Bread Upkari

Upkari is the konkani name for a curry that's made with tadka, cooked in its own steam and is served with scraped coconut. (At least in my books, that's what it is!)

This is probably called Bread Upma or something like that elsewhere, but for me, it is Bread-a Upkari, which literally means, upkari made with bread.

Usually made with left over bread, I sometimes start craving this when we get a fresh loaf at home. I remember a trip to Adyar Bakery House with Amma many years ago. We came back home with a huge loaf of brown bread and as soon as we got back home, I said to Amma, "Makka atta breada upkari khaunchasa. Karta vey?" (I want to eat Bread Upkari now. Will you make it?) She laughed and said that it is usually made out of old bread and that her mother would have laughed had she known that someone was making it out of fresh bread. Even now, sometimes I feel like making this when we buy a loaf. But I find that there are so many things one can make with a loaf of fresh bread and so I leave this for the third day.

6-8 slices Bread, cut into cubes

1 tbsp Oil

1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1/4 tsp Urad Dal

1/4 tsp Chana Dal

7-8 Curry Leaves

2-3 Red Chillies

1 tsp Sugar

Salt to taste

Scraped Coconut for garnishing

Heat the oil in a kadhai. Add the mustard seeds, asafoetida, urad and chana dals. When the mustard splutters, add the curry leaves and the red chillies. Add the cut bread pieces and fry for a little while.

Dissolve the sugar and the required amount of salt in a little water and pour over the bread. (Rememner that the bread is already salted). Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove the lid and allow some pieces of bread to brown. Garnish with scraped coconut and enjoy this at any time of the day.