• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • Category Index
  • How To

Indian Ambrosia

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Category
  • Recipe Collections
  • Chicken
  • Vegetarian
  • Subscribe
  • Instant Pot
  • Quick & Easy
  • What's New
  • About
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Category
    • Recipe Collections
    • Chicken
    • Vegetarian
    • Subscribe
    • Instant Pot
    • Quick & Easy
    • What's New
    • About
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    You are here: Home » Desserts

    Published: Nov 10, 2021 · Modified: Jun 11, 2022 by Saima · This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases · This blog generates income via ads.

    Shahi Tukray (Double ka Meetha)

    63 shares
    Jump to Recipe
    Shahi Tukray on a plate.

    Shahi Tukray is an utterly decadent and droolworthy dessert fit for feasts. It is made with bread slices fried in ghee and soaked twice: first in a sugar syrup called chashni and then in saffron milk thickened with cream. A topping of almonds, pistachios and rose petals makes it truly royal!

    Shahi tukda in a plate with spoon.

    Shahi tukray or shahi tukra is an indescribably sweet and rich dessert from the subcontinent. It's right at the top when it comes to classic desserts that are made on special occasions, but when you do make it, people will be oohing and aahing over it. It's just that good!

    So what do the words mean exactly? For the uninitiated, shahi tukray can be literally translated to 'royal pieces (of bread).' In Hyderabad, a southern city in India, people sometimes refer to it more prosaically as double ka meetha. However, there are subtle differences. In the latter, the bread is not soaked in syrup first; rather, it is directly added to sweet and thick milk called rabri. In my recipe, we are going to soak the bread in syrup first. That's just how I make it.

    Ingredients

    Note: exact amounts are mentioned in the recipe card further down.

    • Whole fresh milk
    • Heavy cream
    • Green cardamom seeds (freshly ground into a powder)
    • Saffron - use good quality saffron only for the best taste and color.
    • Kewra water or rose water - kewra water is the extract of pandanus flowers and is very fragrant. It is available in Indian or Pakistani groceries, but if you don't have the time to pay a visit, go ahead and use rose water instead.
    • White sugar
    • Water
    • White bread slices
    • Ghee
    • Almonds and pistachios (unsalted and chopped or slivered)
    • Dried rose petals (optional) - these add a nice festive touch and a subtle fragrance to the dessert. Available in most Indian or Pakistani groceries.
    Shahi tukda on a plate with a spoon

    Instructions

    Time needed: 50 minutes

    How to make shahi tukre

    1. Cook the milk and cream to make a sauce

    • Pour the milk and cream in a saucepan and add the cardamom and saffron strands. Cook this mixture on medium heat for 25-30 minutes, taking care that it doesn't boil over. Remove the saucepan from the heat when the milk has thickened. Add a few drops of kewra water or rose water.
    • Many recipes skip this step and use condensed milk. It’s the easiest thing in the world to open a can of condensed milk, and you can even avoid making the sugar syrup this way. But really, if you take the easy way out, this dessert will never be as rich or delicious as it is when you take the trouble to slow cook the milk and cream.

    2. Make the sugar syrup

    • Take another saucepan and add the water and sugar. Cook for 10 minutes or until the syrup has thickened slightly but not caramelized.

    3. Fry the bread in ghee

    • Take a slice of bread and and trim the edges with a sharp knife. Now, cut it diagonally to get two triangles. Repeat with all the slices of bread.
    • Heat half the ghee in a large frypan and slide in the bread triangles. Fry for a few seconds or until deep golden on one side.
    • Flip and add the remaining ghee and fry until the other sides turn golden brown too. Remove the bread onto a platter.

    4. Assemble the shahi tukray

    • Now comes the fun part. Dip each slice of bread in the sugar syrup and allow the bread to soak up the syrup for a few minutes.
    • Arrange the syrup-soaked bread in the platter or dish that you want to serve the shahi tukray in.
    • Pour the milk and cream sauce that you had prepared in the first step all over the bread slices.
    • Top up with the slivered nuts (almonds and pistachios) and decorate the shahi tukray with rose petals if using. This beautiful and decadent dessert is ready to be served!
    Shahi Tukray (Indian Bread Pudding) in a plate.

    Top tips

    • Avoid using freshly baked bread for this recipe. It's best to use slightly stale white bread that's been sitting in the fridge for one or two days. Makes cutting the bread easier. Also, dry bread absorbs the sugar syrup and milk better.
    • You can make the sugar syrup at the same time as the milk and cream are cooking to save time.
    • Traditionally, the bread for shahi tukda is deep-fried in ghee and uses up a hefty amount of ghee. I shallow-fried the slices in my recipe (approximately one teaspoon for every bread triangle), but you can control the amount of ghee you use up even further with this trick: don't add the ghee to the frypan first. Instead, spread it with a butter knife on the slices of bread before frying them.
    • Peel the cardamom and grind the seeds in a mortar and pestle or a dry spice grinder for maximum flavor. The pre-ground cardamom powder on supermarket shelves is pretty useless! It does not do anything at all for this dish.
    • Good quality saffron adds a lot of color to the dish. It also has a warm, distinctive taste all its own. A word of caution here. Don't go overboard with the saffron as too much of it can easily overpower the dish. Less is more and 8-10 strands will be enough.
    Shahi Tukray (Indian bread  pudding) in a plate.

