Shahi Tukda

What is Shahi Tukda? The word ‘shahi’ means royal and tukda or tukra means ‘a piece’ so this is a Royal Piece that is rich in taste, aroma, flavour and even calories! 🤣 Imagine ghee-fried white bread soaked in sugar syrup and topped with Rabdi, reduced sweetened milk flavoured with saffron and other great aromatic ingredients.

I get intimidated to try anything tagged "Royal", because I believe it would involve a long strenuous process and unaffordable ingredients! But this is so much simpler and easier just like rava kesari or qubbani ka meetha. You will agree by the end of this post...

My earliest memory of making shahi tukda was during the home science class in 6th or 7th grade ( I don't remember which one 😐. Yes, we had cooking and stitching classes while the boys were sent for NCC practice! 🙄

This was my first attempt at making Shahi Tukda and I don't think I will make this again anytime soon unless I have a crowd to feed. I had made this as part of the Hyderabadi-themed lunch I hosted for my two friends. Before you think I am so talented and all... let me tell you, I am a nervous wreck when I have to host so to build my confidence I invited them a week before the date and worked through each course over the days. Alhamdulillah, it was great!

Rabdi vs Basundi

I knew that Shahi Tukda had fried bread, sugar syrup and some kind of reduced milk. I learnt that it is Rabri or Rabdi. But the texture of the reduced milk was different in every other image which got me to research more just for knowledge. I came across the word Basundi which is a thinner version of Rabdi. Now, I am not sure what stage my full-fat milk reached as it reduced a lot more than half but never got creamy as some pictures showed. But the aroma and the taste was indeed royal! So how to make Shahi Tukda?

Ingredients

You will need these ingredients to make shahi tukda. You may add choice garnishing items before serving.

• full-fat milk
• sugar
• saffron
• cardamom pods  
• rose water
• white bread slices
• ghee

How to make?

I first prepared the Rabdi /Rabri as it takes the longest time. You may use condensed milk to make it quicker but I chose not to even though I had a can. facepalm. But next time I would just spare myself some stress and use it. 😛 You got to boil and simmer the full-fat milk until it reduces to half and has a creamy texture. I flavoured the rabdi with saffron, cardamom, rose water and some slivered pistachios. You may make this a day ahead and refrigerate it.

Next, I prepared the sugar syrup. There is no requirement of any particular consistency here! What a relief! So just boil until sugar dissolves and boil some more. You may flavour this one too with cardamom.

Thirdly, prepare the fried bread pieces. I cut one slice into four triangles to have bite-sized pieces that will be easy to fry and eat. Fry the pieces in ghee which is one of the "Royal" elements of the dish. I chose to dip the fried bread into the syrup as and when I fried it. It is good practice to keep the syrup and the fried bread pieces warm. This will help the bread to absorb the syrup quickly and evenly.

Finally, plate them just before the serving time. Arrange the fried bread pieces, pour the chilled Rabdi all over and garnish with rose petals and pistachios.

Easy right? Exactly!

Make ahead

You can make the rabdi and sugar syrup a day ahead and fry th bread on the day of serving. As mentioned earlier, Shahi Tukda is best to serve during festivals and holidays like Eid and Diwali.

I am not very happy with the photos because I was not comfortable doing all the jingbang of the photo set up with the guest at home. So InshaAllah, I hope to make it again with step pics and better Shahi Tukda pics 😛

📖 Recipe

Print Recipe

Shahi Tukda

Shahi Tukda - Ghee fried bread soaked in sugar syrup and topped with rabdi, sweetened reduced milk flavoured with saffron, cardamom and rose water.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time1 hr

Total Time1 hr 10 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Indian, Mughali

Keyword: Indian sweets recipe, shahi tukda recipe

Servings: 6 12-24 pieces

Author: Famidha Ashraf

Ingredients

For Rabdi (flavoured sweetened condensed milk)

• 1 litre full-fat milk
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 pinches saffron crushed and soaked in warm milk
• 3 green cardamom
• 1 teaspoon rose water
• 1 tablespoon slivered pistachios

For sugar syrup

• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup water
• 1 green cardamom

For Tukda

• 6 slices plain white milk bread sides removed and cut into 2 or 4 triangle to make 12 or 24 pieces
• ghee to shallow fry

To garnish and serve

• slivered pistachios
• dried rose petals

Instructions

Prepare the Rabdi

• Add milk to a heavy-bottomed pot and bring it to a boil on medium to high flame.
• Reduce the flame and simmer until the milk is reduced to a little more than half its quantity.
• Add saffron, cardamom, and sugar and keep simmering the rabdi until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
• Stir in the rose water and switch off.
• Let it cool completely before you add the pistachios.
• Refrigerate until needed.

Prepare the sugar syrup

• Add the sugar and water to a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
• Add the cardamom pod and simmer for another 5 to 8 minutes.
• Keep it warm to dip the pieces of fried bread.

Prepare the Tukras

• Heat ghee in a shallow pan on medium flame.
• Fry the cut bread slices turning sides until golden and crisp on both sides (be careful as it can burn quick).
• Dip the fried bread pieces into the warm syrup for less than 30 seconds.
• Remove and arrange them on the serving plate.

Serve Shahi Tukda

• Pour the chilled rabdi all over the fried bread pieces.
• Garnish with more nuts and rose petals. Serve immediately.