Recipe of a Royal Dessert of Bangladesh- “Shahi Malai Tukra”

I’m a fan of dessert items and often end up making or baking something of this sort. I’ve mostly made chocolate-oriented items like cakes, brownies, tarts, mousses, etc. But this time I came across a dessert item that is very ancient and often made on the eve of festive occasions like Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha, weddings and other big functions, etc.  The term “Shahi Tukra” means royal pieces which are referred to bread puddings and enjoyed as desserts by the Mughal emperors in the ancient times. The dessert is also famous in India and known by the term “Double ka Meetha”.

So when my family and I was invited to a family feast to my uncle’s place, I thought of making this dessert and taking it along. I was a bit nervous because it was my first attempt in making this dish. To my pleasant surprise, everyone loved it! Hence I thought of sharing the recipe with my fellow bloggers here. The recipe is quite simple and requires some key ingredients. I hope you get to make this for your family, regardless of any occasion because a tasty dessert calls for no occasion to be enjoyed!

Ingredients:

6 pieces of bread (cut into half in triangle shapes)

3 pieces of cardamom

1/3 cup of condensed milk

3 table-spoons of Ghee (or clear butter)

Few almonds (toasted in Ghee)

2 cups of milk

1 pinch of saffron

1/2 tea-spoon of rose water

Sugar syrup (made by mixing 1/2 cup of sugar with 1/2 cup of water)

Directions:

First, soak the saffron in a few drops of milk and keep it aside. Take a pan and pour 1 tea-spoon of ghee in it. Toast the pieces of almonds in it by cutting each into half. Make sure to stir only for a few minutes because the almonds get burned quickly. You may place a thin plate/ piece of steel under your pan to prevent excess heat to the almonds.

Next, make the sugar syrup by putting it in a pan with the cardamoms. Keep the heat on medium and keep stirring the syrup till it boils. Keep the stove on till 3-4 minutes after boiling. Do not let the syrup to thicken much.

Now make the Kheer (pudding) of the dessert. Take another pan and pour the milk in it and stir it till it boils. After boiling it, pour the condensed milk and keep stirring till the mixture becomes half of the amount. Now pour the saffron mixture in the milk. Keep stirring more for few minutes. Now drop the almonds and keep stirring for 3-4 minutes. Pour a few drops of rose water in the mixture and mix it well.

Take another pan and pour 3 table-spoons of ghee and toast the bread pieces in it. Lift the toasts and soak each one of these on the sugar syrup that you had made earlier. You do not need to drench the pieces for long, only drench once. Then place the bread pieces on your serving plate and pour the Kheer over it. Now refrigerate the dish for 2-3 hours. Voila!

You can dig into the dessert once it is taken out of the fridge after your meal. It serves 10-12 people. For extra flavor, you may sprinkle some bits and pieces of sweets on the top. It is a very beautiful-looking and delicious dessert that is very easy to make and enjoyed by everyone in the family, from kids to elders. I hope you get to make and enjoy this Bangladeshi dessert!