How to Make Roti Upma (Fried Bread Curry)!
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I have just eaten A Very Interesting Thing which was also quick, cheap, delicious and used leftovers – fried bread curry also known as Roti Upma!
Upma is a South Indian porridgy dish usually made with semolina but also with lots of other things that will mush down such as rice or bread. Roti is a Hindi word originally meaning bread but usually referring to flatbread.
I have noticed a few references to roti upma using dried or fried bread so decided to give it a go.
Roti Upma
So here is my recipe and, at the risk of showing off, it was delicious!
Per person
½ tablebspoon vegetable oil or ghee – plus another one!
2 slices bread – stale is good – diced or torn into pieces
(for me a small slice of sourdough and ½ an old roll I found in the freezer!)
¼ tsp mustard seeds
1 hot red chilli chopped
(I keep a bag in the freezer, they are easily chopped from frozen)
½ onion finely chopped
¼ inch ginger finely chopped
1 pinch turmeric
(I am ashamed to say I had no fresh ginger or turmeric so replaced these with a ¼ tsp curry paste which worked very well)
5 or so cherry tomatoes, quartered
a handful of cashew nuts
fresh coriander, chopped plus a sprig or two to garnish
~ Heat ½ tbsp oil in a frying pan then fry the bread in it till turning crisp and golden. Set
aside.
~ Add the second ½ tbsp oil to the pan and then the mustard seeds and wait till they start
popping.
~ Stir in the onion (and the ginger if you’ve got some) and cook till starting to go translucent
then add the chilli and the tomatoes.
~ When the tomatoes start to mush down stir in the turmeric and/or curry paste and cook
together a minute or so.
~ Taste and season then stir in the bread, cashews and chopped coriander.
I stopped at this point because I don’t like pappy meals but you could cook the mixture down a bit and maybe add a little hot water to achieve a more porridge-like consistency. As I say, it was great and next time I feel I have been eating too healthily I intend to balance things up by making it again!
If you fancy making this with actual flatbread roti here’s how to make it.
More Ideas for Leftover Bread
This is not the only Very Interesting Thing I have made with bread – here are six more Deliciously Different Ideas for Leftover Bread.
Suzy Bowler
Having been a somewhat itinerant chef for over 30 years I was amazed, on my return to the UK, at the blatant food waste that now seems to be rife in the country; amazed and irritated. So much so that I decided to start a blog about spontaneous cooking from leftovers to show people that there are great alternatives to throwing food away.
