Every home has their favourite way to jazz up leftovers and this is one of my favourite thing to do with stale bread.
Bread upma or phodnichi bread is quite a common brunch option across India. This one is slightly different because it uses cloves and cinnamon for flavouring instead of the more common chillies-curry leaves- cumin combination.
Mum used to make this in a cast iron pan. The bread would stick to the bottom and turn crispy and golden. My sister and I would look forward to these scrapings, possibly, more than the bhuja itself.
I have used an anodised pan and did manage to get some crumbs but if you do have a cast iron beauty, I would definitely encourage you to use it for this one.
It is a quick fix and it took me all of 20 minutes from plan to plate. It lasted about half that time on the table. 🙂
Do give it a go and I’d love to know how it fared at your home.
Ingredients:
8-10 slices of bread, cubed
1 tablespoon each, oil and ghee
1 large onion, chopped not too fine
3-4 cloves
1 inch stick of cinnamon
salt to taste
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon paprika or chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon PP sambhar masala (or a tiny pinch of garam masala)
1 tablespoon chopped coriander to garnish
Method:
- Sprinkle the cubed bread with a little water or milk. Keep aside.
- Heat the pan. Add the oil and ghee.
- Add the cloves and cinnamon. When you can smell the aroma of these spices, add the onion and fry till golden brown.
- Now add the salt, tumeric, chilli powder and PP sambhar (or the garam masala). Mix them with the onions and sprinkle a little water.
- Now add the bread and toss until it is coated with the onion and spices mix. Turn up the heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Take the bhuja off the heat and garnish with some coriander.
- Serve piping hot.
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