While every Bengali is endowed with a sweet tooth that is best sated with a dose rasogolla or sandesh, from the times of the Raj winters in Kolkata have traditionally meant more of western fare in the form of custards, puddings and plum or fruit cakes. Many a famous club of Kolkata hailing from the times of the British like the Tolly, RCGC, Calcutta Club and such have held bakery festivals or events based around these delectable desserts. Mom’s kitchen also did spew out its fair share of such joy, and todays food journey is indeed a trip down memory lane with one such dessert the inimitable bread pudding.
Pudding probably formed as a savoury dish rather than desert. The name is believed to have been derived from the French word boudin which in turn comes from the latin botellus meaning small sausage. However today it is primarily referred to as a dessert unless specifically mentioned. In fact the origins of puddings can be drawn too savoury dishes like haggis or blood sausage, where meat and other ingredients in a liquid form are steamed or boiled having been first encased. Puddings today are baked steamed or boiled.
Bread pudding is famously available across the globe under various names spanning from Latin America Europe to Asia. Argentina to Philippines, Colombia to Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Slovakia Purto Rico, Canada, United State and United Kingdoms, everywhere bread pudding finds its way as a dessert on to meal tables. In India it is popularly known as double ka meetha. Easy to cook and delicious to eat, bread pudding is what we journey with today.
Like every journey that we have made, even this one starts with a raid of the pantry. A cook to serve 4 people would need us to have the following ingredients:
- Milk – 1 ½ litres
- Sugar – ½ cup
- Bread – 3 to 4 slices
- Eggs – 2
- vanilla essence
- cashew nuts
- walnuts
Bread pudding is best made with bread that s 2 3 days stale and the process starts with cutting the edges off the bread off. This is now soaked for a few minutes in milk and the thus soaked bread is mashed into a paste. Now take a pan and heat the milk in it. Stir it till it starts to thicken. To this now add sugar and keep stirring till the sugar melts ad mixes evenly. To this thickened milk now add the mashed bread paste and keep stirring till it becomes of a thick consistency. Now kill the heat and let it cool.
Thoroughly beat 2 eggs using a whisker and add it to the cooled contents. To this add ½ tea spoon vanilla essence.
Now take a deep container and brush ghee to the sides and sprinkle a healthy dash of sugar on it. We will need to now caramelise this. To make a caramel layer hold the container on the stove and hold it till a layer of caramel is formed on the sides. Now pour the contents on to the container with the caramel layer and set aside.
In a pressure cooker add 3 to 4 cups of water. The prefilled caramelized container is now lowered onto the water taking care only about half of the container is dipped in the water. This container is now covered carefully so that when the water rises it can’t enter into it. Now cover the pressure cooker without the whistle and cook for 10 to 15 minutes till the water evaporates. Put off the gas and take out the container. Let it cool.
Now this cooled container is kept in the fridge for 1 hour and allowed to set. After about an hour take out the container and cut the pudding and serve upside down. Crush the cashew nuts and walnuts and garnish the pudding with the crushed cashew nuts and walnuts. You can dribble a bit of chocolate on to it to make it that much gooey.
A food that has evolved from being a savoury item to something synonymous to dessert sure needs to be handled with a lot of care. Whether in the form of a bread pudding dessert or a kidney pie main course puddings have always continued to tickle our palate. It is only apt that my mother’s secret ingredients for a good cook be added in doses to make this dessert stand out. After all a dessert rounds of a good meal shared with your loved ones. So roll your sleeves and beam your heartiest smiles and pour in that extra dash of love and freeze it with an extra helping of care and voila see how your dessert transcends into something spectacular. Bon appétit.
