Sweet Potato Seviyaan Kheer is a twist on a traditional Indian dessert, combining the rich flavors of vermicelli kheer with the natural sweetness of roasted sweet potatoes. This creamy, aromatic dish is perfect for festive occasions or a comforting treat for dessert time.
This post is sponsored by our friends at Bako Sweet®, who provided us with the incredible California sweet potatoes. All opinions are our own. Thank you for continuing to support the brands that make Masala and Chai possible.
Nothing screams Fall more than the comfort of a classic rice pudding in my family. We serve it hot off the stove for dessert on chilly nights, and I especially love it when my mom uses ghee-roasted vermicelli noodles, or seviyaan instead of basmati rice.
One of the best twists to rice pudding for Fall is adding a roasted sweet potato! The sweet potato caramelizes in the oven and adds its own natural sweetness and depth of flavor to the rice pudding.
Bako Sweet® grows truly the sweetest and highest quality organic sweet potatoes in nutrient-dense soil out of Bakersfield, California using sustainable methods. The care for their land and their product before it hits our home is evident in the way their experienced team hand-selects only the best sweet potatoes before they're triple-washed and sold in convenient bags.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Sweet potatoes are a superfood that give you an energy boost from healthy carbohydrates, not to mention a good source of fiber. They're certified heart-healthy, have a low glycemic value, and are rich in Vitamin A.
- It's gluten-free and can easily be made vegan by roasting the vermicelli in coconut oil instead of ghee. It's also fully vegetarian since Indian rice puddings are eggless and don't require making a custard.
- It's easy to scale this recipe to make it for a dinner party!
- This is the perfect dessert to serve chilled on hot summer nights, or cozy up with a warm bowl during Fall and the holiday season.
What is Kheer?
Kheer is a pudding-like dessert in the Indian subcontinent, usually made by simmering milk, sugar, and rice. It's said to have originated several millennia ago in ancient India at a Hindu temple in its most basic form - milk, sugar, and rice - as well as possible influences of Arab origin during the medieval age. (The Hindustan Times).
There are several versions of kheer, some using jaggery instead of sugar or substituting rice with bulgur wheat, millet, tapioca, or vermicelli. Other names for Indian rice puddings are Pasayam, which is more common to South India, and Sawine in the Caribbean. Other types of kheer are Daliya with broken wheat, Seviya with vermicelli, Poha Kheer with flattened rice, and more.
Kheer can be found at weddings or festivals like Diwali or Eid. It's especially cooling after a spicy meal and isn't too heavy or sweet like many other Indian desserts.
Ingredients - Notes and Substitutions
The recipe for Kheer will vary from family to family in terms of ingredients. They all have a similar base and method, but the additions past that may be a little different. The addition of cardamom and nuts are what differentiates it from rice puddings found in other cultures.
- Bako Sweet® Orange Sweet Potato Bag - Each sweet potato is consistently sized at about ~250 grams, which is perfect for an even roast in the oven.
- Ghee - Ghee is optional but brings several benefits to kheer! First, it lightly coats the pot to prevent the milk from burning. Toasting the vermicelli in a bit of ghee before adding the milk brings out a delicious nutty flavor. It also adds a bit of richness to the pudding.
- Vermicelli - Indian stores sell roasted vermicelli, otherwise you can purchase vermicelli noodles and roast them in ghee until they're browned. Substitute with basmati rice.
- Coconut milk - Use full-fat coconut milk. Substitute with whole milk.
- Sugar - Use dark brown sugar for this recipe. Substitute with white granulated sugar, honey, or 0 calorie sweeteners.
- Raisins - The only acceptable raisins are golden raisins!! They're sweet, versus red raisins that are a bit sour. If you don't like raisins, you can omit them but they get plump and delicious!
- Cardamom - Adding cardamom is deliciously fragrant and sweet. Lightly crush 2 whole green cardamom pods and add it in with the coconut milk. This allows the flavor to bloom. Remove the pods at the end.
How to make Sweet Potato Seviyaan Kheer
- Step 1: After washing and scrubbing your sweet potato, poke holes into it with a fork. Wrap it in foil, and place in the oven at 400℉ for 50 minutes, or until fork tender and the skin is loose. Once cooled, remove the skin.
- Step 2: Roast the uncooked vermicelli noodles in ghee until browned.
