The perfect shahi tukrha: This ain't no bread pudding

It was listed in the menu and we made the mistake of ordering it. What appeared — after much fanfare — was a toasted piece of bread made soggy in parts by simmering half heartedly in milk aspiring to be rabarhi. And neither the raisins nor slivered almond and pistachio redeemed the poor thing. It was cloyingly sweet and the silver leaf was missing.

We looked askance and the waiter, sensing something was wrong, reassured us that it was the hottest selling dessert in this mughlai eatery. This was cold comfort for us as we returned home lamenting the loss of one more noble delicacy from our priceless culinary inheritance.

Shahi tukrha shouldn’t be confused with the slightly upmarket version of bread-and-milk pudding or the popular double ka meetha from Hyderabad. And any upstart appropriating the name should be immediately exposed. Toasting the bread on health grounds is unacceptable, as is using condensed milk blended with clotted cream as a substitute for the topping.

Good friend Jiggs Kalra had once tried to create a next-gen shahi tukrha by alternating slices of brioche bread with pineapple and candied ginger slices. The fusion only resulted in confusion.

It’s been almost two decades since I encountered a satisfying shahi tukrha at the Dum Pukht at the Maurya in the Capital. How time flies! Haven’t been there for a while, but do so much hope against hope that they are taking good care of that specimen. But Maurya and its cousins aren’t within everyone’s reach, making the shahi tukrha a delicacy reserved for privileged palates.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered some years ago that the original – and true — shahi tukrha has nothing to do with bread but is fashioned out of a layered square of baalai (clotted cream). The same stuff they use to make baalai ki gilori in Lucknow and in malaai ka poorha. Cooking this, however, requires extreme culinary skills to control the heat on the stove. The only time I have had the pleasure of tasting this slice of ecstasy when heritage chef Muhammad Farouk showed off his mastery during a cooking trial.

I don’t think one can reclaim the baalai ka tukrha but will be quite content if the bread slice-based shahi tukrha is guaranteed a new lease of life.

The recipe

Ingredients 8-10 slices of bread 2 litres of full cream milk 3 cups sugar ½ tsp green cardamom powder 3 tsp almonds slivered 2 tsp pistachios A few strands of saffron (soaked in rose water) 2-3 silver leaf Ghee to deep fry

Method:

• Trim the slices of bread and shape them in neat circles using a cutter. Heat ghee in a pan and fry till golden-brown.

• Boil milk in a thick bottomed pan and simmer on low heat till it is reduced to ¼ th its original volume. Stir in ½ cup of sugar and sprinkle a few drops of kewara essence or 1 tsp of kewara water. Add cardamom powder.

• Place slices gently in the pan and simmer on very low heat till almost all the milk is absorbed. This requires extreme care as the bread slices may crumble.

• Prepare syrup by dissolving remaining sugar in water (approximately 1 and ½ cup)

• Pour syrup on top and garnish with almonds and pistachios. Add the strands of saffron and drape with silver leaves.

• Enjoy at room temperature or cold.