Shahi Tukda
Shahi tukda is a super-rich Mughalai dessert that is prepared by frying the bread slices in the ghee, soaking in sugar syrup, then topping it with thick rabri and garnished with chopped nuts.
The traditional method will take around 1.5 hours to prepare while my quick version of Instant shahi tukda gets ready in under 30 minutes.
What is Shahi Tukda?
- If you literally translate it then shahi means ‘royal’ and tukda (or tukra) means ‘a piece’.
- So shahi tukda means a royal piece of dessert that is rich in taste, flavor, aroma and calories.
- A bite of this shahi tukda dessert will give you the royal feel and taste in your mouth.
- As a super-rich dessert, shahi tukda is usually made during festive seasons, as an iftar meal during Ramadan month gatherings, parties, or celebrations.
How Shahi Tukda Is Made?
There are three steps and assembling part.
- Making rabri: Milk is slowly reduced on low flame until super thick and sweetened with sugar. This process takes time, as you have to stir the milk very often while reducing it.
- Deep-frying bread: Bread slices are cut into small triangles and deep fried into the ghee until golden brown and crisp, crunchy. To cut back on the calories, you can shallow-fry or air-fry bread.
- Making sugar syrup: One thread sugar syrup (ek taar chasni) is made by cooking sugar and water. It is important to make 1-thread syrup otherwise syrup won’t coat the fried bread. This syrup is flavored with rose water and cardamom powder.
- Assembling and garnishing shahi tukda: Once the above three elements are ready the assembly of the dessert is done right before serving. Fried bread is dipped into the sugar syrup and arranged on the platter. Then thick rabdi is poured on the sugar-coated bread slices. Finally, shahi tukda is garnished with nuts, sometimes dried rose petals.
❤️ You’ll Love This Shahi Tukda Recipe
- Quick to make: Compared to the traditional method, my recipe of shahi tukra is super quick and takes under 30 minutes only (that feeds the crowd – 12 servings).
- When it comes to the original shahi tukda method it takes most of the cooking time (about an hour or more) in making rabdi.
- Instead, we are using ricotta cheese and condensed milk to make a quick rabdi or rabri that takes just 10 minutes. Such a time-saver!!
- Slightly less in calories: Traditionally bread slices are deep-fried in the ghee until crisp. Here, I have shallow fried bread pieces in the ghee which requires a way less amount of ghee.
- Not compromising the taste & flavor: Even though we are making quick rabdi and shallow-frying the bread, the flavor, taste, texture and richness are not compromised at all.
🧾 Ingredient Notes
Here is the pic of the ingredients you’ll need to make an instant version of shahi tukda recipe.
- Ricotta cheese: Highly recommend using whole milk ricotta which gives rabdi its characteristic texture (danedar, lachhedar aka grainy texture).
- Sweetened condensed milk: It adds richness and creaminess along with sweetness to the rabri.
- Milk: It is used to give a slight runny consistency.
- Saffron: It adds a slight color and flavor to the rabdi.
- Rose water and cardamom: These two are added in rabdi as well as sugar syrup for flavor and aroma.
- Bread slices: Traditionally white bread is used. But you can use brown bread too. Make sure to use 1-2 days old/stale bread.
- Ghee: It is used to shallow-fry bread slices. You’ll need more quantity if you’re choosing the deep-frying route.
👩🍳 How To Make Shahi Tukda? (Stepwise)
Make Rabri:
1) Warm up the milk in a microwave or stovetop. Add crushed saffron to it.
2) Mix and keep it aside. While resting saffron will release its color and flavor.
3) Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee in a pan on medium heat.
4) Once hot add ricotta cheese.
5) Start mixing and cooking with stirring constantly. As it is heating up, it will melt and becomes runny.
6) Continue cooking with stirring for about 5 minutes.
7) Add condensed milk and saffron milk.
8) Mix well and simmer for 3-5 minutes with stirring constantly to avoid sticking to the bottom and sides of the pan.
