Name: Semiya Payasam
Ingredients: 1 cup: Vermicelli; 1 cup: Milk; 1 cup: Sugar; A handful: Cashew nuts; A handful: Raisins; 1 pinch: Saffron; 2-3 pods: Cardamom; ¾ cup: Water

Why it works: Saffron and cardamom match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 342 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Semiya Payasam

Ingredients

Directions

Heat the ghee and fry the vermicelli till light brown.
In the meanwhile, boil the water.
Add the vermicelli to the boiling water and cover it. Keep stirring occasionally.
Once the vermicelli becomes soft , add the sugar and continue to stir.
Put the saffron in the milk and dissolve it, add this milk to the vermicelli.
Powder the cardamom and add it to the mixture.
Then fry the cashew nuts and almonds in ghee and add these.
Mix well and boil for about two minutes.
Your payasam is ready and can be served hot or cold.
Category:Indian Recipes
Category:South Indian Recipes

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

266Calories

9 gProtein

8 gFat

42 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 7 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Cardamom	1 tsp ground (2g)	6
Cashew Nut	not in our table	0
Saffron	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Saffron + cardamomtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together342 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Cashew nut + cardamomtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together86 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Cashew nut + saffrontop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together33 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Raisin + saffrontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + cardamomtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together69 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, cashew nut, saffron, cardamom):

Vanillafits better
Limefits better
Lemonfits better
Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, cashew nut, saffron, cardamom. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.