In a frying pan heat oil + ghee for deep frying. We add about 2-3 tablespoon ghee to mask the flavor of oil. As the oil gets hot, keep it on low flame.

Meanwhile remove the edges of the bread and slice them into half.

Gently drop 3-4 bread slices into hot oil for frying.

Cook on low heat until the bread slices are golden brown.

Remove from oil and drain off excess oil on a kitchen tissue. Repeat this with all the bread slices.

In a heavy pan, heat 1 tablespoon ghee. Add 10 whole cashews and fry until golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

In the same pan add 1 cup sugar and add ½ cup water. Mix well until the sugar dissolves.

Cook on low heat until the sugar syrup is bubbling. Add ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder, mix well. The sugar syrup should just be sticky, no need to check for string consistency.

Now add the fried bread slices.

Gently break them into smaller chunks and mix until the sugar syrup is well coated & absorbed by the bread slices.

Next add 1.5 cups of milk and mix well.

Cook on low flame until the bread starts to become soft, with a few crispy crunchy pieces around. The milk should be fully absorbed and it should begin to get to a halwa stage. It should take about 8-10 minutes.

As the ghee + oil starts to ooze out from the sides of the halwa, remove from heat.

Garnish with fried cashews or dry fruits (if any extra used) and mix well.