    How to serve shahi tukray

    Shahi tukray can be served warm if you have just made the dish and want to serve it immediately. It can also be kept in the refrigerator for a few hours and served chilled. Tastes good both ways.

    Tip: You might want to save a little sauce (milk and cream) if you are planning on refrigerating the platter. The sauce can be used to pour over the bread pieces when you want to eat them as the bread will soak up most of the liquid in the fridge.

    More traditional desserts for you

    • Rasgulla - Soft, spongy, and light-as-air balls dipped in a sweet sugar syrup. Made with chena, a special milk cheese.
    • Rice kheer - A creamy milk pudding made easy in the instant pot.
    • Moong dal halwa - Another easy version of a rich and delicious Indian dessert made with cooked and mashed moong lentils, ghee and sugar.  
    • Carrot halwa - A bright orange halwa made with fresh grated carrots and the usual suspects: milk, ghee, and sugar.
    • Sweet potato kheer - kheer made with mashed sweet potatoes, what else?! It's just yum!
    Shahi Tukray in a plate with a spoon.

    Shahi Tukray

    Saima Zaidi
    Shahi Tukray is an utterly decadent and drool worthy dessert fit for feasts. It is made with bread slices fried in ghee and soaked twice: first in a sugar syrup called chashni and then in saffron milk thickened with cream. A topping of almonds, pistachios and rose petals makes it truly royal!
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Cook Time 50 mins
    Total Time 50 mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine Indian
    Servings 6
    Calories 587 kcal

    Equipment

    • Two saucepans
    • Large frypan
    • Mortar and pestle or spice grinder

    Ingredients
     
     

    • 1 cup milk
    • 2 cups heavy cream
    • ¼ teaspoon saffron
    • ½ teaspoon green cardamom seeds ground into a powder
    • 1 tablespoon kewra water or rose water
    • ½ cup sugar white
    • ½ cup water tap
    • ½ cup ghee
    • 6 slices bread white
    • 1 tablespoon almonds raw, slivered
    • 1 tablespoon pistachios raw, slivered
    • 1 tbsp rose petals dried

    Instructions
     

    • Pour the milk and cream in a saucepan and add the saffron and cardamom. Cook this mixture on medium heat for 25-30 minutes, taking care that it doesn't boil over. Remove the saucepan from the heat when the milk has thickened. Add a few drops of kewra water or rose water. 
    • Take another saucepan and add the water and sugar. Cook for 10 minutes or until the syrup has thickened slightly but not caramelized. 
    • Take a slice of bread and trim the edges with a sharp knife. Now, cut it diagonally to get two triangles. Repeat with all the slices. Heat half the ghee in a frypan and slide in the bread. Fry for a few seconds or until golden brown on one side. Flip and add the remaining ghee and fry until the other sides turn golden brown too. Remove the bread onto a platter. 
    • Arrange the syrup-soaked bread in the platter or dish that you want to serve the shahi tukray in. Pour the milk and cream sauce that you had prepared in the first step all over the bread slices.
    • Top up the Shahi Tukray with the slivered nuts (almonds and pistachios) and sprinkle the dried rose petals if using.

    Notes

    1. Avoid using freshly baked bread for this recipe. It's best to use slightly stale white bread that's been sitting in the fridge for one or two days. Makes cutting the bread easier. Also, dry bread absorbs the sugar syrup and milk better.
    2. You can make the sugar syrup at the same time as the milk and cream are cooking to save time.
    3. You can control the amount of ghee you use by spreading it with a butter knife on the slices of bread before frying them.
    4. Peel the cardamom and grind the seeds in a mortar and pestle or a dry spice grinder for maximum flavor. 
    5. Don't go overboard with the saffron as too much of it can easily overpower the dish. 
    6. Kewra water is the clear, fragrant extract of pandanus flowers. Rose water can be a substitute. 
    7. Shahi tukray tastes great cold too. If you prefer a chilled dessert, keep the platter in the refrigerator for an hour or two and serve.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1bread sliceCalories: 587kcalCarbohydrates: 35gProtein: 6gFat: 48gSaturated Fat: 29gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 151mgSodium: 194mgPotassium: 191mgFiber: 2gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 1238IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 143mgIron: 1mg
    Keyword double ka meetha, Indian bread pudding, shahi tukda
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
    « Boneless Chicken Handi Recipe
    Hariyali Paneer Tikka »
    63 shares

    Reader Interactions

    Thanks for coming! Let me know what you think: Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    headshot of Saima

    Hi, I'm Saima! I live in Alberta, Canada with my husband and twin boys. Here, you'll find Indian recipes with fresh, natural ingredients and easy, no-fuss cooking techniques. Welcome to my blog!

    More about me →

    Popular Posts

    • chicken malai tikka skewers on a plate with green chutney and roti on the side
      Chicken Malai Tikka
    • pooris on a checkered red and white cloth in a red basket
      Crispy and Fluffy Puri Recipe (Fried Indian Poori Bread)
    • lamb karahi gosht in a bowl with roti on the side and two green chillies
      Lamb Karahi Gosht (Indian Lamb Curry)
    • beetroot sabzi in a bowl with naan and green chillies on the side
      Beetroot Sabzi (Chukandar Sabzi)

    Web Stories

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy

    Newsletter

    • Subscribe for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2021 Indian Ambrosia

    Indian Ambrosia uses cookies to improve your experience. If you continue to use this site, we will assume you're okay with the terms:) GOT IT Read More
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    SAVE & ACCEPT