So amidst the extended lockdown, I was craving something sweet. I had no chocolates and was too scared to order out, so I decided to do what I did as a kid. Toasted a slice of bread and layered some malai-cheeni on it.  

And I have to tell you, the moment I bit into this soulful fluff of crispy, sugary heaven, I felt like the toast was reassuring me that whatever I was going through, is going to be ok. Maybe I’ve lost my mind on this house arrest or I miss my friends but it was like the toast was giving me a fuzzy, comforting hug.  

You know how there are just some nostalgic things that smell or taste like your childhood? Like they leave you with a comforting sense of content and an inexpressible joy? Yeah, if my childhood had a flavour, it would definitely taste like malai-cheeni toast.

And that’s when I realised that somewhere between identifying my midnight cravings and the convenience of ordering brownies with the click of a button, I forgot that the one thing that could instantly comfort me was sitting in my house all along.  

I mean nothing can beat the wholesome combination of chilled malai with chunky cheeni on a base of a flakey toast, right? It literally tastes like it’s handcrafted in heaven to cheer you up.It’s light, it’s fluffy and crispy!  

And the best part about this blissful delicacy is that the malai-cheeni toast is one of the easiest things to make, you don’t need any fancy ingredients for it and it still tastes like an exotic dessert, unleashing waves of emotions inside you. 

And I’m just saying this, we whisked our thandi malai with cheeni way before hyping whipped cream on social media was cool. Malai-cheeni was literally our homemade, desi whipped cream.

If you’re feeling experimental, another variation of this is cheeni parantha with malai. The taste of caramelised sugar with a scoop of chilled cream, I’m having a foodgasm just thinking about it. 

Feature Image Courtesy: Local Guides Connect