Millet Porridge with Coconut, Dates and Almonds
January was not a good cooking month for me. Unlike some other periods, I did in fact have time for it, but I was uninspired and unable to execute if some meagre amount of inspiration was found. I’m usually a pretty decent cook and while the quality of the result can vary, I don’t generally actively fail. I did fail twice in January and felt frustrated. I bought several cookbooks to get over the creative lull, but they didn’t help much (until the latest buy, about which more in another post).
So I thought if I cannot come up with anything spectacular, I can at least fulfill one of my new-year resolutions and cook millet porridge. Eating porridge does not come naturally to me, but millet versions I tend to enjoy. I also have a weakness for ancient grains: although millet is not among the eight neolithic founder crops (yes, I read up on things like that, for some reason I find early agriculture incredibly fascinating), it has been cultivated for 10 000 years.
Millet is a great option if you need/prefer to go gluten free, it’s also a pretty good source of fiber and several minerals. While it’s nice, I’m still incapable of making porridge with just millet and milk and water, I need to pimp it, add some flavour and texture. After considering my options, I decided to go try it with coconut milk and dates, plus almonds and date syrup as finishing touches. I think I’ll try an almond milk version next, possibly with dried cherries.
But for today’s version, you’ll need:
1 cup millet
3 cups water
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup dates (pitted and cut into small-ish pieces)
Salt
Almond flakes
Date syrup (you can of course use maple syrup or honey or anything similar instead or leave it out entirely)
Wash and drain the millet and bring it to the boil with water. If you wish, you can quickly fry it in coconut oil after draining, to bring out the flavour. Add a little salt and boil for about 15 minutes – by then, most of the water should be gone and the millet should be quite tender. If this is not the case, keep going. Then add the dates and coconut milk and simmer until the porridge is as thin or thick as you like. Serve with almonds and date syrup or whatever toppings you fancy.
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This looks delicious! January seems to be a quiet month in general for me, cooking included. The holiday rush is over, the weather is nasty, and I tend to be quiet and more introspective. I simply don’t want to do anything fancy so I stick with the basics.
Decades ago, I was introduced to savory porridge. It still suits me today, as I prefer salty and spicy to sweet. Carbohydrates in general make me wacky as my blood sugar spikes and then drops, which then becomes a vicious cycle. The outcome is I get very, very irritable. Adding fruit or syrup or what have you, particularly in the morning, is just not on for me. Anyway, I like to add tamari, cayenne and either sesame salt or toasted sesame oil to any type of porridge. Sometime a drizzle of tahini is good too. Down south here in the US, a popular dish is grits, which is ground maize. It’s always done salted, and butter and/or cheese are added at the end. A popular dish from the low country is shrimp and grits, which can be eaten for breakfast (or any other meal, for that matter.) All that being said, I still don’t eat breakfast. 😉
Inspired by you, I made a rice bowl with salmon for breakfast yesterday. I should in fact eat more savoury breakfasts, as my sugar consumption is too high. Unfortunately, the quickest portable option is grabbing a banana or a pear in the morning and this is what I mostly do. Not ideal.
In Estonia, eating savoury porridge is pretty common. Often, people just add some salt as the porridge cooks and some butter when it’s done. While I do like savoury dishes very much, I can only eat sweet porridge (with some rare exceptions). Although your tamari and sesame version sounds excellent.
On a completley different subject: have you every read anything by Penelope Fitzgerald?
Your post on porridge reminds me that I was politely urged to try the kama that was served as part of the lavish breakfasts at Padaste Manor. I loved it, but couldn’t duplicate it here in the U.S., unfortunately.
While you can make kama flour yourself (and I’m pretty sure they do at Pädaste), everyone I know just buys it ready-made. If you cannot find it online, I’m happy to send you a packet – although I have yo wait until I visit Tallinn again.
Very kind of you. I’m sure I can find it online, and if I can’t, well then it’s back to Pädaste I’ll have to go!