Sheer Khorma

A traditional dessert made specially on Eid in Pakistan and India.
Sort of like a pudding..... very easy to make and best if served cold.

I prefer subtle flavors so I just used cardamom, almonds and dates.

But if you feel adventurous go ahead and flavor the milk with a few strands of saffron instead of cardamom. You can also add different nuts and dried fruits like pistachios, almonds, raisins, sultanas, dates, dried apricots and dried coconut to name a few.

Eid Mubarak to all :-)

(Total time 15 mins)
(Makes approx. 12 1/2 cup servings)
Ingredients

Whole milk 4 cups
Medjool dates 4-5 large ones
Sugar 1/4 cup + 2 Tbs (Total of 6 Tbs.)
Cardamom 3-4 pods ground into a powder
Coarse ground almonds 1/4 cup
Roasted vermicelli (very thin strands) roughly 2.65 oz. or 75 grams.
Basically I got Shan roasted vermicelli from an Indian grocery store and used half of the packet.

There are several different types of vermicelli that you can find. Unfortunately Shan foods does not have the vermicelli listed on their website or maybe they do and I just couldn't find it so here is a picture of what I used. You can also use a similar product made by National Foods.

Method

First of all you will need to break the vermicelli into smaller strands... it's best to use your hands for this. Just grab the whole bunch from one end and twist your hand to break them. There will be flyaways and lots of them! But if you are careful and do this slowly you won't make a mess hopefully :-)

Now take the stones out of the dates.
I like to blend the dates into the milk.... I like the flavor and love the creamy color that it creates.
But if you prefer you can just cut them up into quarters or eighths. Just remember that if you decide to use date chunks you may need to use more sugar.

Place the broken vermicelli pieces into a large pot.
Add milk blended with the dates (or date chunks), cardamom powder, sugar and bring this slowly to a gentle boil.
Simmer for 5 mins and take it off the heat.
Add the ground almonds and mix well.
Allow to come to room temperature and then refrigerate for 4-6 hours at least to make sure its very cold.