By Majida Rashid
No Eid-Al-Fitr celebration in Pakistan and India is complete without Sheer-Khorma, which cannot be imagined without green cardamoms. The main ingredient is Sewian, which is a shade of pale yellow-ochre hair-like thin vermicelli. The ingredient that makes the dish zesty is cardamom. The dish in the absence of cardamoms would be plain like bread pudding sans vanilla essence. Eid to Muslims is what Christmas is to Christians.
The origin of this dish is anonymous, but its name comes from Farsi. Sheer in Farsi means milk and dates are called Khorma. Perhaps the dish came into existence when the Achaemenid dynasty of Cyrus the Great ruled the northern Indian subcontinent, mostly present-day Pakistan, for two centuries.
The dish was too sweet for me as a child but, ah! I couldn’t resist its allure of heavenly fragrance. So I mixed it with yogurt to lessen the sweetness. Fortunately, the enticing aroma still prevailed. My brain equates the perfume of cardamom with sweetness to the extent that whenever I smell cardamoms I think of a dessert even if the dish is savory. To me the divine scent of cardamom represents festivity and abundance.
The use of cardamoms is not limited to the Indian subcontinent cuisine. Middle Eastern and other southeast Asian cuisines also use cardamoms in sweet and savory dishes.
Cardamoms date back to 4,000 years ago. Egyptians of antiquity used them for medicinal purposes, rituals, and even for embalming. They chewed cardamom pods to freshen the breath and clean the teeth. The practice continues to this day in the Subcontinent. Greeks and Romans used it in perfumes and aromatic oils.
Cardamoms are one of the world’s oldest spices. They grow in humid and warm climates. I consider cardamoms an herb with an exotic aroma. To me spices smell different than herbs. It’s the combination of chemicals like cineole, terpinyl and linalyl acetate, limonene and linalool present in cardamoms that impart its sweet essence. While cardamoms are widely available now at affordable prices, they used to be in the league with saffron and vanilla pods.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan, green tea, calle Kahwa, is as important as the guests or the family members to whom it is served. While the practice may have spread to other parts of Pakistan, it was unique to this area when I was growing up. Kahwa without cardamom is inconceivable. Little kiosks in Peshawar food bazaars display turquoise, green and beige enamel Kahwa-filled teapots standing next to amber flames. It is usually served at the end of a meal. Green tea was imported from China. Part of northern Pakistan connects with China through the Khunjerab Pass.
Kahwa is made by pouring well-boiled water in a teapot with loose green tea; ratio of half a teaspoon to one cup water. Then it is sprinkled with ground cardamom, covered and left aside to brew. It goes very well with Sheer-Khorma.
Sewian or vermicelli can be purchased from Pakistani or Indian stores. They always come in standard-sized bags weighting 150 gm 5.29 ounces. To obtain cardamom’s heavenly smell, grind it just before cooking the dish.
Sheer-Khorma
Ingredients:
1 packet Vermicelli aka Sewian
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 oz unsalted butter
6-8 green cardamom pods
1 cup sugar
1 gallon whole milk
1 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup chopped pistachios
1 tablespoon ground cardamom
Instructions:
Place the cardamom pods on a cutting board. Using a rolling pin, roll over the pods until the covers open up and reveal the seeds. Roughly crush the seeds.
In a wide saucepan heat oil and butter over medium heat.
Add the crushed seeds to the oil and fry for a minute to release the aroma.
Break the vermicelli into smaller portions and add to the pan.
Fry, stirring continuously until they turn golden brown.
Add the sugar and wait for it to melt, stirring occasionally.
Add the almonds and half of the pistachios.
Pour in the milk and bring to a boil.
Lower the heat and simmer uncovered, stirring frequently to avoid the milk sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Cook until the milk is reduced to almost half or when it becomes thick.
Leave aside a little bit of the ground cardamoms and sprinkle the remaining on top of the vermicelli. Do not stir.
Immediately cover with a tight lid. This allows the fragrance to really penetrate in the vermicelli.
Allow it to cool.
Uncover and stir well and pour into deep serving dish.
Sprinkle with the remaining cardamom and pistachios.
Cover and refrigerate until cold.
Serve with tea or coffee.
Serves 3-4
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Foodie Majida Rashid lives in Texas. Food and cooking are her passion. Her presentation about her love of food can be viewed on USA Today’s network: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0xi566VSPo – We Spread Love Through Food @Frontiers_Of_Flavor Her philosophical writing can be read at apakistaniwomansjourney.wordpress.com.
