Semiya Payasam (Kheer)

A quick and easy payasam. This is a favorite payasam for many - its complete comfort in a bowl. It completes a nice and tasty south indian meal.

I had made this for saturday's lunch - a friend of mine was visiting with her family and I had invited them for lunch. They had spent three days in Disneyland and I knew that they would be bored eating pizza and burgers and a nice south indian meal would be welcome.

I had made a kadambam kozhambu with all veggies, rasam, potato podimas, carrot-beans-cauliflower poriyal. And for desert, I had made this payasam. They enjoyed it all and we had a good time chatting and catching up.

To do justice to this payasam, do it on a weekday lunch where you have time to take a nice nap in the afternoon. Because that is what this will make you do. You eat a heavy lunch and then eat a cup of this payasam - you can feel your eyelids closing- just blame it on the payasam and hit the bed for a couple of hours - nothing like that. Unfortunately, I'm cursed when it comes to this - I just cannot sleep in the afternoon - even if I'm very tired - I can't sleep. My husband is the opposite - he loves his weekend afternoon naps.

To begin, add a tbsp of ghee to a pan, add the semiya in there and fry it for a few mins till the semiya begins to turn brown.

Now, add the milk. Add just enough to cover the semiya and a little bit more. We need to cook the semiya well before adding sugar in there.

Cook the milk in simmer - or else everything will boil out and you don't want a mess.


When the semiya is completely cooked, add some more milk. Cook for another few minutes until all the milk is boiling. Now add about 2-3 cups of sugar. the ratio is 1 cup of semiya: 2 cups of sugar. But, I don't go by it - I kind of add and then taste a little bit. If its less sugar, I add a little more. If its more sugar, add a little bit more milk.

I added some saffron towards the end. You can add if you like it. Also, add a pinch of elachi powder.


You can see the semiya begin to float to the top. This shows that the payasam is done.


I switched off the stove and let the payasam sit for a while. In another pan, take a tsp of ghee and roast some cashews in there. After a min, add them to the payasam.

Because I let the payasam sit for a while, the semiya had absorbed all the milk and it had become very thick. So, just before serving I added another cup of milk and reheated the payasam for a couple of mins. That fixed it.

Just a close up of the cashews in the paysam.

The consistency was good after I added the extra milk.

Here's a cup for you.


Enjoy. Peace Out!