Dry, sweet vermicelli

Vermicelli is a very popular Indian dessert and it often cooked in a rich, milky base that is flavoured with cardamom and cinnamon and sweetened with condensed milk. As delicious as this is, I often get a hankering for this dessert but do not want to open up an entire can of condensed milk for just a small portion.

On days like this I lean towards my mom’s dry fried vermicelli. The flavour is very similar as both cinnamon and cardamom are both used but there is no liquid, milky base. It still hits home like the creamy dessert would but is much more diet friendly.

Let’s get cooking…

Break up the long vermicelli noodles into small pieces, about 2cm long. Melt butter in a pan and add in the broken vermicelli and cinnamon sticks. Fry until lightly golden.

When the vermicelli is lightly browned, remove the pot from the heat and begin adding the boiling water a little at a time stirring constantly. Put the pot back on the heat and cook for 10 minutes stirring frequently. Add sugar and cardamom powder and cook for a further 5-10 minutes.

Once the noodles are soft and all of the water has been absorbed, the dessert is cooked. Best served hot with a good cup of tea.