10 Day Durga Puja and Navratri Sweets Special: Desi Bread Pudding

Navratri and Durga Puja call for special Navratri Sweets that not only appeal to your tastebuds but also the sight and all other senses. So stock up on bread or use that pack of stale bread that you can’t just seem to finish during Navratri, courtesy of all the eating out. Remove the crust, fry, and soak them in rabri and chashni and top it with chopped nuts. We are talking about Shahi Tukda, a Mughal delight, and Double ka Meetha, which is tied to Hyderabad. Shahi Tukda tends to be more on the crisp side with a slightly more spice-heavy preparation while Double Ka Meetha is creamy, soggy, and sweeter. Try both of them for yourself!

Shahi Tukda (Serves 4)

Ingredients

• Saffron milk: 5 saffron threads, 45 ml warm milk
• Rabri: 2

  bread slices,475 ml milk,300 gm condensed milk,2 tbsp sugar,¼ tsp cardamom powder

• Sugar syrup: 235 ml water,200 gm white sugar,¼ tsp cardamom powder,Few saffron threads
• Fried bread: 4 bread slices,2 tbsp ghee
• To Garnish: Almond slivers, chopped pistachios, rose petals

Instructions

1. Crush the saffron into a bowl of milk and set aside for 10 minutes for the essence to release.
2. Remove the crusts from two bread slices. Tear into small pieces. Break down in a mixer grinder into fine breadcrumbs. Set aside.
3. Pour milk into a large saucepan and bring to a boil on medium flame. Once it starts bubbling, add condensed milk, sugar and breadcrumbs. Cook while stirring continuously, for 10-12 minutes or until thick.
4. Add saffron milk to the rabri and keep cooking, while stirring, for another two minutes. Add cardamom, mix then take off the heat. Let it cool, then refrigerate for later.
5. Add water and sugar in a small saucepan and heat over low flame, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Add cardamom and saffron, then simmer for four to five minutes until the syrup thickens to a one-string consistency. Test between your fingertips. Set aside and keep warm.
6. Remove crusts from the remaining four bread slices. Cut each slice into two equal rectangles, so you'll get eight rectangles in total. Set aside.
7. Heat ghee in a small frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the bread slices until they are golden brown on both sides. Set aside.
8. Take out the rabri and add it to a shallow bowl. Dip the fried bread in sugar syrup then follow with arranging them in the rabri. Garnish with pistachios, almonds and rose petals.

Double ka Meetha (Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 4 white bread slices
• 60-80 ml ghee, to fry
• 180 ml evaporated milk
• 50-66 gm sugar, adjust to taste
• 80 ml water
• 1 pinch saffron
• 1-3 drops orange or red food color (optional)
• 1 tsp rose water
• 8 cashews
• Optional garnish: 4 almonds, 1 tbsp raisins, 2 tbsp mawa

Instructions

1. You need crustless bread, for this recipe, cut the brown edges off the bread and arrange them on a large tray.
2. Toast bread in an oven or air fryer until the bread slices are a bit dry and moist-free. To toast in an oven, bake at 150°C for three minutes on each side or cook at 160°C for one minute in a preheated air fryer. Place a wired rack over the bread.
3. Let them cool completely and then cut them into five cm pieces.
4. Heat ghee in a small kadai and heat it and when it starts steaming and not too hot, add the bread pieces in batches and deep fry until golden and crisp. Do not over fry and avoid frying at high temperature. Remove them from the kadhai and set them aside to cool.
5. Add a tablespoon of ghee to the kadhai, once heated fry the nuts until pale golden. Add raisins too if you’re using them and fry until they plump up. Put them on another plate.
6. Now, make the sugar syrup by adding sugar, cardamom powder, saffron and water to a pot.
7. Mix and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar, then turn off the heat. Add rose water and food color if you’re using them and keep it aside at room temperature.
8. Now, arrange the fried bread in a single layer in a pan. Pour the sugar syrup all over the fried bread, retaining a little in the pot. Immediately pour the evaporated milk.
9. Turn on the stove to medium heat and cook for two to three minutes, until bubbling hot.
10. Continue to cook on a low heat until you see all of the milk is absorbed and only the syrup is left at the bottom. Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let it rest in the pan for 10 minutes.
11. Your dessert should be soft, and juicy, and melt in the mouth with the bread, holding its shape.
12. Garnish with fried nuts and khoya.