Sheer Khurma

Sheer Khurma is a luscious and creamy vermicelli pudding dessert that is commonly made on Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-al-Adha (A Muslim Festival).

What is Sheer Khurma?

Sheer Khurma, or Sheer Khorma, is a royal dessert that originated during the reign of the Mughals. Sheer means ‘milk’ and Khurma means ‘dates’ in Persian (Farsi language). Even though it is Mughali dessert, it is often mistaken as being a Persian dessert due to it’s nomenclature. The reason of this being, that Persian was the colloquial language during that era which led to this name.

This delicious dessert is made of a mix of milk, nylon vermicelli, sugar, and a bunch of nuts and dried fruit. It’s a rich, ambrosial decadent dessert fit for the royals. It’s also infused with aromatic spices such as cardamom and saffron to give it an extra special flavor.

Traditionally, and in its original form, Sheer Khurma is consists of dates mixed with milk from Iran and dry fruits and nuts from Afghanistan. However, in India it is modified by the addition of fried Shevaiyya and caramelized sugar. The Vermicelli are fried in clarified butter( ghee). Then milk (sheer) is added and the vermicelli are allowed to cook further. As the mixture thickens, sugar and dates are added along with any other dried fruits.

Sheer Khurma and Shevaiyya/ Sevaiyyan.

I have always associated Sheer Khurma to Eid. My father’s friend, Kamru Uncle,(as we fondly call him) would pack a huge dabba (lunch box) with all the Eid Delicacies that were made in his home and bring it for us. Biryani, curry, bhajji, chapati , raita, zarda and the show stopper – Sheer Khurma. While all the other items in the dabba would change periodically, Sheer Khurma was constant. We would always wait for Eid and Uncles’ Dabba. Devouring the Dessert even before the Main course was always the prime objective.

When Kamru Uncle and his family moved away and we lost contact. These were the days of pre- mobile phones so losing contact was fairly common. No more Eid lunch and no more Sheer Khurma. Every Eid, we would reminisce about the good old days when Sheer Khurma was a luxury.

The Sheer Khurma was to die for. My mom would often make Shevaiyyan chi kheer (As it is called in Marathi) and we would often complain how it would not be same as Kamru Uncle’s home. Mom’s was good but it still lacked something. Like it was missing something. She kept changing brands of vermicelli but it didn’t help. And we had to settle on Shevaiyyan chi Kheer.

Fast forward to 5-7 years later, when we accidently crossed Kamru uncle in the market. We were so overjoyed and the first question I asked even before I could ask about his wellbeing was, yes you guessed it right. I asked him what made your Sheer Khurma different? And he simply said the addition of dates.

Now every household has their own version of making Sheer Khurma, some add dates while some do not. This is the version which I truly love and resemblances to Kamru Uncle’s Sheer Khurma.

Sheer Khurma and blanching nuts

Traditionally, Sheer Khurma calls for using blanched or soaked dry fruits. The dried fruits are soaked in hot water either overnight or if you time crunch you can soak them for at the least for few hours. These are then peeled (personal choice) and then fried in ghee. But to be honest, I have found that using soaked or un – soaked dry fruits do not alter the taste any way. It is more of a personal preference. So if you time, you can soak them if not, it is absolutely okay. Let this not deter you from making Sheer Khurma.

Sheer Khurma and Dates:

Adding Dates is not mandatory and is optional. Some do not prefer the taste of Date (khajur), so you can skip it if you don’t like it either. But if you plan to add dates then buy good quality dates. If the dates have seeds, then chop the date and discard the seeds. I sauté the dates in ghee so that the flavors are well released. If you are using dry dates, then soak them in water for a few hours until they soften, and then remove their seeds before proceeding. Remember that dates are sweet, so you will have to adjust the amount of sugar depending on how sweet the dates you use are.

Some Tips for making Sheer Khurma

1. Try and find the fine/ nylon type of vermicelli. If not, you can always use the thicker vermicelli too.
2. Ghee: Apart from toasting the nuts, the addition of ghee makes it more delicious. I haven’t tried substituting it and also feel it won’t taste good otherwise.
3. Milk: I highly recommend using full fat milk to get the true flavor and richness that this dessert is known for. As I stay in Canada, I use 3.25% whole milk and the results are good. I haven’t tried with skim milk or 2% milk.
4. Nuts: You can use a bunch of different types of nuts. If you’re allergic to any kind of nuts, you can skip those and replace them with any other ones that you like.
5. Sugar: Sugar is used traditionally to sweeten Sheer Khurma. You can easily adjust the sweetness according to your preference by adding a little more or a little less sugar to the recipe. Again I have not tried using any other sugar alternatives.

Sheer Khurma

Recipe by Samrudhi MaheshCourse: DessertCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6-8

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Total time

40

minutes

Make Delicious and creamy Sheer Khurma

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons ghee

• 10-15 cashews broken

• 10-12 almonds chopped

• 10-12 pistachios chopped

• 10-15 raisins

• 6-7 large dates chopped

• 1 cup broken vermicelli

• 1 liter whole milk

• 4 tablespoons sugar or to taste (adjust according to your taste)

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon rose water (optional)

• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder

• 1/4 teaspoon Clove Powder (or you can 2-3 whole cloves) – optional

• 7-8 Saffron strands

Directions

• Heat ghee in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add the chopped nuts, raisins and dates to the pan. Fry the nuts for 1-2 minutes in ghee until the nuts are fragrant and turn golden brown. Remove the nuts from the pan and set them aside.
• Now to the same pan, add the Shevaiyya (vermicelli) and mix well. Roast the Shevaiyya for around 3-5 minutes until it is light golden brown in color.
• Next add the milk to the pan and mix well .Add the saffron strands and mix well. Let the milk come to a boil. Stir often in between so that vermicelli doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Once the milk comes to a boil, let it simmer for around 8-10 minutes until the milk slightly thickens.
• Once the milk thickens, add sugar and mix well. Add the fried dates and nuts to the pan and mix well.
• Add the rose water, clove powder, cardamom powder and mix.
• Cook for 2-3 more minutes on medium-low heat and then turn off the heat.
• Serve Sheer Khurma warm or chilled.

Notes

• Try and find the fine/ nylon type of vermicelli. If not, you can always use the thicker vermicelli too.
• Ghee: Apart from toasting the nuts, the addition of ghee makes it more delicious. I haven’t tried substituting it and also feel it won’t taste good otherwise.
• Milk: I highly recommend using full fat milk to get the true flavor and richness that this dessert is known for. As I stay in Canada, I use 3.25% whole milk and the results are good. I haven’t tried with skim milk or 2% milk.
• Nuts: You can use a bunch of different types of nuts. If you’re allergic to any kind of nuts, you can skip those and replace them with any other ones that you like.
• Sugar: Sugar is used traditionally to sweeten Sheer Khurma. You can easily adjust the sweetness according to your preference by adding a little more or a little less sugar to the recipe. Again I have not tried using any other sugar alternatives.
• If you are using whole cloves, always add them when you are frying the nuts.

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Looking for more Indian Desserts?

Try our Sabudana Kheer (Tapioca Kheer), Laal Bhoplyachi Kheer (Red Pumpkin Kheer), Ricotta Cheese Pedas, Shrikhand, Jalebi and many more on the blog.

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