Pao In the Pudding

Pao in the pudding or Pao nu pudding

So the December day came and went. Thru the day we went around doing our stuff. AC as usual in his grunge style n state. He is very superstitious about personal life and I am the kind who lives life without carrying burdens of the world. So I just let him say things. Finally in the evening he had a bath and announced, "Lets go to Jogger's park". Finally stepping out at 8pm. We chose to take the bike. Rode all the way to find the ticket counter being shuttered. He stood there cursed the guy some. Then finally without consulting me decided to ride upto Juhu. On reaching Juhu hearing no breeze we just decided to go and eat something. It was such a flop evening that he chose to apologize about the impromptu plan. 

My plan was to take him to a fine dine in South Mumbai but he did not want it. So this was our first anniversary non celebration. Yet what we loved is biking around, especially on our way back from Juhu. Riding on Mumbai roads after 10.30 pm is very refreshing for a tired soul. 

I had made this Pao nu pudding the previous night and you know him he easily makes a dinner of it. Ofcourse 4 pao weren't enough so there was Pao no French toast too to fill him up.

Plus I made sheera also on the anniversary morning. I am a stickler at performing duty to a fault. 

This Pao nu pudding or Pudding made with the Mumbai Pao is a Parsi favorite. Parsis like Christians of Mumbai eat a lot of pao and the leftovers get made into pudding or french toast.  If you want to make your own pao, you have my recipe on this blog. It is the first recipe of Mumbai pao on the Internet. Yes believe it or not!

So make the pudding from scratch if you feel like it. On this day I made the pud with store bought pao. Parsis adapted many western especially British recipes to local ingredients and this pao nu pudding is a great example of that. The pudding laced with vanilla essence and elchi - jaiphal (cardamom - nutmeg) is so Parsi but I am a snob so I use homemade Vanilla extract. Yeah that is one thing I am working on my husband moving him from the artificial flavors (Raspberry soda!) and processed foods (packet wet masalas) to more natural choices. Hard to change a Parsi but I will. 

Ingredients

4 nos. pao or bread rolls

2 teaspoons Amul butter

0.5 teaspoon cardamom - nutmeg powder

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

2 eggs 

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups milk

1. Use a square baking dish. Brush it with butter. 

2. Cut the pao horizontally but still should hold together. Open each one like a book. Apply butter to all 4.

3. Now place the pao in the dish. 

4. Pre heat the oven at 180 deg celsius.

5. Now in a mixing bowl break the eggs, add the sugar and milk and beat it up till the sugar dissolves. This is your custard mix.

6. Add into the custard mix the Vanilla extract and cardamom - nutmeg powder and give it a stir.

7. Now gently bathe each pao with the spice and fragrant custard mix. Press down the pao lightly if they float up.

8. Place the baking dish in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 35-40 mins at 180 degrees Celsius. 

9. The top will be nice brown and will look dry. As it cools it will collapse down a bit. Don't worry it tastes awesome all the way.

10. Cool for 30 mins and serve warm or chill for an hour in the refrigerator minimum and enjoy cold.

Serve each pao in a fancy plate. Enjoy.

Who does not love a good bread butter pudding? and this one is localized by the Parsis and shared here by a Bawa's Koli bairi.

Khaojo peejo, majena rejo! Eat and Drink, be happy!

A dish like that gets polished off in minutes.