Shahi Tukda is an Indian dessert that can be traced back to the Mughal Kitchens. I have a craving for sweet dishes so every now and then I keep on trying easy desserts at home. We Bengalis have a weird tendency, none of our meal is complete without a dessert. It can be as a piece of chocolate, or a leftover rashogulla, Lalmohan or in a best casehome-made Shahi Tukda. The Holy month of Ramzan is about to end and Shahi Tukda is one such dessert quite common as iftar menu.
The easy Shahi Tukda recipe that I follow is very simple and mild on our health. You need just five ingredients and most of which are readily available in our Kitchen. Ghee, Sugar, Milk, Bread, Cardamom, Bay leaf. That’s it and you easy and quick Shahi Tukda is ready to devour upon.
The Origin of Shahi Tukda
The word “Shahi Tukda” has royal connotations to it. Since it originated during the Mughal reign and was quite a favourite of the Mughal emperors, definitely it must taste royal and grand. The word “Shahi” in Persian means “Royal”, pertaining to the courts of Kings and emperors and “Tukda” means a piece. Coincidentally in Bengali we too call “a piece” as Tukra. The original Shahi Tukda recipe is quite grand and elaborate as the name goes.
There are many stories related to shahi tukda, one such that goes back to Egypt. Many claims that while hunting a Nawab went along the river Nile. He was hungry and stopped by a nearby village for food. There a cook prepared a baked dish consisting of a break, milk, nuts, sugar. The Shahi Tukda can be a distant relative of that dish called a Um Ali. Well, for more you can read this interesting article from where I too read this anecdote.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1075887
I have tried to use only the basic ingredients you need. That which is easily available at hand in our kitchen. And we need not do any prior planning to prepare it at home. The Shahi Tukda is also referred to as Bread Pudding. According to the original recipe of Shahi Tukda, Bread is deep-fried in Ghee and but keeping healthy eating in mind I used another way.
The Shahi Tukda is also popularly related as Hyderabadi Double ka Meetha. In this, the deep-fried bread is immersed in Sugar Syrup and then in Rabri or reduced milk. Many use this step while preparing Shahi Tukda. But IÂ skip this step of immersing in Sugar syrup to avoid too much consumption of sugar. It has absolutely no health benefits. I like the pieces of Bread crisp. Let’s begin with the easy recipe of Shahi Tukda.
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Easy Shahi Tukda Recipe
As I have already mentioned that for the original recipe, you need to fry the pieces of Bread in Ghee. But it can be quite harsh on our health. As I am not much on the favour of consuming too much ghee in my diet. To reduce the effects, what I generally do. I take a small bowl and mix two spoons of ghee with two spoons of refined oil. The basic and main ingredients are as follows-
SERVINGS FOR TWO PEOPLE
INGREDIENTS For Shahi Tukda Recipe
- 6 Pieces of Bread, you can take Brown Bread too.
- Cardamom powder
- one bay leaf
- Â 1/2 litre of Milk
- 4-5 tablespoons of sugar
- Chopped Almonds, Cashew, pistachios or other nuts as per your choice.
- Kesar/ Saffron, if you have ready in your kitchen else you can skip.
METHOD
- First chop off the brown sides of the bread neatly and keep them aside.
I shallow fried it to avoid excess oil. - Take a pan and fry the bread in the hot ghee+refined oil concoction till the bread is crisp or golden brown. I have mentioned above how I mix two teaspoons of ghee with two spoons of refined oil to reduce too much consumption of ghee.
- Take a large non-stick pan, pour half a litre of milk. Keep on stirring the milk occasionally. It will avoid sticking of the milk on the bottom of the pan. You can add half cup condensed milk to it. But this can be skipped if condensed milk is not available at home. Rather you can use 4-5 spoons of sugar or as per your taste requirement.
- Add the bay leaf and the cardamom powder. I love the combined aroma of bay leaf and cardamom powder. Reduce the flame to medium and you will notice how cream will keep on forming over the milk.
- After 10-15 minute you will notice that the milk had reduced to one-third. You can add the chopped nuts to it. Thus your rabri is ready.
- Next, take a plate or serving tray and place the fried bread pieces one upon the other. And pour the rabri all over the bread. The bread will soak in the rabri yet retaining its crispiness.
- In another way, you can pour the rabri on a serving try and then place the fried bread pieces over it. Any way you serve it, the taste of this quick and easy Shahi Tukda is simply divine.
This quarantine I am trying to make all the easy recipes with whatever basic ingredients I have at home. We don’t need luxury at this moment.
There are many alternatives to prepare a dish so grand. Cooking is a great therapy for our mind and spirit. During this lockdown, I got stuck all alone at home so most of the time I am making good use of my time trying simple yet delicious recipes.
Trust me it has great therapeutic effects on your health. This is indeed a crucial time and along with our physical health, we do need to look after our mental health.
When we have sudden guests at home and we have nothing in stock to serve them with tea. You can make use of this easy shahi tukda recipe and present in front of your guests.
It is also a popularly prepared dessert at weddings and parties. I hope you shall definitely try making Shahi Tukda at home with my easy Shahi Tukda Recipe.
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