Masala Bread Upma

I eat bread with not much favor to it. It's something I like to reserve as a last option. It wasn't until I began baking some at home did I really take much liking to it. Even as a kid I did not enjoy it much. At home, Sundays meant the day to relax and unwind and that meant some time off from cooking for mom too and that's when bread for our breakfast was a usual affair. We had many Sundays with bread sandwich for our breakfast. Saying that I do not rule out that homemade bread is indeed fresh and tasty.

Although one of the ways I did enjoy bread was in form of this Masala Bread Upma that was spiced well and tasted delicious. I often frowned at the sight of bread loaves served with butter or jam, but the moment it was converted to this upma, I would relish bowls full of these and go for the second and third helpings too. The base of the kadhai had crumbs of crusty bread stuck to it and that tasted heavenly. I have memories of scraping it off, not sparing the spatula too, relishing every bit of the last spiced crumb! Well, I still do it till date. :) Hope you too love this recipe as much as I do.

Masala Bread Upma

INGREDIENTS

6 Bread slices
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tsp. red chilli powder
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 onion, finely chopped
1 large tomato, diced
1 green chilli
2 tsp. peanuts
1 sprig of curry leaves
Coriander leaves to garnish, optional
Salt and lime to taste

DIRECTIONS

Stack the bread pieces on top of each other and dice them through using a knife. Tear them into 1 inch cubes. Else tear them roughly using your fingers, crumbling them through into uneven pieces.

Heat oil in a pan and fry the mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add in the curry leaves, the chopped onions and peanuts. Fry them on medium high flame till the onions turn slightly brown in colour. Add the chopped green chillies, turmeric powder, chilli powder and fry further for a minute. Add the diced bread pieces and stir them well gently. Fry for a couple of more minutes stirring till all the masala has coated the bread pieces well. Finally add in the diced tomatoes and season with salt to taste. Fry further more for 2 minutes. Remove from flame and add a dash of freshly squeezed lime juice to taste. Serve hot.