A brief phrase — often just a beat or two, rarely more than half a cycle — that approaches and lands on sam. The smallest unit of cadence: where a tukra is a composition, a mukhda is a gesture, often improvised on the spot to dress a cycle's turn.
Accompanists live on mukhdas: a small flourish into sam lifts the music without interrupting the soloist. The word ("face") is also used in vocal music for the phrase of song text that leads back to sam — the identical concept in melodic clothing.