lemon zest and orange zest.
4. In a separate bowl mix together Milk, eggs, vanilla, all of the tangzhong, butter, and all of the yeast mixture.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and start kneading. Knead for 5 minutes on medium speed on a stand mixer. If kneading by hand, knead for a good 10 minutes. Let it rise in a draft free place until doubled. About 60 to 90 minutes.
6. Once doubled,divide dough into 16 equal pieces. Form an uniform ball and crimp the bottom. Place in a 9×13 pan with the seam side of the dough down. Do the same for remaining dough pieces. Cover it and let it double again.
7. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
8. Coat the dough with egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 200C/400F for 20 minutes. When it’s done, the bread will sound hollow when tapped.

Notes

You can leave the egg and substitute 1/4 cup water/milk for each egg if you do not want to use egg. Adapted from the freshloaf.com

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 3 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Category: Bread
• Cuisine: American