Bread halwa is a Indian style bread pudding made by soaking deep fried ( or pan fried) bread pieces in a sugar syrup and finished with saffron and nuts.
This halwa is a popular dessert from the Hyderabadi cuisine and is incredibly delicious and tasty. The best part about making this halwa is, it is pretty simple to make.
If you are looking for easy recipes, do check my Instant Pot Indian Desserts and Ricotta Cheese Indian Sweets .
What is Bread Halwa?
Bread halwa is made by deep frying bread pieces and cooking them in sugar syrup with milk, saffron, unsweetend khoya and nuts.
The fried bread soaks up the sugar syrup, milk and khoya add richness and the nuts give the much needed crunch making this halwa just irresistible.
Rich and absolutely delicious, you just need few spoons to sstisfy your craving.
Ingredients needed to make bread halwa-
Step by step method-
1 – Soak little saffron in warm water. Trim the edges of the bread and cut them to four pieces and set a side.
2- Add a tea spoon of ghee and fry the cashew till light brown. Remove and set a side.
3-You can choose to deep fry the bread, traditionally that’s how it is made. I just pan fry them and the halwa is equally tasty. In the same pan add half the ghee and add half of the bread slices and fry till golden on both sides. Remove and repeat with the rest of the bread.If you are using a wide pan you can fry the all the bread pieces at the same time.
4- Make sure the bread is nice and crisp. Let cool few minutes.
5 – Add water and sugar to the pan and bring it to a rolling boil.
6 -Add the bread pieces and cook for one to three minutes. The bread will almost instantly start absorbing the syrup. If you pan fried the bread you just need to cook for a minute before going to the next step.
7 – Add 3 tbsps of milk, saffron water and unsweetened khoya. Mix it gently. Do not over mix. We want to have few chunks of bread in the halwa for texture. Very soon halwa will start coming together.
8- Finally add the cashew and give a mix and turn off the heat.
Tips to make best Bread Halwa
- Use white bread to make the halwa.
- Use ghee not oil to fry the bread.
- If available use the unsweetened khoya for richness.
What can I replace Khoya with?
Khoya can be replaced with milk powder or cashew powder.
Can I make it vegan?
Yes, bread halwa can be made vegan by replacing milk with almond milk. You can also completely skip the milk. You can use vegan butter to pan fry the bread.
More Quick and Easy Indian Desserts –
Instant peda done in 3 minutes
Gajar Halwa ( Indian Carrot Pudding)
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Bread Halwa
Ingredients
- 5 slices white bread
- ¼ cup ghee + 2 tsps or to taste
- ¾ cup water
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 tbsp milk
- pinch of saffron soaked in 2 tsps of warm water
- 2 tbps of cashew
- 2 tsps of unsweetened khoya (optional) or use cashew powder or milk powder
Instructions
- Soak little saffron in warm water. Trim the edges of the bread and cut them to four pieces and set a side.
- Add a tea spoon of ghee and fry the cashew till light brown. Remove and set a side.
- You can choose to deep fry the bread, traditionally that’s how it is made. I just pan fry them and the halwa is equally tasty.
- In the same pan add half the ghee and add half of the bread slices and fry till golden on both sides. Remove and repeat with the rest of the bread.If you are using a wide pan you can fry the all the bread pieces at the same time.
- Make sure the bread is nice and crisp. Let cool few minutes.
- Add water and sugar to the pan and bring it to a rolling boil.
- Add the bread pieces and cook for one to three minutes. The bread will almost instantly start absorbing the syrup. If you pan fried the bread you just need to cook for a minute before going to the next step.
- Add 3 tbsps of milk, saffron water and unsweetened khoya. Mix it gently. Do not over mix. We want to have few chunks of bread in the halwa for texture. Very soon halwa will start coming together.
- Finally add the cashew and give a mix and turn off the heat.
- Serve the halwa warm or chilled.
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