Bread slices fried in ghee, layered with a thick reduced milk (rabdi) and garnished with nuts and saffron — the Rajasthani version of shahi tukra that is made with local ghee from Rajasthan's dairy cattle and served at Rajasthani weddings as the featured sweet alongside churma.
Ingredients
6 thick bread slices — white bread, crusts removed
3 tbsp ghee for frying
For the rabdi:
1 litre full-fat milk — reduced to 1/3 its volume (cook 35 to 40 minutes on medium heat stirring frequently)
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cardamom
Saffron soaked in 2 tbsp warm milk
For the syrup (light): 1/2 cup sugar + 1/4 cup water — dissolved, not reduced
Garnish: pistachio slivers, dried rose petals, edible silver leaf (vark)
Method
Make the rabdi: Boil 1 litre milk. Reduce to medium. Cook stirring every 5 minutes for 35 to 40 minutes until reduced to about 300 ml. Add sugar, cardamom and saffron milk. Cool.
Make light sugar syrup: Dissolve 1/2 cup sugar in 1/4 cup water. Cool.
Fry the bread: Heat 3 tbsp ghee in a flat pan on medium. Fry bread slices until deep golden on both sides.
Soak in sugar syrup: Dip the hot fried bread slices briefly in the light sugar syrup — 30 seconds per side. The bread absorbs the syrup.
Arrange on a serving plate: Place the syrup-soaked fried bread slices on a wide serving plate in a single layer.
Pour the cold rabdi: Spoon the cold, thick rabdi over each bread slice generously. The cold rabdi over the warm bread creates a temperature contrast.
Refrigerate: Refrigerate 30 minutes until the rabdi sets slightly over the bread.
Garnish: Scatter pistachio slivers and dried rose petals. Apply edible silver leaf if using.
Serve cold: The Rajasthani shahi tukri is served cold.
Note: At Rajasthani weddings, shahi tukri is made in industrial quantities and served to hundreds of guests.
Note: The Rajasthani wedding meal (the barat feast) typically includes a specific sequence of sweets that culminates in shahi tukri — the most elaborate of the sweet courses. The use of Rajasthani ghee (from the Gir cow or Rathi breed dairy cattle specific to Rajasthan) gives the Rajasthani version a distinct character from versions made with commercial ghee. The edible silver leaf (vark) applied to the finished tukri is a specifically Rajasthani wedding presentation tradition.