Anil

Anil is a vermicelli label, and its range on our shelves covers the thin noodles known as semiya in Tamil, sevai in Kannada and seviyan in the north. The style is South Indian: wheat semiya sold already roasted so it stays separate when cooked, plain rice vermicelli for steamed sevai, and vermicelli made from millets for cooks who like to vary their grains.

Most of the Anil range sits in vermicelli semiya, including roasted short vermicelli and the finger millet and pearl millet versions, known as ragi and kambu or bajra. Rice vermicelli has its own home in rice vermicelli. Both collections belong to the wider vermicelli category, which in turn sits inside snacks and noodles.

Roasted semiya becomes semiya upma with mustard seeds, curry leaves, onion and green chilli, or semiya kesari with ghee, sugar and cardamom. Simmered in milk with cashews and raisins it turns into payasam for festivals and birthdays, and North Indian homes make sheer khurma from the same strands at Eid. Rice vermicelli is soaked or steamed for lemon sevai, coconut sevai and tamarind sevai, which are lighter than wheat. Ragi and kambu vermicelli cook the same way as wheat and give a darker, earthier upma; they are a simple first step for cooks who want more millets at breakfast.

Because the wheat semiya is already roasted, it needs no dry frying, only a minute in hot ghee before the water goes in. Use roughly twice the water to vermicelli for upma and stop cooking as soon as it is absorbed, or the strands turn soft. Sealed packs keep well in a dry cupboard. To compare Anil with other brands, browse our full vermicelli range or the upma and vada mix collection.