9) Simmer until it becomes thick and coat the spoon. Keep in mind that it becomes thicker as it cools down. So always keep it slightly thin and runny.
10) Turn off the stove and add cardamom powder, rose water and chopped almonds, pistachios.
11) Mix well and let it cool down.
Fry Bread Slices:
1) Keep the bread slices on a wire rack and let them dry out for 30 minutes to 1 hour. So do this step first, then start prepping the rest ingredients and make rabdi. Dried-out bread will absorb less amount of ghee.
2) Trim the edges of the bread and cut diagonally to make 4 triangle pieces from one bread slice. Repeat the same for the rest.
3) Heat around 2 tablespoons of ghee in a wide, shallow pan. Once hot place bread slices in a single layer.
4) Fry until golden brown from the bottom, flip and fry another side until golden and crisp. Remove it to a plate and repeat the shallow frying rest of the bread. Keep adding a tablespoon or two or more ghee as needed while frying.
Make Sugar Syrup:
1) Take sugar and water in a saucepan and turn the heat on medium.
2) Let the syrup simmer and cook.
3) Simmer until it reaches one thread consistency (ek tar chasni). If you’re checking with a candy thermometer then it should reach 220 F (104 C). As soon as it reaches the temp, turn off the stove.
4) You can check the thread consistency using the old-fashioned method. Take a drop or two of syrup on a plate, let it cool down to touch, take that drop between your thumb and forefinger, rub a couple of times and as your separate both you’ll notice a single thread is forming and it stays like that for some time. If the thread breaks quickly then cook syrup a little longer and check again.
5) Once it reaches single thread consistency, turn off the stove. Add cardamom powder and rose water.
6) Stir well. NOTE: If syrup cools down or crystalizes then add a tablespoon of water, and reheat until liquid and warm.
Shahi Tukda Elements:
You have all three elements (rabdi, sugar syrup and fried bread) for assembling shahi tukda and chopped nuts ready for garnishing.
Assemble:
1) Take a slice of bread, and add to the syrup.
2) Flip and coat both sides with warm sugar syrup. Take it out using a fork and let the excess syrup drip, and place it on the serving platter or plate. Repeat the same for the remaining bread.
NOTE:
– Soak the bread into syrup for 5-10 seconds only for crispy bread texture.
– Soak the bread into syrup for 10-15 seconds for soft texture bread in your shahi tukda.
3) Pour the rabdi on top.
4) Sprinkle chopped nut and saffron for garnishing shahi tukday.
💭 Expert Tips For Making Shahi Tukda
- Use 1-2 days old stale bread slices as dried-out bread absorbs less ghee while frying.
- Also, let the bread dry out even more on a wire rack for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Remember less moisture in the bread, the less ghee the bread will absorb.
- Sugar syrup must have one thread consistency.
- If it’s runny and thin then the bread will absorb the syrup and it makes the soft, soggy bread.
- If it’s over/more than one thread and becomes too thick then it will harden like candy as it cools.
- Rabri has to be thick yet runny consistency. As it cools down and if it becomes too thick then add a splash of warm milk and mix until it gets desired consistency.
- Soft texture or Crispy Bread in your shahi tukda?
- For soft bread, soak the fried bread in warm syrup for 15-20 seconds.
- For crisp bread, just dip the bread on both sides in the syrup and remove it right away.
🍽 Storage & Serving
- Make Ahead shahi tukda: You can prepare all three elements ahead of time (earlier in the day or only rabdi a day before) and keep them ready. Right before (or an hour before) serving, toast the bread in the oven if it got soft, warm up the syrup and assemble shahi tukda.
- Storage: As you store this dessert in the fridge or the container, the bread will become soft and chewy.
- Garnish: For parties or guests, some people like to decorate it with silver foil (varak) and lots of nuts.
- Serving warm or cold: It is a personal preference. You can drizzle warm, cold or room temperature rabdi on top of sugar-coated bread slices. I prefer warm or room temperature (not chilled rabdi).
Did you try this instant shahi tukda recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a review in the comment section below.
