Panfusine

Anybody who's made idli / dosa batter in its standard minimum industrial quantity knows the drill.  Make batter on Friday Leave to ferment overnight Make Idlies for Saturday morning breakfast. Make Masala dosas for Saturday's supper  Plain dosa for Sunday brunch By Sunday evening you have about 2 cups of rather flat looking runny batter that you're not quite sure what to do with. It seems to be a precious waste considering the effort that went into soaking the rice & lentils, Grinding it down to a batter either in the kitchen blender, or on the table top chocolate conching device that has been perfectly re purposed for South Indian kitchens as the ubiquitous 'Dosa Grinder' (these machines have almost been elevated to the same royal brand recognition as Xerox, Q-Tips or Band-Aid -- they're simply referred to as 'Ultra' after the most popular brand of machines ). And then, there's the burdensome chore of meticulously cleaning ...

You say Panzanella, I say Upma... Ever bought something from the grocery store and stashed it away in the refrigerator and almost forget about it? as in, by the time you remember about that  loaf of bread you were looking forward to noshing on, Its gone semi stale. That happened to me this week. Brought home a  foccacia bread (this particular loaf had a generous sprinkle of Za'atar) and spotted it 4 days later in the fridge, by which time it was rather dry. No worries, just sauteed an onion, added a tempering of cumin and a pinch of garam masala and Paprika. You need: 1 loaf of stale Foccacia bread, diced. 1 large onion diced 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon Garam masala 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric 1/4 teaspoon  Paprika (or cayenne if you like the heat) Salt to taste Cilantro for garnish Lemon wedges Spritz the diced Foccacia with water to moisten it slightly.  In a wok, heat the oil and add the cumin when the oil begins to shimm...