Sheer khurma recipe

Sheer khurma is a classic Mughlai dessert made with milk, dates, fine vermicelli, nuts & ghee. It is a traditional festive delight and is made during Eid ul-Fitr, Ramadan. Sheer khurma is very popular in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. If you have never tried this before, you are really missing out the most delicious Mughlai treat.

What is sheer khurma?

Sheer khurma is a festive pudding made by simmering fine vermicelli with milk, dates, nuts and sugar.  Sheer khurma is a Persian term, where ‘sheer’ means ‘milk’ and ‘khurma’ means ‘dates’.  

This delicious and rich dessert is made on the day of Ramadan. Most Muslim homes make this in large quantities as they share this with friends & relatives.

It is made slightly different in every country/region. Some use condensed milk, mawa, saffron etc. I have shared a simple recipe made in the traditional Hyderabadi style.

So it uses only pantry staples and does not need any condensed milk or mawa. However if you prefer to use them, you can check the recipe notes. I have shared some tips.

Sheer khurma vs Seviyan kheer

Sheer khurma though seems similar to vermicelli/ seviyan kheer, it is very much different in taste and flavor.

Dates: The key ingredient dates makes all the difference in a sheer khurma which not only adds sweetness but also imparts a texture to it.

Vermicelli: Also seviyan kheer is made with different kinds of vermicelli, thin or thick but sheer khurma is always made with thin vermicelli.

Ghee: A lot of people make seviyan kheer without any ghee. But sheer khurma is always made with ghee and it just makes a huge difference to the final dessert.

Cooking: There are different ways of making sheer khurma. A lot of people boil and simmer milk until slightly thick then add vermicelli. This step not only imparts an aroma similar to mawa/khoya but also thickens the dessert & tastes rich. This step is not done in seviyan kheer.

How to make sheer khurma

Preparation

1. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a bowl or pot. Pour the water to 2 bowls. Soak almonds, pistachios and cashews in one bowl for 30 mins. Similarly soak chironji seeds in another bowl for 30 mins.

2. Drain the water from both the bowl and rinse them in cold water. Drain the water completely. Peel the skin of the almonds and pistachios. Add all of them back to the same bowl and soak for 1 to 2 hours.

3. Add the drained chironji seeds to a clean cloth and rub them gently. The skin from the seeds will peel off easily. If you find any discoloured seeds discard them as most times rancid seeds get discoloured. Soak the seeds back in regular water for 1 to 2 hours.

4. Meanwhile chop the dates to bite seized pieces. Set aside. Drain the water from the nuts and seeds completely. Slice the nuts thinly. Keep these aside.

Roasting nuts

5. Heat a heavy bottom pot with 2 tbsps ghee. When the ghee turns hot, add almonds and cashews. Fry them for 1 to 2 mins and then add the chiroli and pistachios.

6. Saute all of them until crisp and lightly golden. This takes a little longer than roasting the regular nuts as these are soaked here. Remove to a plate and set aside.

7. To the same pot, add dates and saute until you begin to smell them good. Transfer them to a plate.

8. Add 1 more tbsp ghee and add seviyan. Fry them on a medium heat until golden. If using preroasted vermicelli like me, then it only needs about 30 to 50 seconds to coat them in ghee. Be careful as the fine vermicelli tends to burn faster. Remove to a plate.

Simmering sheer khurma

9. Pour milk to the same pot and bring it to a boil on a medium to low flame. Leaving a ladle in the pot will prevent the milk from overflowing.

10. Next when the milk begins to boil, reduce the flame and simmer for 5 minutes. Later add roasted vermicelli and half of the fried nuts, seeds and dates.

11. Stir well and simmer until the vermicelli is soft and cooked. This took about 10 mins for me on a medium flame. Keep stirring once in every few minutes to prevent the milk getting burnt at the bottom.

12. Add cardamom powder and sugar or condensed milk at this stage. If using mawa, add it too now. I used only sugar here.

13. Next mix and continue to simmer for another 3 to 5 mins until slightly thick yet runny. Sheer khurma will thicken upon cooling so turn off when it is of runny consistency. Add rose water if using.

After simmering for a while it turns thicker, aromatic and deeper in color. Serve it warm or chilled. Sprinkle the rest of the nuts, seeds and dates over the sheer khurma before serving.

Instant pot sheer khurma

1. Prepare the nuts and chironji seeds as mentioned in the preparation section.
2. Press saute button on the Instant pot and pour ghee.
3. Add the nuts and fry them until light golden. Press cancel and remove them for later. Stir in the vermicelli & fry in the residual heat for 1 to 2 mins until golden. If required press saute and fry them until golden.
4. Pour milk and add sugar. Give a good stir. Add the dates & half of the nuts and seeds.
5. Press pressure cook button and set the timer to 1 minute. After it is done the instant pot beeps.
6. Wait for the pressure to release naturally for at least 10 minutes.
7. Open the lid and with a fork gently mix. Add cardamom powder and gently mix. If you want you may add mawa or rose water at this stage.
8. It will be runny and thickens as it cools down. If you want it thicker, cook on a saute mode for a few minutes.
9. Garnish sheer khurma with the other half of nuts.

Tips & substitutes

Vermicelli: To make sheer khurma fine vermicelli or thin seviyan is used. There are pre-roasted and unroasted vermicelli available in the market. If using pre-roasted like me, cut down the roasting time.

Dates: I have used medjool dates here. You can also use fresh dates or even dried dates. If using dried dates soak them in hot water until soft.

Nuts: I have used almonds, cashews and pistachios to make sheer khurma. You can replace any of these for the other. I soaked the nuts first in hot water for 30 mins and removed the skin. Then soaked them for 1 hour. Then chopped them finely. Alternately you can also soak them for 4 to 5 hours and remove the skin.

Chironaji seeds: Also known as charoli seeds or almondette seeds. These seeds are said to be the main ingredient in a Hyderabadi sheer khurma. They have the aroma similar to that of almonds. If you do not have them, just skip.

Chiroli seeds go rancid too quickly so buy them from a store where the stocks are fresher.

I have soaked these seeds in hot water for 30 mins and rinsed them well. Rubbed them off on a clean cloth to remove the skin. After this step discard any discolored seeds as they would be rancid.

Milk: Traditionally only milk is used to make the dish. So I used only whole milk/ full fat milk. You may also use condensed milk or mawa for flavor. If using condensed milk you can skip sugar. I have added more details in the recipe notes below.

Flavoring:  Cardamom powder is the main flavoring ingredient used in hyderabadi sheer khurma.  However for variations you can also use edible rose water, kewda water or saffron.

Other Sweets you may like
Gulab jamun
Shahi tukda
Rasmalai
Kalakand
Rasgulla

Recipe card

Sheer khurma recipe is from the Archives, first published in July 2015. Updated and Republished in April 2021.