Semiya Payasam With Condensed Milk – Indian Vermicelli Dessert

Semiya payasam with condensed milk is a very rich, creamy, delicious Indian sweet or dessert! This popular Indian style milk based pudding or vermicelli/seviyan kheer is made with roasted vermicelli noodles, milk, sugar, ghee and condensed milk as the main ingredients. You can also make semiya payasam without condensed milk using just milk and sugar but in this recipe we use sweetened condensed milk which will give more rich texture to the dessert. This is popular in South Indian Kerala celebrations like Onam as it is an integral part of Onam sadya (feast) and this simple dessert is also prepared at homes often during celebrations like birthdays, any party or get togethers.

Semiya payasam also known as vermicelli kheer or seviyan kheer is a delicious Indian style sweet or dessert pudding popular in both south Indian and north Indian cuisines.

As I mentioned, this dessert is enjoyed as a popular sweet for celebrations like birthdays, weddings, festivals etc in India.

You may also make semiya payasam without condensed milk or using evaporated milk instead, but you will also need to add more sugar & milk as needed.

What Is Semiya Payasam?

Semiya payasam is a delicious Indian milk based pudding made using vermicelli noodles, milk and sugar.

In this recipe, we also use condensed milk to make it more creamy, rich in texture and delicious.

This is a popular South Indian Kerala style preparation that I have here, which uses semiya or vermicelli noodles and sweetened condensed milk.

Milkmaid is the condensed milk I used for the preparation of this easy, delicious payasam, but you may use any sweetened condensed milk that is available.

Semiya payasam is known as vermicelli kheer in North India and it is also known by the name seviyan kheer.

This is a dessert that you can prepare really easy.

In fact, vermicelli kheer is one of the most easy Indian desserts that even beginners can make so easily!

Payasam is the malayalam word for kheer (Indian dessert pudding) which is one of the most popular desserts in India, and semiya is the malayalam word for vermicelli noodles that is used for preparing this delicious dessert.

See my post on pistachio rice kheer recipe which is delicious Indian dessert flavored with pistachio nuts.

You can buy roasted thin vermicelli here and you can buy milkmaid here.

You can also buy instant vermicelli kheer mix here.

The vermicelli kheer popularly known as seviyan kheer or semiya payasam is traditionally made from roasted vermicelli, milk and sugar as the main ingredients.

And here, the sweetened condensed milk is also one of the main ingredients.

When you use sweetened condensed milk, the recipe for semiya payasam or vermicelli kheer becomes much more easier and more tastier.

Since this is a kind of milk based pudding, the use of condensed milk make it more creamy and rich, perfect for any festival or special occasion!

Can You Substitute Condensed Milk With Evaporated Milk To Make Payasam?

You can also make semiya payasam with evaporated milk instead of using condensed milk, but evaporated milk is not sweetened (while condensed milk is sweetened) so you will need to add more sugar as needed to sweeten the payasam or kheer.

How To Make Semiya Payasam With Condensed Milk?

The process of making semiya payasam is explained step by step in the recipe card.

I will also give a quick, brief notes on how to make semiya payasam with sweetened condensed milk which is creamy and delicious, before going to the step by step instructions.

First of all, we need to boil the milk that we use to make the payasam.

Then if we are not using already roasted vermicelli or semiya, roast the semiya slightly in ghee in a pan (large enough).

Then add the boiled milk and bring the mixture to a boil while you stir the contents and once the mixture starts boiling, cook in medium heat for about 4 to 5 minutes until vermicelli is cooked (also add cardamom, saffron etc if you are using and keep stirring so the payasam won’t stick to the bottom of the pan). Keep in mind that vermicelli cooks further in hot milk.

Once the vermicelli is cooked, add the condensed milk and stir well.

If needed you may add more sugar (I used more sugar in the recipe) as preferred.

Cook for another one more minute so everything will be blended well.

Add chilled milk as needed as the payasam cools down and thickens, so you can easily adjust the consistency.

Once the payasam is prepared, you can also fry cashews and raisins in little ghee and add it to the prepared payasam or ghee.

I used sweetened milkmaid from Nestle to make the kheer (but you can use any sweetened condensed milk).

