Double Ka Meeta/Indian Bread pudding

If you are a Hyderabadi from India or stayed there like me,I'm damn sure you would have tasted this dish. It is a terrible sin if you haven't done so :P . 

I came to know about this dish when I was in Hyderabad for a few months.This also happens to be the city where I started my career in the sinful IT field. Though it was a very short training period we explored the place a lot and needless to say, food played a very important part. If I had been a non-vegetarian may be I would be writing about the famous "Hyderabadi Dum Briyani" but here I am with the popular sweet/dessert of Hyderabad, the city of Pearls.I got this recipe from a friend whom I visited there when I was working but looks like it had to wait until all these years to come alive.

With the richness of sugar syrup and bread, blended together in a thick milk, this dish is a boon for all sweet lovers. The method I have mentioned here is not the authentic version but it is a "quickie" and I see your hands raising even as I mention :) !!!
And here is another information as you drool over the picture,did you know how this dish got its name? In Hyderabad they call bread as "Double Roti", Meeta is sweet in Hindi, this combines it as "Double Ka Meeta".

Ingredients

• 5 or 6 bread slices 
• a cup of sugar
• a pinch of cardamom
• half a litre of milk(whole or half & half)
• few tbs of nuts of your choice
• 2 tbs of ghee or clarified butter
• Oil to fry

Pre-cooking

• Cut the bread into triangular pieces and leave it to dry in open air(may be for 24 hours approx).

Method

• Fry the bread slices in oil(Original recipe calls to fry in ghee; you can try that as well!!)
• The bread will not absorb oil as it is dried.
• Boil sugar and water in ratio 1:1 
• Once it starts boiling add cardamom
• Pour in your milk and keep in high flame 
• After it comes to a boil, reduce the flame and let boil.
• Keep stirring in between so that it doesnt burn.
• After it comes to half of its size, add in the bread slices.
• Let them soak in the milk.
• At this stage you can either switch off the flame and refrigerate it ;and take out after all the milk is absorbed.
• Or if you are in a hurry like me,just keep boiling it, until all the milk is absorbed.
• Fry the nuts in ghee and garnish them.

Bread slices soaking in the stove

Serving suggestions

• You can serve this warm or cold.

Tips

• If the breads are not dry enough, they will absorb more oil and become soggy.

Add this goes to  Joyful Eating whilst travelling event hosted by Jagruti. Unfortunately I do not have a picture from Hyderabad (that was when I was still using a Kodak KB10 camera) but I'm posting this one that we took on a weekend drive to Pondichery from Chennai. This golden ball is the very famous Auroville ,a universal city located in pondichery.