Semi-homemade Sutarfeni, transform store bought dry bland premade Vermicelli base into a softened sweetened dessert in 10 mins!
Sutarfeni is an Indian Sweet dish that is flaky and looks like shredded strands of thin vermicelli. When you get it fresh it melts in your mouth like cotton candy. It is made of rice or wheat flour and typically sweetened with sugar, flavored with cardamom, saffron, and topped with nuts. Thin strands of dough is fried and then sweetened typically with a sugar syrup. It may be white or beige in color (due to saffron). It is a popular dish in Turkey, Persia, Rajasthan, as well as Pakistan and other Indian areas.
In the US it is hard to find the real soft flaky sweetened Sutarfeni in stores. Rather what I have seen is a dry Pheni (see pic of package below) sold at Indian grocery stores which is crunchy and not sweetened. It has no taste. This semi homemade recipe shows you how to use that premade product and make it more like the real sweetened soft Sutarfeni. This is the closest I have gotten to the real stuff!
You can use sugar syrup or milk to sweeten and soften it up. I prefer milk option as shown below. You can adjust this recipe to how liquidy you would like it. You can add less milk mixture (as per recipe below) to make it just soften, or add more if you like it more milky. This is a great quick simple dessert option, perfect for entertaining. You can serve it hot, room temperature, or even chilled. I always have some in the freezer and can get dessert ready in less than 10 mins! Try it out.
Makes: 1 package includes Two 9″ pie pans (serves 12-16), You can make just 1 which serves 6-8.
Time: 10 mins
Level of difficulty: Easy
Ingredients:
- 1 Sutarfini (Package includes 2)
- 1 2/3 cups Milk (any ratio of canned Evaporated and whole milk)
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/8 cup golden raisins
- Optional: A pinch of Saffron
- Optional: 1 tsp rose water
- 1/4 tsp cardamom powder (elaichi)
- 1/8 cup Chopped nuts for garnish (almonds and pistachios are traditional)
Method:
- In a pot, on medium heat, bring milk, sugar, saffron, cardamom, raisins to a boil. Stir occasionally.
- Remove 1 “Pheni” from the package and add to a serving dish, round pie size works great. Do not worry if it breaks, just fill the dish with all the bits and crumbs.
- Pour the hot milk over the Sutarfeni. You can easily adjust the amount of milk to the level of liquid you like. Add a little at a time. After it soaks for a few mins you can add more, but give it time to soak in between.
- Top with nuts
- Let it sit on the counter for 10-20 mins to allow the milk to soak in. You can add more milk gradually if you like as it soaks it in.
- Serve it hot, room temperature, or make ahead and store in fridge to serve cold.
Tips:
- Leftovers, stay good in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- You can store the entire unopened package in Freezer till the expiration date on the package. The package includes 2 layers, so if you use 1, you can store the other in the freezer. Be sure it is in a zip lock bag.
- For parties, you can make the milk mixture a day ahead, and then just add to the Sutarfeni on the day of.
- Check out other such simple basic recipes in the Sweets section