Shahi Tukda / Indian Bread Pudding

Shahi Tukda is a royal dessert from the Mughlai cuisine. The word shahi means royal and tukda is piece, so shahi tukda translates to royal piece. It is a popular sweet in the Indian state of hyderabad. Shahi Tukda is deliciously sweet, aromatic , flavorful and rich in calories. The recipe of this Indian bread pudding is simple and it can be prepared at home . It has lovely flavors of saffron and cardamom. The authentic recipe calls for deep frying the bread slices in ghee until they become crisp. The fried bread slices are then dipped in sugar syrup and finally coated with rabdi (sweetened evaporated milk) and topped with nuts. Shahi Tukda can be served warm or chilled. As the dessert is very rich in both taste and calories, it is meant for special occasions and festivals.

My first encounter with this royal dish was during our 5 year long stay in Hyderabad. Local people there prepare this sweet on every festival. I tasted it for the first time during an Iftar party at one of my colleague's house. That taste still lingers in my mouth. I learnt to make the dish there but hardly made it twice or thrice since then. Kiran and me both are very health conscious and that hold me from making this royal treat quite often in my kitchen.

Double ka meetha is a similar sweet bread pudding but the taste and method of preparation is different. I will share it some other time. Coming to the shahi tukda recipe, i have not deep fried the bread pieces, but toasted them in just 2 tablespoon of ghee instead, to cut down the calories. The bread is air dried for few hours so that it absorbs less ghee and becomes crisp faster. Secondly i made the rabdi one day earlier , so that making this dish was very easy and less time consuming. Click here for the detailed rabdi recipe. The sugar syrup i made was just enough to coat the slices . The slices are coated with the rabdi just before serving , or else the bread becomes soggy.

Short Video of Shahi Tukda

                             

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients for Shahi Tukda

• 4 bread pieces ( you may use white, brown or multigrain bread)
• 1/4 cup sugar for the syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon green cardamom powder
• 1 teaspoon rose water
• Few strands of saffron
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds and pistachios 
• Few dried rose petals for garnishing ( optional)
• 2 tablespoon ghee

Ingredients for Rabdi

• 4 cup full cream milk 
• 3 tablespoon sugar
• 10-12 strands of saffron
• Pinch of crushed green cardamom (optional)

Method:

1. Making Rabdi:

• Bring milk to boil in a wide sauce pan. Once the milk boils, reduce the flame to low. Keep pushing the cream layer towards the sides of the pan. Continue to boil until another layer forms. Push the layer to the side and keep boiling the milk until it is reduced to half. Add sugar and saffron milk and cook for few more minutes. Scrap all the layers of rabadi and mix into the milk. Click here for the detailed rabdi recipe with step wise pictures.

                                    

     

2. Preparing the bread for Shahi Tukda:  Air dry the bread for 2-3 hours. This step is necessary as the soft moist bread from the fridge will absorb more ghee while frying and take more time to be crisp. After air drying , remove the edges of the bread and cut it diagonally . 

3. Spread ghee on both the sides of the bread and pan roast the slices until they become crisp and brown from both sides.

4. Next we will prepare the sugar syrup. For that , take sugar in a pan and add just enough water, to immerse it. Add rose water and boil and bring to 1 string consistency. Add saffron strands and crushed cardamom and put off the flame.

5. Now to assemble the shahi tukda. Immerse the pan toasted bread slices into warm sugar syrup , one after the other and place them on a serving plate. Pour the rabdi over the bread slices and top it with slivered almonds and pistachios and dried rose petals . Serve the shahi tukda warm or chilled.

Recipe Notes:

• You may use white bread, brown bread or multi grain bread to make shahi tukda.
• Air drying the bread slices for 2-3 hours is necessary as the soft moist bread from the fridge will absorb more ghee while frying and take more time to be crisp.
• Add the rabdi to the sugar coated fried bread slices just before serving.

The shahi Tukda recipe is featured in the #148 #FoodieMondayBlogHop with #EidRecipes as theme. Ramzan Eid is just around the corner and we bloggers at Foodie Monday Blog Hop thought it would be great if we could share some Eid special recipes with our readers to plan for the festival. Here's wishing a very happy and blessed Ramzan Eid to all those who celebrate ! 

If you are looking for more festive recipes to try out this Eid , do check out my following blog posts . (Just click on the highlighted dish name for the link to the recipe)

• Kesar Phirni

                                

• Quick Kalakand

                                

• Sponge Rasgulla

                                

• Sheer Khurma

                               

• Khoya Gulab Jamun

                               

• Gulab Ki Kheer

                                

• Anjeer Khajoor Roll

                                

• Kesar Rabdi