Make Ahead

Sweet and Savory Oat and Brown Rice Porridge (Quick Version)

January  7, 2011
0
0 Ratings
  • Serves 2
Author Notes

Tired of your same-old, same-old breakfast porridge? Try this. You can use regular butter and brown sugar, but jaggery and ghee will make it even better – especially if you cook the butter long enough to allow the milk solids to caramelize a bit, giving the ghee that wonderful brown-butter flavor. Or, if you prefer this vegan-style, substitute a teaspoon or two of smooth almond butter. This recipe can easily be doubled or quadrupled. Any leftover cashew and cumin mixture should be refrigerated if not used within a couple of days. Enjoy!! ;o) —AntoniaJames

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Ingredients
  • 2/3 cup cooked whole oat groats or steel cut oats
  • 2/3 cup cooked sweet brown or brown jasmine rice (or any other rice or rice + grain blend)
  • 1/3 cup raw unsalted whole cashews
  • 1 ½ teaspoons whole cumin seeds
  • 1-2 teaspoons smooth almond butter, or 2 teaspoons ghee, or more or less to taste
  • 1 ½ teaspoons jaggery, or more or less to taste
  • 2 tablespoons sultanas (optional)
  • Tiny pinch of ground cinnamon (optional)
  • Salt to taste, or none at all, as you prefer
Directions
  1. Toast the cashews in a heavy skillet until light and somewhat dark brown. Remove from the heat immediately and coarsely chop, while warm, with a large knife.
  2. Toast the cumin seeds in the same skillet just until fragrant. Remove immediately and crush to a coarse powder using a mortar and pestle, or grind briefly in an electric spice mill. Or, leave them whole, if you like.
  3. Warm the oats and rice together with a tablespoon or two of water in a small, heavy saucepan or in the microwave, until rather hot. Stir well.
  4. Add all of the remaining ingredients and stir again to combine thoroughly.
  5. Serve hot, with the best Darjeeling tea you can find.
  6. Enjoy! ;o)
  7. NB: I eat this for lunch, too, stirring in leftover roasted broccoli or cauliflower, which I’ve warmed separately. This can also be made with leftover barley, quinoa, couscous, farro, etc.

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Recipe by: AntoniaJames

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3 Reviews

AntoniaJames January 17, 2011
I haven't thought about uppuma in years, but having looked at a recipe for it in the cookbook where I first saw it, I agree that there are some similarities. This recipe actually started as a "leftover stir-in" dish, made the morning after I'd make the cashew and cumin pistou that I use in my red lentil and carrot soup. The cashew and cumin combination is just so darned tasty. The uppuma recipe I have calls for cracked wheat, though I know that traditional uppuma is often made with semolina. The same recipe, from "Laurel's New Kitchen," calls for black mustard seeds, a few cashews, minced onion, ginger and green chili. You stir cilantro and lemon juice at the end. I'll be posting a variation on this porridge in the next week or so, which will include cinnamon and bay leaf, cooked with the oatmeal. The uppuma you had at Victory's Banner sounds great, especially with the coconut chutney! ;o)
magdance January 17, 2011
Thanks so much, Antonia!
magdance January 14, 2011
I'm looking for a recipe for Indian upma, a breakfast porridge, which I've eaten at a cafe called Victory's Banner in Chicago. I think it's semolina cooked with ginger and garlic, and they serve it with a coconut chutney. I've found a few recipes online, but yours looked quite related, so I thought you might know a good one.