Shahi Tukda Recipe
US measuring cups are used (1 cup = 240 ml)
Ingredients
For Instant Rabdi:
- 2 cups Milk, Full fat whole milk
- 6-7 strands Saffron, crushed
- 1 tablespoon Ghee (clarified butter)
- 15 oz Ricotta cheese, whole milk
- 14 oz Sweetened condensed milk
- ½ teaspoon Cardamom powder
- 1 teaspoon Rose water
- 4 tablespoons Nuts, Almonds and Pistachios sliced
For Sugar Syrup:
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 cup Water
- ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder
- 1 teaspoon Rose water
For Frying Bread & Garnishing:
- 12 slices Bread
- 8-10 tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter), for shallow frying
- 4-6 tablespoons Nuts, Almonds and Pistachios sliced
- Few strands Saffron, for garnishing
Instructions
Make Rabri:
- Warm up the milk in a microwave or stovetop. Add crushed saffron to it. Mix and keep it aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee in a pan on medium heat. Once hot add ricotta cheese.
- Start mixing and cooking with stirring constantly for 5 minutes. As it is heating up, it will melt and becomes runny.
- Add condensed milk and saffron milk. Mix well and simmer for 3-5 minutes stirring constantly until it becomes thick and coats the spoon. Keep stirring while cooking to avoid sticking to the bottom and sides of the pan.
- Turn off the stove and add cardamom powder, rose water and chopped almonds, pistachios. Mix well and let it cool down.
Fry Bread Slices:
- Keep the bread slices on a wire rack and let them dry out for 30 minutes to 1 hour. So do this step first, then start prepping the rest ingredients and make rabdi. Dried-out bread will absorb less amount of ghee.
- Trim the edges of the bread and cut diagonally to make 4 triangle pieces from one bread slice. Repeat the same for the rest.
- Heat around 2 tablespoons of ghee in a wide, shallow pan. Once hot place bread slices in a single layer.
- Fry until golden brown from the bottom, flip and fry another side until golden and crisp. Remove it to a plate and repeat the shallow frying rest of the bread. Keep adding a tablespoon or two or more ghee as needed while frying.
Make Sugar Syrup:
- Take sugar and water in a saucepan and turn the heat on medium. Let the syrup simmer and cook.
- Simmer until it reaches one thread consistency (ek tar chasni). If you’re checking with a candy thermometer then it should reach 220 F (104 C). As soon as it reaches the temp, turn off the stove.
- You can check the thread consistency using the old-fashioned method. Take a drop or two of syrup on a plate, let it cool down to touch, take that drop between your thumb and forefinger, rub a couple of times and as your separate both you’ll notice a single thread is forming and it stays like that for some time. If the thread breaks quickly then cook syrup a little longer and check again.
- Once it reaches single thread consistency, turn off the stove. Add cardamom powder and rose water. Stir well.
- NOTE: If syrup cools down or crystallizes then add a tablespoon of water, and reheat until liquid and warm.
Assemble:
- Take a slice of bread, and add to the syrup. Flip and coat both sides with warm sugar syrup. Take it out using a fork and let the excess syrup drip, and place it on the serving platter or plate. Repeat the same for the remaining bread.
- Pour the rabdi on top.
- Garnish with chopped nut and saffron.
Notes
- Use 1-2 days old stale bread slices as dried-out bread absorbs less ghee while frying.
- Also, let the bread dry out even more on a wire rack for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Remember less moisture in the bread, the less ghee the bread will absorb.
- Sugar syrup must have one thread consistency. If it’s runny and thin then the bread will absorb the syrup and it makes the soft, soggy bread. If it’s over/more than one thread and becomes too thick then it will harden like candy as it cools.
- Rabri has to be thick yet runny consistency. As it cools down and if it becomes too thick then add a splash of warm milk and mix until it gets desired consistency.
- For soft bread, soak the fried bread in warm syrup for 15-20 seconds.
- For crisp bread, just dip the bread on both sides in the syrup and remove it right away.
