Bread upma is a quick, easy and tasty upma variation made with bread cubes, onions, tomatoes, spices and herbs. This savory bread upma comes together in 30 minutes and makes for a quick breakfast, brunch or evening snack.
Chop the bread slices in cubes. If the edges of the bread have become dense then slice 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 saute till the cumin seeds also crackle and change their color.
Add chopped onions. Stir. On a low to medium flame, saute the onions till they turn translucent.
Add finely chopped green chilies, finely chopped ginger and chopped curry leaves. Stir and saute 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 more spicy taste in bread upma, you can increase the red chili powder.
Mix very well. Add salt as required.
Stir and saute 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 medium flame, saute 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 more healthy and filling also.
Instead of red chilli powder, you can use cayenne pepper or paprika.