Bread Halwa Recipe (Indian Bread Pudding)

5 from 12 votes

Bread Halwa Recipe (Indian Bread Pudding)

Bread Halwa is a quick and comforting Indian sweet made by cooking bread pieces in ghee, sugar and milk, flavored with cardamom, saffron and garnished with fried cashews and raisins. This rich, soft and fragrant sweet is often prepared as an easy treat using leftover bread. To make bread halwa, bread cubes are first fried or toasted in ghee and later cooked with milk and sugar.

Prep Time5

Cook Time25

Total Time30

Course: Desserts, Sweets

Cuisine: Hyderabadi, Indian

Diet: Vegetarian

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Servings:

Calories: 310kcal

Author: Dassana Amit

Ingredients

For frying cashews and raisins

2 tablespoons ghee
2 tablespoons cashews
1 tablespoons raisins

More ingredients

2 cups white bread cubes or about 4 to 5 white bread slices, cubed
7 to 8 tablespoons sugar or add as required
1.5 cups milk
8 to 10 saffron strands – optional
1 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter) to be added later
½ teaspoon cardamom powder

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Frying dry fruits

Before beginning the recipe, chop the bread slices in cubes. You can remove the side crusts if you prefer.
Take a heavy thick bottomed kadai and heat 2 tablespoons ghee in it. Keep the heat to medium-low or medium.
Add the cashews and begin to fry them stirring them often till they turn golden.
Remove fried cashews with a slotted spoon and keep aside.
In the same kadai, add the raisins.
Stirring continuously fry raisins till they become plump and swell in size.
Remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside.

Toasting bread

Again in the same kadai or pan, add the bread cubes.
Mix the bread cubes with the ghee and begin to toast them.
Stir at intervals while toasting bread cubes. Toast till the bread cubes look crispy and light golden.
Tip: For a dark brown color in the halwa, toast the bread cubes until golden.

Making Bread Halwa

Next add 7 to 8 tablespoons sugar or according to taste.
Add milk. You can also use water or half-half of water and milk.
Stir and mix everything very well so that the sugar dissolves.
Sprinkle 8 to 10 saffron strands and stir again. Adding saffron strands is optional.
Simmer on a low to medium-low heat. Stir at intervals.
The bread cubes will absorb milk and start thickening.
Once the halwa mixture thickens then after that keep on stirring often or continuously.
Keep stirring till mixture starts coming together. Then add 1 tablespoon ghee. At this point you can add more ghee if you like.
Mix very well till ghee is absorbed.
Now add the fried cashews & raisins reserving a few cashews and raisins for garnish. Also add cardamom powder.
Continue to stir and mix till the entire halwa mixture comes together and you see some ghee at the sides.
Also, make sure the mixture isn’t sticky. The texture of bread halwa should be similar to that of suji halwa – soft, slightly moist, but not gluey or pasty.
Serve bread halwa in bowls or small plates hot or warm. You can even spread the halwa in moulds or pans.
If spreading in a pan, then add halwa after it is done and still very hot. Later you can slice and serve the halwa as cubes or squares.

Serving & Storage

Garnish bread halwa with a few of the fried cashews and raisins. Serve hot or warm.
You can enjoy bread halwa warm, hot, or even chilled. It makes a comforting dessert or a quick sweet snack anytime.
Leftover bread ka halwa can be refrigerated and warmed just before serving. While reheating, add a splash of milk, if the halwa has thickened too much.

Notes

You can use fresh bread or bread that’s a few days old. Both work well for making bread halwa.
White bread gives the softest texture, but brown bread can be used too.
Milk bread or sweet bread also works. Just remember to reduce the sugar if the bread is already sweet.
I’ve used less ghee here to keep it a bit lighter, but you can always add more if you prefer a richer taste.
Feel free to use any nuts or dried fruits you like. I usually go with cashews for their gentle sweetness, but almonds, pistachios, or even pecans can be great too.
For a vegan version, use a neutral oil or plant-based butter, and dairy-free milk of your choice.
If using sweet bread, then add very less sugar and as per taste.
Addition of milk gives a richness to the halwa, but you can use half-half proportion of milk and water.

Nutrition