Ingredients:
- 3 cups chopped bread cubes or 5 to 6 bread slices – chopped in cubes
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ⅓ cup finely chopped onions or 1 medium-sized
- ½ teaspoon finely chopped green chilies or serrano pepper or 1 green chili
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger or ¾ to 1 inch ginger
- 6 to 7 curry leaves – chopped
- ½ cup finely chopped tomatoes or 2 medium-sized
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 pinch asafoetida (Hing) – optional
- 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
- salt as required
Instruction
- Chop the bread slices in cubes. If the edges of the bread have become dense then slices them. Don't throw them. Instead blitz them in a blender or food processor to make bread crumbs.
- Finely chop the onions, green chilli, ginger and tomatoes. keep aside.
- Chop the curry leaves and coriander leaves. Keep aside.
Making Bread Upma:
- Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and let them crackle and pop.
- Then add cumin seeds. Stir and Sauté till the cumin seeds also crackle and change their color.
- Add chopped onions. Stir. On a low to mediums flame, Sauté the onions till they turn translucent.
- Add finely chopped green chilies, finely chopped ginger and chopped curry leaves. Stir and Sauté till the raw aroma of ginger goes away. About 10 to 12 seconds.
- Then add finely chopped tomatoes.
- Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and a pinch of asafoetida (optional). For a spicier taste in bread upma, you can increase the red chili powder.
- Mix very well. Add salt as required.
- Stir and Sauté this onion-tomato-spices mixture till the tomatoes soften and you see oil releasing from the sides. The tomatoes have to be cooked well, otherwise you will feel the rawness in them.
- There should also be no liquids or moisture in the mixture and it should be slightly dry. Otherwise the bread cubes become soggy.
- Add the bread cubes. Mix the bread well with the rest of the mixture.
- On a low to mediums flame, Sauté the bread cubes for 4 to 5 minutes till they become slightly crisp from the edges.
- This way there is some crispness in the bread cubes on the edges, along with a soft texture in the center of the cubes.
- Then add chopped coriander leaves.
- Instead of adding coriander leaves at this step, you can also garnish with them, while serving the bread upma.
- Mix and serve bread upma hot as a breakfast or as a quick snack. While serving you can drizzle some lemon juice on top.
Notes:
- Use you can variety of soft breads. You can also use Pav or dinner rolls. Fresh bread or a few days old bread works well in the recipe. For healthy options, use whole wheat bread, multi grain bread or ragi bread (finger millet bread).
- The amount of spices can be changed according to your preferences. If making for small kids then skip the green chillies and red chilli powder
- The recipe can be doubled or tripled.
- To add some crunch in the dish you can some cashews or roasted peanuts. It will make the dish healthier and filling also.
- Instead of red chilli powder, you can use cayenne pepper or paprika.
