1. Heat the milk, add half a cup of sugar, bring to the boil and pour into a large tray with high sides.
2. Whisk the eggs along with the spice powder and vanilla and mix into the milk. Soak the bread slices in the milk and overturn once.
3. Put oil or ghee into a large frying pan. When the ghee is hot, place as many slices as you can conveniently manage into the frying pan. When the lower side of the slice is golden coloured, turn and fry the top side. Sprinkle the cooked side with sugar and pick up the slice with a spatula and place in a dish with the sugar side down. Sugar the top of the slice and continue frying in batches till all the bread slices have been fried and sugared. The toasts should be moist and not dry. Do not fry like purees.
This recipe can be cooked for breakfast, brunch or tea. My great grandfather was very fond of these toasts and as a child I remember going to a tiny village in Gujarat, with hampers of food amongst which were two biscuit tins full of toasts. I can never forget the pleasure the old gentleman used to derive from these toasts because 50 years ago no bread was available in his area.