Vegan Vermicelli Payasum
Namaste Lovers!
How are we all today? I woke up feeling ridiculous amounts of gratitude and to give thanks, I made a big hearty bowl of Semiya Payasum. This is certainly one of those dishes that takes me back to the time I would wear my pattu pavadai, mallikai pu (jasmine flower) in my curly locks and get ready to explore a temple near where we live. Good times.
This is a traditional and prominent South Indian dish that makes its way into almost every festival and the occasional meeting of a potential spouse. There are so many variations of this and it all depends on the region you visit in India.
Where I am from, Tamil Nadu; its Semiya/ Vermicelli Payasum. A traditional payasum is made with milk, sugar and sometimes condensed milk. Yup, incredible sugar high for the rest of the day. But there are so many ways to make this Vegan, sugar free and guilt free too.
It's really easy to make and it takes less than 20 mins too.
Ingredients
2 Cups Rice Vermicelli
3 Cups Almond Milk (Any plant milk will work too. Coconut Milk would be amazing as well)
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Raisins
1/2 Teaspoon Cardamom Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Grated Nutmeg or Nutmeg Powder
1/2 Cinnamon Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Saffron
1/4 Cup Cashew Nuts
Pinch of Saffron or Grated Turmeric ( 1/2 Teaspoon of turmeric powder will work as well)
1 Teaspoon Coconut Oil
Method
- In a deep milk pan or any deep pan you have on you, sauté the Vermicelli + raisins in coconut oil for about 1min or so in medium heat. Make sure you stir gently to avoid vermicelli burning.
- Add the Almond Milk and the rest of the ingredients into the pan and stir gently for about 2-3 minutes until everything is beautifully married together.
- Lower the heat down to low, cover and let it sit for 1 min or until the sauce thickens
- In a separate pan, dry roast some cashew nuts until golden and leave aside to cool
- Once the vermicelli is done, cool it down and garnish with the roasted cashews
I love having this cold with some fresh fruits or just as is. My favourite bit is biting into the raisins, its like this incredible explosion of all the flavours from the payasum that its soaked up in the process. Heavenly is an understatement. This is exciting because when I visit my Paati and Thatha, I can now make this version for them and tell them why I am Plantbased.
Hope you enjoyed this version of a Payasum. Bare in mind you could easily make this with Chia Seeds too which I have done in the past and would have probably created this for you but I have run out of Chia seeds and used what was available in my pantry.
Use what you have. If you haven't got Vermicelli, you can also use Rice (brown or white), Moong Daal ( Yes sweet lentil pudding try it. It's pretty special) or Sago which is this starchy thing extracted from palm stems I believe and are a really good source of carbohydrates.
It's been such a pleasure sharing this recipe with everyone. I hope you guys give this one a go. Have yourselves an incredible day and please do one thing that makes you happy today.
For me, it's sitting on my window sill and watching the riding school pass by during lunch time. Simple pleasures babes.
Namaskaaram