The day before making the dessert, put the dried dates in a pan with 240ml of the milk, bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes. Leave to cool, then chill.
If you haven’t got roasted seviyan you will need to dry roast the vermicelli over a low heat until it starts to darken.
Cut the almonds (and pistachios, if using whole ones) into slivers. If including coconut, chop the flesh into 1.5cm cubes. Break the vermicelli into small pieces. Put the remaining milk in a pan, add the soaked dates and their milk and bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, heat half the ghee or butter in a frying pan over a medium–high heat and flash-fry the vermicelli with the cloves and cardamoms, then add to the boiling milk. Add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved. Take the pan off the heat and discard the cloves and cardamoms.
In a separate frying pan, heat the remaining ghee and quickly fry the almonds, pistachios, coconut, cashews and raisins until the nuts darken – you do not want to burn them. Add the mixture to the vermicelli, reserving a little to sprinkle on top if you like. Serve the milky vermicelli warm or chilled in individual glass dishes.