Russet Navara sevai roasted in coconut oil and softened in coconut milk, jaggery-dark and scented with cardamom, dry ginger and fried coconut slivers.

Ingredients

From the TrooFoodz pantry

• Sprouted Navara Red Rice Vermicelli 100 g

Fresh

• Thin coconut milk (second press) 3 cups
• Thick coconut milk (first press) 1 cup
• Jaggery, grated 180 g
• Coconut oil 3 tbsp
• Cashews 12
• Coconut, cut into slivers 3 tbsp
• Cardamom powder ½ tsp
• Dry ginger powder ¼ tsp
• Salt a pinch

Method

1. Fry the garnish

   Fry the cashews and coconut slivers in a tablespoon of coconut oil until both are golden, then lift them out and reserve.

2. Roast the sevai

   Break Sprouted Navara Red Rice Vermicelli into short lengths and roast in the remaining coconut oil until it darkens a shade and smells nutty. This is what stops it collapsing later.

3. Soften in thin milk

   Pour in the thin coconut milk with the salt and cook on a low flame for eight to ten minutes, until the strands are tender and the liquid has thickened slightly.

4. Melt and strain

   Separately melt the jaggery in three tablespoons of water, then strain it through a fine sieve to leave the grit behind.

5. Sweeten off the flame

   Take the pan off the heat before the syrup goes in, then stir it through. Adding jaggery to a boiling pot risks splitting even a coconut base.

6. Add the thick milk

   Stir in the first-press coconut milk with the cardamom and dry ginger. From here the kheer must never boil, or the coconut fat separates and turns oily.

7. Warm and finish

   Return to the lowest possible heat for a minute just to warm through, then scatter the fried cashews and coconut slivers over the top.

Why this works

Navara vermicelli is fine and softens quickly, so roasting it in fat first coats each strand and buys the extra minutes it needs to absorb coconut milk without turning to mush. First-press coconut milk carries a high proportion of fat held in a fragile emulsion — a boil breaks it, so it goes in last and never sees a rolling simmer.

Make it your own

• Sprouted Navara Red Rice Vermicelli → Sprouted Ragi Vermicelli Darker and maltier; softens even faster.
• Coconut milk → Full-fat dairy milk Lighter and less sweet; still add the jaggery off the heat.
• Jaggery → Palm jaggery The Kerala default — smokier and more fragrant.