You can also make a variety of other easy desserts using milkmaid.

I had roasted vermicelli of 400 grams, so I am entering the measurements based on that. This will make approximately 8 to 10 servings.

If you buy roasted vermicelli pack that contains more than 400 grams of vermicelli, please increase the other ingredients also accordingly, or only use 400 grams from the pack.

So here is the full ingredients list to make semiya payasam!

Ingredients used

400 grams roasted vermicelli

1 tablespoon ghee

11.8 oz sweetened condensed milk I used milkmaid (about 1.5 cups)

8 cups whole milk

chilled milk as needed

½ cup Sugar adjust to taste

½ teaspoon cardamom powder ½ teaspoon or use two cardamom pods

saffron strands a few optional

For Garnishing

1 tablespoon ghee

1 tablespoon cashew nuts use little more if you like

1 tablespoon raisins adjust as needed

Step By Step Instructions

Boil the milk and keep it aside.

Add ghee to a heated pan and add the roasted vermicelli, mix well.

Add the boiled milk, cardamom and sugar to the vermicelli, and keep stirring.

When the mixture starts boiling, reduce to the flames to medium and cook while keep stirring to avoid burning until the vermicelli is cooked – this will take around 4 to 5 minutes (it will also get cooked further as it sits in the hot milk).

Make sure to keep stirring to avoid burning and also to prevent the formation of lumps.

As the vermicelli gets cooked in 4 to 5 minutes, add the saffron strands and condensed milk and mix everything well until well combined – you can cook for another 1 minute so the condensed milk gets really well blended with the kheer.

At this point, vermicelli is completely cooked and the kheer is ready, but the vermicelli has a tendency to absorb milk and become overcooked if you leave it really hot.

So what I do is, I add a little cold whole milk, say ½ cup to 1 cup to the kheer, so the hotness is reduced and the kheer will stay just warm.

If it still becomes more thick later, you can add more milk as required.

Also check the sweetness of the kheer at this point, and add more sugar if you prefer more sweetness.

Now the payasam or kheer is ready, let us go on to garnish the dessert.

To prepare the garnishing, In a small pan, heat ghee and add the cashews.

As the cashews starts to turn golden brown, add the raisins too and fry for few seconds.

Add the fried cashews and raisins to the dessert and gently mix. Semiya payasam or vermicelli kheer is ready.

Add the chilled milk as needed to adjust the consistency of the payasam (vermicelli thickens as it cools down absorbing the milk, so you will need to add more milk as it cools down, but this is totally fine!).

Serve the delicious vermicelli kheer warm or chilled as you like!

Notes: The most important thing to take care of while making vermicelli kheer is to not overcook the vermicelli.

You just need to cook it until the vermicelli is cooked, immediately stop the cooking after that and move the pan away from the hot stove to prevent further cooking, as the vermicelli will get cooked even more in the hot milk.

As it cools down, the vermicelli will absorb the milk which is totally normal, so always have extra milk to add to the kheer as needed to adjust the consistency of the kheer before serving.

If you are not serving the semiya payasam or vermicelli kheer within a couple of hours after preparation, it is best to refrigerate the kheer so it won’t spoil.

Semiya payasam or vermicelli kheer is basically an Indian pudding made using vermicelli noodles & milk and it is best to not leave milk puddings at room temperatures for long, once its prepared.

If not serving the payasam or kheer warm, transfer the prepared kheer to air tight food containers or jars and store in the refrigerator for another couple of days.

That’s how long vermicelli kheer or even rice puddings can be safely stored in the refrigerator so that it will be fresh when served.

More Dessert Recipes Using Condensed Milk:

rice kheer with condensed milk

instant pot rice pudding with condensed milk

badam payasam with condensed milk

aval (poha) payasam with condensed milk

ada payasam with condensed milk(palada payasam)

If you don’t have roasted vermicelli, use the regular ones but make sure that you roast it for about 2 to 3 minutes in ghee.

You may also try making the dessert using melted butter if you don’t have ghee, even though this may result in a different flavor than the traditional kheer.

Alternatively, you can also try the instant vermicelli kheer pack to make the dessert easily.

Below you can get the recipe for semiya payasam or vermicelli kheer using condensed milk in detail.