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EveryCow

Festival dishes

Sheer khurma

Fine vermicelli cooked in milk with dates, nuts and ghee: the morning dish of Eid al-Fitr.

Sheer khurma means milk with dates in Persian. It is fine vermicelli fried in ghee, then simmered in milk with dates, sugar, cardamom and a handful of nuts. It is cooked on the morning of Eid al-Fitr, the festival at the end of Ramadan, and served to family and to every visitor who calls through the day.

What goes in

Whole milk: 53%53%Fine vermicelli: 11%11%Dates: 11%11%Sugar: 11%11%Ghee: 5%Pistachio, almond, cashew, cardamom: 11%11%6parts
  • Whole milk1053%, Simmered until slightly thick.
  • Fine vermicelli211%, Toasted in ghee.
  • Dates211%, Soaked and sliced.
  • Sugar211%, To taste.
  • Ghee15%, For frying vermicelli and nuts.
  • Pistachio, almond, cashew, cardamom211%, Fried and stirred in.

Rough parts by weight. The ring shows each input's share of the product.

Made step by step

Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Quantities and timings differ from house to house and herd to herd; this is one traditional way, in outline.

  1. Step 1: Cook Toast the vermicelli in ghee until golden and set aside.
  2. Step 2: Cook Fry the nuts in ghee.
  3. Step 3: Boil Boil the milk and simmer it with sliced dates until slightly thick.
  4. Step 4: Cook Add the vermicelli, sugar and cardamom and cook until soft.
  5. Step 5: Serve Stir in the nuts and serve warm to family and guests.
  6. Whole milk: 53%53%Fine vermicelli: 11%11%Dates: 11%11%Sugar: 11%11%Ghee: 5%Pistachio, almond, cashew, cardamom: 11%11%
    Finished Sheer khurma, by share.

Eid morning

In Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, sheer khurma is the dish that most families make for Eid al-Fitr. After the Eid prayers, households open their doors to relatives and neighbours, and a bowl of it is offered with greetings. The pot is often made the night before and reheated, and every family guards its own blend of nuts and spices.

In the pot

The vermicelli, called seviyan, is very thin and toasted in ghee until golden. Dried dates are soaked and sliced. Pistachios, almonds, cashews and charoli are fried and stirred in, with cardamom and sometimes saffron or rose water. In Hyderabad, it is often made thicker and richer than in the north.

Where it is used

Eid al-Fitr breakfastFor visiting guests

The breeds behind it

SahiwalThe leading dairy breed of Pakistan.Red SindhiDairy zebu of Sindh.TharparkarMilk breed of the Thar in Sindh and Rajasthan.

Also part of it, and being written: Cholistani cattle (Breed of the Cholistan desert.).

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Sources and further reading

About this page

Original text and drawings by the EveryCow desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are a rough, illustrative ratio, not a recipe: every family and dairy makes it differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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