I grew up in a very Burgher culture. Although my mother was Sinhalese, I rarely had exposure to the culture she grew up in. And we had few to none Tamil or Muslims in our neighborhood, my experience of Tamil or Muslim foods was very limited. My Tamil husband on the other hand, grew up in a Muslim neighborhood and he loves the Sri Lankan Muslim cuisine. And what’s not to love about it?! The flavours are rich not just in taste, but in history as well. Phirni is a dessert he often talks about. It is a rice pudding packed with nuts and spices; it’s a dish I’m yet to attempt, I did however attempt a different milk pudding; Semia Payasam. Semia is a rice vermicelli which is usually sold in roasted form. And Payasam, in South Indian languages, means sweet pudding which is cooked in milk or coconut milk. Now I have to say I’m not altogether impressed with the south Asian milk puddings that are usually served warm, but after making this, I’m definitely a fan. For this Payasam I also researched and took inspiration from Sheer Khurma, which is a popular Pakistani dessert.

Here’s what I used:

• 1 liter milk + 1 cup water

• 1/2 cup sago pearls

• 75g roasted Semia (broken up into smaller sections) fried in ghee

• 1/2 cup sugar

2tbs condensed milk (optional)

• assorted nuts and dried fruit fried in ghee (cashew, almonds, pistachio, raisins)

• 1tsp cardamom powder

• 1 tbsp rose water (optional)

First I cook the sago in 1c milk and 1cup water. Then add the vermicelli, after that becomes soft, the rest of the milk, sugar and condensed milk. Later the nuts and raisins (save some to decorate). Cook till slightly thicker consistency. Add cardamom powder and turn off heat. The mixture will get thicker as it cools so don’t cook too much. The Payasam should be served warm in a slightly watery consistency, so if it’s too thick, it can always be thinned with some warm milk.