Food Post #208: Bread Pudding- Hyderabadi Double ka Meetha

If you know me, you know that I am not too much into sweets. Gimme spice, gimme heat, and if you really want to give me something sweet, then I don't mind one of those Godiva dark chocolate bars. Well, and if you want to give me some ice cream, then make sure it has some chocolate, and some nuts, such as Baskin Robbins' Jamoca Almond Fudge. As far as Indian desserts go, I quite like rice kheer, and halwa. I also don't mind rasmalai, and perhaps hot gulab jamun. Oh, and hot jalebi. Oh, and obbattu. And shrikhand. And oh yeah, I like this Hyderabad specialty called double ka meetha- a delicious bread pudding made with deep fried bread, soaked in saffron milk, sugar syrup (or honey), spiced with cardamom, and topped off with some cream, nuts such as pistachio, and almonds, and some edible silver. Sometimes they also add figs to this pudding, and my oh my! It is rich, sweet, and delicious!!  Ahem, okay- so I just completely contradicted myself. Looks like I am not too much into sweets, but then I do like them, a lot of them, in fact, in small doses once in a while.

To start off the new year on a sweet note, I thought why not make some dessert for once? And so I made my own quick version of the regal, rich, sweet double ka meetha. It isn't as rich and decadent as the original recipe, but it sure is delicious. Bonus- it's way healthier.

Total time from start to finish: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 

White bread- 1 or 2 slices per person

Oil for shallow frying- 1-2 tbs per slice, adjust quantity according to number of slices of bread

Water- 1 cup

Sugar- 1/4 cup

*Adjust quantity of sugar according to preference

Cardamom- 2 pods

Saffron- a few strands

Nuts- a small handful. Cashews, almonds, pistachio all work well

Method:

1. Cut bread into desired shape, such as triangles, rectangles, or squares. Shallow fry until golden brown in color. Set aside on paper towel to blot off any excess oil.

2. Mix 1/4 cup of sugar into a cup of water, and bring to boil, stirring frequently. Add cardamom for flavor. Can also add saffron. Heat until the syrup thickens a little bit. It doesn't have to be as thick as honey. Turn off heat.

3. Take each fried piece of bread, dip into syrup, and place in serving dish. You can top each sweet fried bread piece with some nuts, and place another fried bread piece dipped in syrup on top, like a sandwich. Top with some more nuts. Drizzle syrup on top to finish off. Done!

Best to serve while it's still warm. The bread will still be crisp, and sweet, and yum!

Healthy and Delicious Quick Double Ka Meetha

Happy New Year!