Iyengar Bakery-Style Bread Toast

Iyengar Bakeries are synonymous with Bangalore, I think. There is at least one Iyengar Bakery in every locality of the city, as far as I know. These bakeries have stood the test of time, still thronging with people in spite of the mushrooming of all the fancy bakeries in the city lately, selling all kinds of fancy products. It is easy to see how. Most Iyengar bakeries sell simple, homely stuff, which is rather delicious in a simple sort of way.

The OH and I love getting a small goodie bag of stuff from this Iyengar Bakery or that, every once in a while. One of our hot favourites is the Bread Toast or Vegetable Toast here – a slice of bread loaded with a delicious topping of sauce and vegetables.

I wonder why I never thought of trying out Iyengar Bakery’s Bread Toast at home, until very recently. Probably, in my mind, it qualified as something that I should buy from the bakery and not make at home? Anyways, I did happen to try it out, and the result was quite promising. 🙂

I followed this recipe, with a few little variations of my own. We liked the home-made toast so much I am definitely going to make it again, the same way. It makes for a very easy weekday lunch or dinner, if you are feeling lazy and not up to some elaborate cooking. It is ideal for in-between-meals snacking, as well.

Here is how I made it.

Ingredients (for 4 vegetable toasts):

4 slices of bread (You could use any kind of bread, white or brown or sweet, but not the one with pieces of candied fruit in it – I used brown bread)

1 medium-sized carrot, peeled and chopped finely (You could even grate it)

1 small-sized capsicum, chopped finely

1 medium-sized onion, chopped finely

Salt, to taste

2 tablespoons tomato ketchup

Red chilli powder, to taste

A few sprigs of fresh coriander leaves, chopped finely

2 teaspoons oil, plus more for toasting the bread

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onions, and fry till they start turning brown.
2. Now, add the carrots. Cook on a medium flame, sprinkling water now and then, till they are half done.
3. Now, add the capsicum, salt, turmeric powder, and red chilli powder. Mix well. Cook till the capsicum loses its raw smell and is cooked, but not overly so.
4. Mix in the tomato ketchup and the finely chopped coriander leaves.
5. When it is time to serve the toast, apply oil on both sides of the bread slices (You could use ghee or butter instead, too.). Toast on a hot dosa tawa, to the degree of crispiness that you require.
6. Heat up the vegetables too, meanwhile. This step is not necessary if you make the toast immediately after making the vegetable topping.
7. Spread the vegetable topping evenly on the toasted bread slices. Serve hot by themselves or with green chutney/tomato ketchup/chilly sauce.

Notes:

1. I like using this vegetable topping and making open sandwiches. If you want, you can use the vegetables as a stuffing between two slices of bread and make a closed sandwich.
2. You could add finely chopped green chillies to the vegetable topping, too, but I usually avoid that.
3. You could even add finely chopped tomatoes while cooking the vegetables, too. I skip them, because I like this sandwich without tomatoes.

What are your favourite Iyengar Bakery goodies? Tell me all about them!

Do you like the bakery’s bread toast? Have you ever tried making it at home?

 

 

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