Savoury Bread Pudding In Flavored Milk (Double Ka Meetha)

Hyderabad - the beautiful city in India, home to many a stalwarts, sportspeople, politicians, film stars has a rich cultural heritage, an equally rich cuisine and history of traditional recipes passed on from generation to generation. The tall gigantic work of architecture at Charminar, beautiful robust fort of Golconda, the bustling markets of Secunderabad selling the best shiny white Hyderabad Pearls all form a part of distinct Hyderabad identity. Hyderabadi recipes pack a medley of flavours and tastes which have an origin and uniqueness of their own. Nothing to beat the authentic flavours of this land.

My observation is that Hyderabadi cuisine in its own way makes abundant use of exotic and ancient spices and condiments along with the ones which have a regular space in our kitchen. Few dishes which form a greater portion of Hyderabad's culinary identity are Hyderabadi Biryani with the famous 'Potli' masala, Haleem, Khubaani Ka Meetha, Double Ka Meetha, Mirchi Ka Salan. The famous dessert dish from Hyderabad is Double Ka Meetha, also called as Bread Ka Meetha. 'Double' is a derivative from the 'Double Bread' which signifies Bread or Pav. 'Meetha' is a hindi word for sweet. Slices of bread soaked in flavoured milk, garnished with toasted nuts equals heavenly delight. Easy to make dish, tastes good with all the flavours mixing in.

Happy Easter!! Crack your egg and have fun....

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

Milk Bread or White Bread slice - 6-8

Sugar - 1 cup ~ adjust as per taste

Whole Milk - 4 cups

Ghee - For frying bread

MTR Badam powder or Crushed Almond Powder - 1 tablespoon

Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon

For garnishing -

Pistachio - 1/4th cup

Slivered Almonds - 1/4th cup

Saffron - Few strands

Method:

Boil 3 cups of milk with sugar and reduce to 1/2 the consistency in a non-stick deep dish pan. Add MTR badam powder and the consistency would come to a thick one. This whole process takes around 30-40 minutes. Keep stirring the milk occasionally to avoid milk sticking at the bottom of the vessel. Keep aside.

Cut bread slices into triangles. Remove the brown edges. On a frying pan, pan-fry bread slices with ghee till they are firm and well done. Transfer to a large serving pan. Place the fried bread. Pour the flavoured milk over the bread. Garnish with lightly toasted nuts of choice and few Saffron strands. Allow to cool for some time. Cover the pan with foil. Chill in refrigerator for 1-2 hours before serving.

Suggestion: For best taste use Milk Bread, if not White Bread also works well.