Mama Garg's Expert Tip #1
Why Oven-Roast or Flame Roast?
Roasting the sweet potatoes in the oven or slow roasting them on the stovetop increases the Maillard reaction, which caramelizes the natural sugars so that the sweet potatoes are richer and sweeter compared to boiling, steaming, or microwaving. Since the chaat is simple, having a concentrated and complex sweet potato flavor is important.
- Step 3: Pour the coconut milk in and add the green cardamom, cinnamon stick, and raisins. Simmer until the milk reduces by about half. Then, stir in the brown sugar.
- Step 4: Grate or mash the sweet potato and add it to the milk. Mix until well combined, and simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Step 5: Add a pinch of salt and the vanilla extract. Simmer until the desired consistency is reached.
Mama Garg's Expert Tip #2
Serve soupy or thick, cold or hot! The consistency and temperature is a personal preference.
Serving Suggestions
Pan roast cashews, almonds, and slivered pistachios in ghee until fragrant and use them as a crunchy topping for the kheer. Serve it with a sprinkle of toasted coconut, dried edible rose petals, and if it's an extra special occasion then a bit of saffron, too! The residual heat will bloom the saffron.
The temperature you serve the kheer at is a personal preference. It's delicious warm off the stove, or you can chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.
Kheer is often seen as part of the dessert spread at weddings due to the ease of making large batches with a few inexpensive ingredients. The best part is when the kheer mixes with all the other desserts, like jalebi, gajar ka halwa, and gulab jamun in the bowl.
Expert Tips and Tricks
- Preventing burnt milk - Brush melted ghee on your heavy bottom pot to prevent the milk from sticking and burning. Make sure to give the pudding a stir and scrape down the bottoms and sides every 2-3 minutes.
- Ground vs whole cardamom - Use whatever you have on hand! I prefer freshly ground cardamom so that the whole dessert gets an even dose of cardamom. If you use whole pods, very lightly crush them with something heavy, not so much that the seeds will fall out. Add them into the pot along with the hot coconut milk so that the flavor blooms. Remove the cardamom pods at the end.
- Simmer and stir - Making kheer requires a bit of patience, it's not something you can leave on the stove and walk away because the milk may burn. While the milk reduces, you'll need to stir the pudding and scrape down the pot to prevent burning. Then go back to simmering to let more liquid evaporate, and stir again. Keep going until you get to your ideal consistency.
- Consistency - Simmer the milk until you get your desired consistency. It can either be on the soupy side or really thick. If too much liquid evaporates, add a ¼ cup of milk or water at a time to thin it out.
Storage and Make Ahead Instructions
Store the kheer in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Serve chilled or warm it on the stove in a heavy bottom pot on low heat for 5-8 minutes until warmed through.
Make Ahead
Roast the sweet potato up to 2 days ahead and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you're ready to make the seviyaan kheer.
More Indian Desserts to try
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Sweet Potato Seviyaan Kheer
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup sweet potato, roasted and mashed (I used Bako Sweet)
- 1 cup vermicelli noodles
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- 450 ml coconut milk
- 2 green cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tablespoon golden raisins
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400℉.
- Wash and scrub the sweet potato to remove any dirt. Poke holes in the sweet potato with a fork. Wrap the potato in aluminum foil and place it in a baker.
- Bake the sweet potato for 50 minutes, or until fork tender. Allow it to cool to the touch.
- While the sweet potato roasts in the oven, melt 1 tablespoon of ghee in a heavy bottom pot on low to medium heat. Once hot, add the vermicelli noodles and roast them until browned, stirring every now and then to ensure they don't burn. (Skip the step if using roasted vermicelli noodles).
- Pour in the coconut milk. Lightly smash the green cardamom pods under the flat edge of a knife. Add the green cardamom, cinnamon stick, and golden raisins as well. Stir everything together.
- Simmer the milk until about half of the original amount evaporates. Add the brown sugar and stir everything together.
- Peel the skin off the sweet potato. Use a ricer or a potato masher to mash the sweet potato. Add the sweet potato into the pot and stir everything together. Simmer for another 5 minutes.If the consistency is too thick, add ¼ cup of milk to thin it out.
- Finish off the kheer with a pinch of salt and stir in vanilla extract. Serve the Sweet Potato Seviyaan Kheer warm off the stove, or transfer it to the refrigerator for 30 minutes and serve chilled.
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