September 13, 2008

Wholesome Bread Upma with Anaheim chillies

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How does an Indian bread upma sound with a fiery Mexican twist?
First a little literature for those who are not familiar with "Upma". It is an Indian dish made of either cream of wheat, rice, vermicilli, cous-cous, or our very own stale (that which has lost freshness) bread.

It originated from the word "Uppu" meaning salt, and "Maavu" meaning flour (of any kind). I know it kind of sounds way too simplistic, but trust me... the name does not do justice to the dish. Sometimes it is even ridiculed for the simplicity of the dish!
It has a healthy amount of vegetables which depends on what the person who is making wants to add. So, it is a pretty flexible dish to prepare.

I am a big fan of anything spicy, so I have chosen a particular type of chilly for this which you may or may not be familiar... Anaheim peppers.
Anaheim peppers are stuffed or very often used in salsa, and refers to a milder variety of New mexican chili peppers. They can be bought fresh or canned. For this dish I prefer the fresh ones. You may want to remove the seeds if you cant take too much heat.

As far as the bread goes, I used the flourless whole wheat bread which is made from sprouted whole grains, you can find this in the speciality bread section of your grocery store or at Costco.

Wholesome Bread Upma

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flourless bread - 10-12 slices
Anaheim peppers - 3 medium (they are about 4-6 inches in length)
Red Onions - 1 medium diced
Ginger root - An inch finely chopped
Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp
Urad dal - 1 tbsp (for seasoning only)
Curry leaves - A few
Salt - To taste
Ground black pepper - 1 tbsp
Light Olive oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

You may or may not want to take the corners off the bread slices. It does not matter either way.
Break it up into pieces and pulse them in a blender or food processor till you get soft crumbs. No big pieces.

In a pan, heat the oil and add mustard seeds, urad dal, ginger and curry leaves till the seeds start to splutter.

Add the onions and saute till translucent. Then add the Anaheim peppers (chopped) and saute for another few minutes till it is tender.

Add the bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and toss everything together, and let it cook for another 10-15 minutes in order to let the bread absorb all the flavors.
If it is too dry, you may sprinkle a little water. But this is not neccessary.

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Garnish with some chopped cilantro and serve hot with coconut chutney.

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Since the bread is made from flourless and sprouted whole grains, I am sending this off to Suganya's JFI – Oct ’08 – Whole Grains event and Aparna's WBB: "Grains in my Breakfast" event


28 comments:

  1. U know what i feel like "uppu mavvu" , may be for that reason i don't like upma!
    But the fiery version really tempting me :) Good twist!

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  2. Thats a lovely recipe Divya....Thanks for visiting my blog earlier.

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  3. wow... Nice entry... looks delicious... thxs for sharing...

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  4. Looks very very tempting. I too like anything spicy. Will try .

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  5. uppma looks spicy and delicious.
    Love the colour

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  6. Simple,healthy and delicious.......just the way I love all my food :)

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  7. Upma looks healthy and spicy.I too like anything spicy......

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  8. thanks a lot for the idea. will try to find those somewhere close by.

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  9. thanks for the comment. MM fondant is incredibly easy to work with, try it. i can get you the recipe if you like.
    i like your blog. your breads look amazing.

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  10. hey Divya,

    I have added you to my blogroll ... please let me know if you are okay with that.

    And what a lovely looking dish :D thanks for sharing!

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  11. what a daring dish divya.....upma with bread....hmm keep it up...

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  12. this lady here-http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm-has excellent detailed instructions on how to make it. that's where i first learned.
    let me know if/when you try it.

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  13. The upma looks a nice texture. Didn't knw u could make upma from bread.

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  14. doesnt look like u made it with bread
    sounds delicious n spicy!

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  15. Hey Divya ajwain /carrom seeds means omam in tamil..

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  16. different version of upma..great entry...will surly try this on weekends..thanks for sharing..

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  17. thanks for your comment divya. upma looks great and different.

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  18. very good one..i make this by tearing the bread to small pieces..blending it sounds good..picture looks good!!

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  19. Love the color & look of the bread upma! Wonderful to dress up whole wheat bread & make it very appetizing :)

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  20. Oh, this sounds so delicious!

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  21. Wow something new and very innovative. Must try recipe.

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  22. bread upma looks so mouth-watering Divya! What an awesome recipe!

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  23. a wonderful recipe! This is such a healthy meal and still a quickfix. an awesome recipe, no doubt!

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  24. So that's what it means! This was a staple in my home, although we made it with little chunks of bread.

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  25. that looks lovely divya .. i love bread upma, i dont pulse it in the mixer, i cut them into small squares .. N i loved the mexican twist

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  26. I love the color of that upma. Have never had a bread upma before. Very nice, Divya.

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  27. I love all kinds of upma and this one is no exception though Anaheim Chillies are new to me.
    Thanks for participating in WBB.

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Thank you for taking the time to comment on this post. I will try to respond to queries as soon as I can. If I miss anything that needs to be addressed... please feel free to ping me again.
Happy cooking/baking or whatever it is you are doing in the kitchen! :)