An easy version of the rich Indian bread pudding, Shahi Tukda…
Since I mention a lot of life developments on my blog, then I guess I have one that I would want to share. Last weekend, we bought in a little kitten. Azza and HD have been behind me since a very long time to get one in but I wasn’t really ready for the same. Finally I gave in, because I feel like I have been telling a no way too many times. My friend was looking for homes for the kittens of her house cats, and I volunteered to pick one. It has been three days in the house and it has been a total different experience having a pet in. I come from a family where we have never had pets nor have we been encouraged to have any. We already have a parrot, Mimmi but she is least interested in any human interaction, to say the least! This is the third Mimmi we have – one flew away when HD opened the cage by mistake and we never found it, the other was given away. We are now wondering whether to give Mimmi away to a house, where she may be a little more at ease.
We named the kitten Ube and realized it is a “she”. HD is a little disappointed that he has a house full of females. 😀 Though I am trying to not get close to her, she keeps coming behind and sticking to me. It may take me time to come around it and get used to it. There are still a lot to be arranged, like getting her to sleep somewhere in the house, which is a big problem as far as I am concerned. Moreover, it is said that our Prophet (SAW) loved cats and had a favorite too. I am hoping I will be fine with it and it will stay on as a member of our household, InShaAllah…
We are in the month of Dhul Hijjah and Eid-ul-Adha is very much round the corner. Usually, the excitement that comes along with Eid-ul-Fitr is not seen with this Eid. Still, it is one of the two big festivals we have in our religion, and hence we need to celebrate it as well as we can. This Eid is celebrated to commemorate our father Ibrahim (AS)’s and his son’s Ismail (AS)’s immense trust and belief in the Qadr of Allah. Last year, we celebrated Eid in the US and it was really nice. Before 2020, we celebrated a few back home. This time, we have no plans to travel and hoping that the summers will be a bit calm and allow us to enjoy a little bit of the outdoors before we cocoon ourselves at home to face the harsh months coming up. While trying to post a dessert recipe during the Eid-ul-Fitr, the Rasmalai Milk Cake won as a clear favorite over this dessert I am posting today and hence waited for its chance to appear on the blog.
Shahi Tukda is a royal bread pudding, dating back to the Nizami era in Hyderabad. A bread base is prepared by frying in ghee and dunking it in sugar syrup, before drenching it in a thick sweet milk mixture. All I am doing her is using mildly sweet rusks instead of the bread and hence cutting down on the deep frying. I skipped the sugar syrup part by dunking the rusks in the milk and then pouring the rich milk mixture to settle in before serving. It is in fact a cheat Shahi Tukda without too much hard work. I find it a lovely dessert to make if you are bound to have guests for lunch on the Eid day. It sticks to being traditional, yet has a little modern take to it too. What are your plans this Eid? I don’t have much plans – I am planning to make some Sheer Kurma for distribution because I had planned to do it during the last Eid and couldn’t, have lunch along with my brother and family, and then basically chill. It feels good to have someone from the family around during such times, Alhamdulillah…
Rusk Shahi Tukda | Easy Shahi Tukda
Ingredients
- 14 pcs rusk I used cardamom rusk
- Ghee for greasing pan
- 1/2 cup milk or more, for dunking
- 1/2 cup toasted mixed nuts crushed, for topping
FOR MILK SAUCE
- 3 cups milk
- 1 can evaporated milk 370 ml
- 1 can condensed milk adjust to sweetness
- A pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
- A fat pinch of saffron crushed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease a baking dish with ghee.
- Dunk the rusks into the milk and line the tray as fairly as you can.
- Whisk together the ingredients for the sauce and bring it to heat. Switch off and pour all over the layered rusk.
- You will see the rusk will start to float above. Using a spatula, press down the rusk to keep it in its position. Just allow the rusk to soak a little of the liquid and stay down.
- Sprinkle the nuts over it and bake for 20 minutes.
- Serve hot or cold, as per liking.