A sweet Eid morning – Sheer Khurma recipe from Bisma Tirmizi’s ‘Feast’

Sheer Khurma

Eid-ul-Fitr is the most wonderful time of the year and the memories associated with Ramazan and meethi Eid are joyous, filled with sweetness, good times, Eidi, family, friends and sheer khurma. I was never a sheer khurma or saviyaan (vermicelli) fan, up until my mother asked me how any foodies could say they did not like sheer khurma, and my response was, ‘I’ve never tasted it, I just don’t like the way it looks.’ My mother gave me an exasperated look and introduced me to sheer khurma, and I became a fan for life.

My mother made the most delicious sheer khurma every year, as must have yours, and the Sheer was as warm as mother’s embrace and as sweet as her love. Returning home from Eid namaz, my father would enter through the front door where we would line up for our Eidi, and our wonderful cook Jalal would pull in the trolley laden with delectable Eid treats, and there was the sheer khurma, sitting pretty and delicious, front and centre.
Sheer khurma literally means milk and dates, sheer means milk in Persian and khurma means dates, and how and when vermicelli was added to this delightful dessert, your guess is as good as mine. It is believed that, since Saudi Arabia abounds with the harvest of dates people would break their fast with dates, as we still do today, and feast on a milk and date dessert come Eid morning. Hence, sheer khurma is a Eid-ul-Fitr delight in all Muslim households.

This simple yet delicious sweet dish is versatile as it can be served hot or cold. Dates one of the main ingredients (since in those days this milk and date dessert was sweetened with dates and not sugar) that enhance this delicacy, are in themselves nutritious and a complete meal, like milk. Generally fresh ripened dates are used in the making of sheer khurma, but many use dry dates also.

The Eid fiesta brings with it sublime food flavours. After a month of strict abstinence, Eid-ul-Fitr is most associated with feasting and would not be complete without the sheer khurma and its abundance. It is delicious, quick and makes for a sweet Eid morning.

Ingredients
8 cups or 2 kg full cream milk
100 grams vermicelli
4 oz condensed milk
8 oz sugar
10 to 12 green cardamom pods
10 to 12 dates (chopped lengthwise)
½ cup (pistachios, almonds, cashews, raisins)
Pinch of salt

Method
Bring milk to boil, add vermicelli and keep stirring, simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, adding sugar, condensed milk, cardamom, salt and dates. Let simmer for 20 minutes to half hour, reducing the quantity.

Add dry fruit, cook for a few more minutes. Pour into serving bowl, garnish and serve hot or cold.

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Eid Mubarak!