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Kimami sewai

AI-drafted · awaiting admin review

Fine roasted vermicelli cooked in ghee and thick sugar syrup with khoya and dry fruit, the Eid sweet of Lucknow.

Region: Lucknow and AwadhOccasion: Eid ul-FitrTime: 40 minServes: 6Vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 200 g very fine vermicelli (sewai)
  • 4 tbsp ghee
  • 1 cup sugar, ¾ cup water
  • ½ cup khoya, crumbled
  • ¼ cup each sliced almonds, pistachios, cashews; 2 tbsp chironji; 10 dried dates (chhuhara), sliced
  • ½ tsp cardamom powder, saffron in 2 tbsp warm milk, 1 tsp kewra water

Method

  1. Roast the sewai in 2 tbsp ghee until golden brown. Set aside.
  2. Fry the nuts and chhuhara lightly in the remaining ghee.
  3. Boil the sugar and water into a syrup (kimam) of one-string consistency with saffron and cardamom.
  4. Add the sewai to the syrup and cook on low heat, stirring gently, until the syrup is absorbed and the strands separate.
  5. Fold in the khoya, nuts and kewra, cover and keep on dum for 5 minutes.

History

Sweet vermicelli is eaten on Eid across India; Lucknow's dry, syrup-glazed kimami version is a local speciality.

Significance

Kimami sewai is served to guests who come to greet a family on Eid in Lucknow.