Croutons

I love soups.They are light on the stomach & taste great ! My kid will eat a tomato soup in a restaurant as it has croutons.I decided to make croutons as there was some bread at home.I wanted to tempt my kid to drink soup with the croutons thrown in it.

I googled & got the recipe@http://www.food.com/recipe/microwave-croutons-110930

Ingredients : 2-3 slices of brown bread,2-3 tsps butter.

Method : Take 1 tsp of butter in a small microwaveable bowl .Microwave butter for 25-30 seconds or till it melts.Put off microwave.

Cut the bread slice into sixteen square pieces .The pieces may look small & yet when they are soaked in soup ,they appear quite big.


Now toss the bread pieces into the bowl with the melted butter.Place bowl with buttered bread pieces in microwave.Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Put off microwave.Remove it from microwave.Toss the bread pieces again in bowl.Microwave again for 30 seconds.Repeat two -three times by microwaving the pieces again & again.When they are crisp,they are ready.Always microwave just for 30 seconds.Not more.Total time of microwave will be less than 4-5 minutes.
Just dunk the bread pieces or croutons into the tomato soup made & serve.

My kid did end up drinking one bowl of tomato carrot soup.With one bowlful of croutons !

One can remove the sides of the bread slices while cutting the bread slices.Otherwise ,the sides can remain.I tried both & my kid was unable to point this out.

I used brown bread.White or multigrain bread can be used instead.I used Amul butter,which is a salted butter.

Bread upma

Ingredients : 1/2 packet sliced bread ( white or brown ),2 green chillies,1/2 ' grated ginger,1 sprig of curry leaves,one capsicum ,two onions,1 tomato (optional),2 tbsp oil,1/2 tsp mustard seeds,1/4 tsp hing,1/4 tsp turmeric,salt to taste, a bunch of coriander leaves for garnish,1/2 small lemon .

Method :Take oil in frying pan & put on the gas.Now put the mustard seeds .When they splutter ,add hing .Add diced onions & fry till they just start turning brown.Now add diced capsicum & turmeric to this.Fry capsicum  & cover the pan with a lid for a minute.Now add salt.,grated ginger & curry leaves & again cover with a lid.Diced tomato can be added at this time.

Take the bread slices & break each bread slice into 1/4 inch pieces with hands -crumble the slices into small crumbs about 1/2-1/4 inch big.Now put all these crumbs into the pan which has the veggies mixture.Mix the veggies & bread crumbs nicely.Add a few tsps of water - 4-5 tsp should be enough.

Cover with a lid & cook for 2 minutes.Now put off the gas.

Garnish with fresh coriander which has been thoroughly washed & finely cut.One can opt to   squeeze half a lemon on to the bread upma to get a tangy taste.

Tip :My neighbour always used pav to make this upma - pav upma ! She used to add watery chaas or diluted buttermilk to give a tangy taste.Instead of adding water at the end as stated earlier,one can use  chaas.