• 1/2 loaf of a large marzipan cholla bread or any other soft fat bread loaf
• 1/2 cup tbsp of ghee
• 2 -3 cups whole milk (can substitute with almond or soya milk)
• 1/2 cup of Khoya (to make you need about 3/4 cup dried powder milk and a tbsp water, method below)
• about 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1 large pinch of saffron soaked in hot milk for about 15 minutes
• 2 pods of cardamom, bruised and seeds removed
• handful of almond flakes and sliced pistachios
• Makes enough for 3-4 people and takes about 30-45 minutes to prepare

Make the Khoya by making a thick paste with the powdered milk and water and then cover and heat in microwave on full power for about 1 minute or so until it looks like stage 2 in the picture below.

Then give it a stir and heat again for about a minute and a half and it should look like stage 4 below.

You know have Khoya (thickened milk) which is added to many Pakistani desserts – and is used here too!

Next cut the crusts off the bread and heat 1-2 tbsp of ghee in a frying pan and fry the pieces of bread on both sides till golden brown and then place in a shallow dish and pour enough milk to soak the fried bread and leave for about 2-3 minutes before pressing out the milk and careful setting the bread aside.

In a saucepan heat the the milk just used to soak bread, another cup of milk, khoya, 1-2 tbsp ghee, saffron, cardamom, sugar and cook on medium heat stirring constantly until it turn thick and quite yellow.

Once the yellow custard is ready pour half into a shallow serving dish and place the bread careful overlapping each other and then pout the remaining custard over the top making sure all the bread is covered evenly.

Sprinkle with sliced pistachios and almond flakes and bake in a medium oven for about 20 minutes or so until the top is crusty and brown and the custard is bubbling away.

Serve with more fresh nuts and some plain vanilla ice cream or eat just by itself either warm or cold.

And why not sprinkle with beautiful pink rose petals for that rather elegant royal touch!

by Pak101.com (few years ago!) / 915 views