Recipe- Truly Special And Delicious Bread Kheer

Stop for a second. Think back to when you were a child, to the controlled frenetic pace of pre dinner party preps. Imagine the busy surfaces, the noise of spoons clunking against multiple pans, the mellow allure of bubbling basmati. In most of my dinner party memories there is this one slightly intoxicating scent. As a child I could not have told you it is the indubitably luxurious scent of Kheer cooking down, this Bread Kheer to be precise. I would smell the smell and shortly after my mother would be standing there blending away, preoccupied determination written all over her face. She would always tell me she makes this Bread Kheer both because people love it and because it is so easy.

Bread Kheer seems like such a bland name doesn’t it. So devoid off personality, but this Kheer is far from it. The recipe incorporates tips I learnt from my aunt and mixes it up by adding the unusual choice of tea rusks and croissants. The croissants add buttery depth, the tea rusks a mild pleasantly wheaty note. Can you make this with all bread instead? Absolutely.

Also I call it Bread Kheer here, but in my head (and heart) it is forever “Double Roti ki Kheer”. Double Roti is the name given to sliced bread in Urdu, perhaps because it is thicker than the flatbread it is compared to.

Ingredients

1 litre Milk (Whole)
1 litre Half and half (can substitute with 1/2 litre milk and 1/2 litre cream or whatever combination you have handy. all milk works too, it will just take longer to cook down and be lighter tasting)
3 Plain Croissants
5 Tea Rusks (Papay) not cake rusks
6 cardamoms seeds removed and lightly crushed OR 1 tsp cardamom powder
1 pinch saffron
1 cup sugar
¼ cup minced pistachios
¼ cup minced blanched almonds

Method

* Heat milk and half and half in a large heavy-bottomed pot on the stove (not nonstick)

* Bring the mixture to a boil, tear the croissants and rusks into pieces and add them in

* Simmer until both breads are soft, about 5-6 minutes.

* Puree with a handheld (immersion) blender or in a regular blender.

* Pour back in the pot (if using a regular blender). Add the cardamom, saffron, sugar and half the nuts

* Simmer on low heat, stirring frequently, the mixture will darken and thicken. As it becomes thick it starts to bubble, so please do be careful!

* TIP: Leave a wooden spoon in the pot to prevent any bubbling over

* Cook it down by about 40 percent (nearly half) of what it was –this takes about 20-30 minutes depending on the pot you are using.

* Put in your serving dishes/glasses, let cool, and scatter with the remaining nuts right before serving.