Shahi Tukda - A Royal Mughlai / Indian bread pudding

Shahi Tukda is a very famous Hyderabadi dish and is a very simple, but rich dessert. It is great for a large dinner party like Iftar as the recipe can be easily multiplied to make more. Shahi means Royal and tukda means piece. This piece of Royal Mughlai cuisine takes a lot of time if prepared in the traditional way but the taste is so yummy that we can endure the effort.:-

Preparation Time: - 1 hr.

Cooking Time: - 30 min

Servings: - 2~3 persons

Ingredients:- 

For frying bread pieces

1. 4 pieces or approximate 50 gm. of White Sandwich Bread. You can use whole wheat bread as well if you are health conscious
2. 1½ tbsp. Ghee or clarified butter

To make Sugar syrup

3. 1/3 cup Sugar
4. 1/6 cup water
5. 3 pods of Green Cardamom or 1 tsp Kewara Jal ( Rose water) or a drop of rose essence

To make Rabri

6. 3 cup Full Cream Milk
7. 2 tbsp milk powder (optional) or 2 tbsp Corn Flour
8. ¼ tsp Cardamom Powder
9. 1 tsp Rose or Kewara (pandanus water) water or a drop of Kewara essence or Rose essence
10. Pinch of Saffron

For Garnishing

11. 8 ~10 Almonds
12. Few strands of Kesar (Saffron) (optional)
13. 5~6 nos. Pistachios – blanched and sliced
    

Preparation:-

Preparing the garnishing of dry fruits

1. We need to peel the almonds and pistachios now. For that put the almonds in warm water for 5 min.
2. Now put the almonds in cold water and after few seconds peel them. The hot-cold treatment will make the peeling easier. Break the pistachios, blanch and slice them. Keep both the dry fruits aside.

Preparation of Rabri (condensed Milk)

3. Take a broad thick bottomed wok or Kadai to boil milk.
   
4. On boiling reduce the flame and stir continuously. Collect the thick cream / Malai from the top and mix again in milk. Scrape the sides of the vessel as it gathers the thickened milk.
   
5. After about 10 minutes of such operation introduce milk powder. This would reduce the time to make Rabri. Otherwise simmering time will be more. You can use corn flour here as well but mawa or milk powder can enhance the taste. This is how Shahi tukda is made in Jumma Masjid.
   
6. Continuous stirring, collecting malai, putting it back and scraping sides of the vessel to prevent burning should continue for about half an hour. This would have been 1 hour if you do not use milk powder or corn flour. The Rabri needs to be real thick for the Shahi Tukda to be a yummy. Mughlai dishes take a lot of effort to make but the taste is worth it.
7. Next add the saffron strands, crushed cardamom or cardamom powder and kewara water or rose water or drop of rose essence. Stir to mix properly and keep aside.

Preparing sugar syrup

8. Take a bowl and heat the water in low flame with sugar to make the sugar syrup.
9. Crush the pods of cardamom with the help of pestle & mortar. Remove the husk and add with the sugar syrup.
10. When sugar gets dissolved fully switch off the flame and keep aside.
    

Shallow fry the bread pieces

11. Slice the bread into Triangular shapes. You can make rectangular or square shapes as well but I prefer triangle.
12. Heat Ghee in a tawa or frying pan.
13. Toast the bread pieces in Ghee in medium or low flame.
14. Once the color of one side is golden brown flip the bread to toast on both sides.
15. Drain the excess Ghee of the bread slices in paper towel. Keep aside.
    

Final steps for preparing Shahi Tukda

16. Dip the bread slices in sugar syrup. Push them with a spoon so that the syrup is evenly soaked by the bread slices.
17. Arrange the soaked slices in a plate neatly.
18. Pour the Rabri on the bread slices.
19. Garnish the tukdas with almond and pistachios. Optionally add strands of Kesar (Saffron)
    

Now your Rich Royal Tukdas are ready to serve. You can consume it hot or cold after refrigeration. When the deliciously sweet bread pieces will melt smoothly in your mouth you will feel the Royal in you.

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