Sabudana Papad with Hyderabadi Double Meetha

• Cut the bread pieces into bite-sized cubes and set them aside.
• Fry the dry fruits in a non-stick skillet using ghee over medium heat until golden brown. Set them aside.
• Pour milk in a deep-bottomed pan over medium heat and bring it to a boil.
• Add half a cup of sugar to the boiling milk and keep stirring.
• Add the crumbled mawa or condensed milk to the pan and keep stirring until the entire milk content in the pan is reduced to 2 cups or ½ L.
• Add the cardamom powder and the saffron strands to the milk in the pan and give it one final stir before setting it aside to cool.
• Heat some ghee in the non-stick skillet and lightly fry the bread pieces until golden brown. Be careful to not burn the bread.
• Boil water and the remaining sugar and make a thick syrup. Soak the fried bread in the syrup.
• Line a baking tray greasing it well with some ghee. Place the syrup-soaked bread cubes in the tray.
• Pour the milk content of the pan over the bread. Sprinkle the fried sabudana papad and dry fruits all over the baking tray.
• Top it up with the jaggery syrup and serve.

Since the sabudana papad with Hyderabadi double meetha is a dessert, you can refrigerate it and serve it cold too. Make sure to add the papad and the jaggery syrup fresh, right before serving to enjoy the crispy crunchy texture.

Trivia

The sabudana papad with Hyderabadi double meetha perhaps originated in Oudh (modern-day Awadh), from the eponymous ‘Shahi Tukda’. It is not just popular during weddings and other occasions but is also an integral part of festivals like Ramadan and Eid. The choice of ingredients reflects Central Asian and Arabic cuisine.