Saturday, June 18, 2011

Bread Upma & A Birthday Cake

I am always prepared when it comes to making breakfasts coz Ajay is a very typical 'amchi' and prefers the usual idli-dosa-idiyappam rather than oats or cornflakes[we do have it once in a while though].Weekends are almost predictable with Puttu or Poori so throughout the week,I have many options for a healthy and nutritious breakfast.

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But sometimes I forget.There is no idli-dosa batter in the fridge or there is no atta or idiyappam flour or even eggs.Like today.


I did have some stale bread in the fridge and what better way than to pep up stale bread than this upma!With some shriveled Capsicum and added tomatoes,it almost resembles a 'nutritious' breakfast!


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Bread Upma


Ingredients


Bread,cubed - 3 cups,loosely packed[preferably a day old]
Onion - 1 small,thinly sliced
Tomato - 1small,finely chopped
Capsicum - 1/2 of 1 medium,chopped
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Haldi - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Ghee+Oil - 2 tbsp,divided
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Green chilly - 1,chopped
Ginger - 1/2' piece,finely chopped
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp,chopped


Method


In a thick bottom kadai add 1 tbsp oil+ghee and splutter mustard seeds and urad dal.When the urad dal starts to brown,mix in the minced green chilly and ginger.Add onion and curry leaves and saute for 5-7 minutes or till the onions start to brown.


Add the powders-red chilly powder,coriander powder and haldi powder and give a good mix.Add the tomatoes and capsicum now and sprinkle a few drops of water[if necessary] to avoid burning the powders.Add enough salt to taste.


Now mix in the chopped bread and give a good stir.Mix well so that the masala coats the bread pieces evenly.Add the remaining 1 tbsp oil+ghee and keep the kadai on simmer till the bread gets roasted evenly.Stir once in a while to avoid burning.When the bread becomes golden brown and crisp add coriander leaves and switch off the flame.


Notes

  • It is preferable to use a day old bread for this upma since fresh bread will crumble with all the mixing and will stay soft[and not crisp]after the cooking.I used whole wheat bread,white bread will work fine too.
  • Though the ingredient list looks big,it is the usual ingredients found in your kitchen.I believe adding or subtracting a few ingredients here and there will not affect the taste in anyway.Go ahead and add anything to this if you like!
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On a different note,I baked a birthday cake for a 3 year old boy[our friends' kid]this week and though I was not very happy with the final outcome[lookswise],the cake was much relished by the kid guests as well as adults[there were 30 people in all].Thank you Ramya for trusting me with your kids' cake and for being more confident in my baking skills than I am!


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I baked a Classic American Layer cake,basically a Yellow Butter cake from A Passion for Baking and made a Classic Vanilla Buttercream from Savory Sweet Life.The cake by itself was a very tasty one,moist and with a tender crumb-perfect as a Birthday cake.Hope to better my decorating skills soon!





14 comments :

  1. Nice and quick brkfst recipe....Hey the cake looks fantastic....nicely decorated...

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  2. Wowwww... looks so delicious and tempting.. cake is awesome and fabulous work dear..

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  3. Yum Upma! Are you kidding me, not satisfied with cake looks? the cake looks soo beautiful and tasty as well.

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  4. Bread upma..something new but looks delish dear...:D

    That's one lovely cake!

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  5. Divu, firstly on the bread..i love this upma..as a kid it was my treat-brekky! Sunday special:D
    As for the cake, its great, u hv got best piped cream, even when cream doesn't come together in Indian climate!! This is a lovely one!! (Pls provide link to this basic recipe too..did u moisten the layers b4 icing?)

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  6. Pretty cake...
    looks yum.......
    I have tried few of ur recepies and they all turned out well, especially the PBM.

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  7. Luv this soo much..adding capsicum is a nice idea...sure gives a nice flavour

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  8. Love the crisp bread upma and the cake and what do you mean not pretty - it does look pretty. And was this a multi tier cake? Looks like it.

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  9. Yummy and nutritious breakfast. The cake looks stunning and perfect. Your cake was appreciated by 30 adults and there kids then why are you feeling bad. You rock Divya.

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  10. Bread upma with capsicum sounds good! And the birthday cake looks gorgeous! Loved its colour very much!

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  11. wow, that birthday cake looks superb. I am very sure that the toddler must have loved it as well. Love your bread upma too :)

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  12. Both cake and upma look good!!

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  13. I love bread upma. That cake sounds amazing too :)

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  14. Made it and eating it while typing it.

    Thanks,
    Madhavi.

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Love,
Divya.

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