Semai (vermicelli): what it is, the types, and a simple sweet semai recipe

Semai is the Bengali name for vermicelli: very thin strands of wheat noodle that South Asian cooks turn into a sweet dish with milk, sugar and cardamom. In English it is "vermicelli", in Hindi and Urdu "sewai" or "seviyan", in South India "semiya", and in Polish shops it is sold as "wermiszel" or "makaron wermiszel". It is the dessert many families make for Eid, and a quick sweet any day of the year.

Semai in English and in Polish

The words on the pack can be confusing, so here they are together:

The closest everyday Polish product is "makaron nitki", the thin noodle Poles put in rosół. It looks similar, but Polish nitki are usually egg noodles and are not roasted, so for a South Asian sweet the Indian or Bangladeshi wheat vermicelli gives a better result.

The types of semai

• Plain or roasted vermicelli. Thin, straight or short strands of wheat noodle. "Roasted" packs are already golden, so you save the first step of the recipe. Examples: MTR vermicelli, TRS roasted vermicelli and Bambino roasted vermicelli.
• Lachha semai. Very fine strands, fried and pressed into a light, crisp nest. It is the Bangladeshi Eid favourite and cooks in a few minutes. Example: PRAN lachha semai.
• Instant mixes. Vermicelli with milk powder, sugar and flavour, for payasam in a few minutes, such as the vermicelli payasam mix.

Vermicelli is also used in savoury dishes, for example semiya upma in South India, and some cooks break it into pulao.

Sweet semai with milk: the recipe

For 4 small bowls. Ready in about 20 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 litre of full-fat milk (mleko 3,2 %)
• 80 g of vermicelli (about 1 cup of broken strands)
• 2 tablespoons of ghee (masło klarowane) or butter
• 4 to 5 tablespoons of sugar, to taste
• 4 green cardamom pods (kardamon zielony), crushed, or ¼ teaspoon of ground cardamom
• 2 tablespoons of raisins (rodzynki)
• 2 tablespoons of sliced almonds (migdały) or cashews (nerkowce)
• optional: a pinch of saffron, a few drops of rose water, a bay leaf or a small piece of cinnamon

Method

1. Break the vermicelli into pieces about 3 cm long.
2. Melt the ghee in a heavy pot on medium heat. Fry the nuts and raisins for a minute until the raisins puff up, then lift them out.
3. Fry the vermicelli in the same ghee for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring all the time, until golden. Skip this step if your pack is already roasted; warm it for 30 seconds only.
4. Pour in the milk, add the cardamom (and the bay leaf or cinnamon) and bring to the boil.
5. Lower the heat and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often so the milk does not catch on the bottom.
6. Add the sugar and stir until it dissolves. Cook for 2 more minutes.
7. Stir in most of the nuts and raisins, keep the rest for the top, and add the saffron or rose water if you use it.

Semai thickens as it cools. Serve it warm, or cold from the fridge, and add a splash of milk if it becomes too thick.

For lachha semai the method is different: warm milk with sugar and cardamom, take it off the heat, and pour it over the crisp nests just before serving, or fold the nests into the hot milk for one minute only. Lachha semai turns soft very fast.

Tips

• Use full-fat milk. Low-fat milk gives a thin, watery dessert.
• Stir often: the starch from the vermicelli sinks and can burn.
• For a richer bowl, add 2 tablespoons of condensed milk instead of part of the sugar.
• Our guides to cardamom and ghee cover those two ingredients.

Where to buy semai in Poland

Little India sells Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi vermicelli, including the MTR vermicelli and lachha semai, along with green cardamom and ghee for the recipe. Little India has shops in Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław and Gdańsk and ships orders online across Poland. Our guide to the Indian shop in Poland has the addresses.