Bread upma is a South Indian breakfast dish made with bread, spices and herbs. This is a quick way to use up your left over bread.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Total time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 1
  • Category: Breakfast, Snack
  • Cuisine: South Indian

Ingredients

  • 2 to 3 slices bread ((any bread))
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ½ teaspoon urad dal ((skip if you don't have))
  • 1 sprig curry leaves
  • ¾ teaspoon ginger paste (or grated or fine chopped)
  • 1 green chili (slit or chopped)
  • 8 to 10 cashew nuts (split or 2 tbsps peanuts)
  • ¼ cup onions (chopped finely (1 medium))
  • ½ cup ripe tomatoes (chopped finely (1 large) (adjust as needed))
  • salt ((use only as needed))
  • ⅛ teaspoon turmeric ((haldi))
  • ½ teaspoon red chili powder ((adjust to taste, less spicy variety))
  • ½ teaspoon sugar ((skip if using milk bread))
  • 3 to 4 tablespoon water
  • 2 tablespoon coriander leaves (chopped finely)
  • Lemon juice (to serve (optional))

Method

Preparation

  1. Heat a pan and toast the bread until crisp on both the sides. Cool completely. Cut them to small cubes and set aside.
  2. Pour oil to the same pan and on a medium heat fry cashews or peanuts until golden, crunchy and aromatic. Set these aside with bread.
  3. Add mustard seeds and urad dal (optional). Saute till urad dal turns lightly golden.
  4. Next add green chilies and curry leaves. Saute until the leaves turn crisp.
  5. Sprinkle hing. Add onions and saute until they turn golden. Saute the ginger paste as well for 30 seconds.
  6. Next add tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Note that your bread is salted so add only as required, start with ¼ teaspoon. Saute until tomatoes turn soft and mushy.
  7. Then add chili powder and sugar. Saute for 1 to 2 mins until the raw smell goes off.
  8. Pour 3 to 4 tablespoons water and mix.

How to Make Bread Upma

  1. Cook until the mixture turns thick. Taste test and adjust salt if required.
  2. Add bread cubes and cashews. Mix gently to coat the bread with the onion tomato masala.
  3. Sprinkle coriander leaves.
  4. Serve bread upma hot. Sprinkle some lemon juice.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.