Saturday, June 11, 2011

June 6-7, 2011: Chai-spiced rice porridge (breakfast serial part ix)

The shift to winter has shifted my interest to the warmer and heavier breakfasts on my to-try list. I've had one or two porridge phases before but not pushed myself much further than the usual oats in a saucepan. When Carla posted about slow-cooked brown rice porridge I was just as interested in getting good use from my slow cooker as the rice itself. As advertised, this is as easy as vegan pie! Chuck brown rice, lots of milk and some spices into a slow-cooker overnight, drizzle over some golden syrup (maybe some dried fruit, as seen above) and you're done. 

With so much more milk than rice, this is a very creamy porridge - the grains mush together but retain a bit of chew. I can eat a much larger volume of this than I would oat porridge, and I learned this after sampling a smallish serve on my first rice porridge morning and becoming ravenously hungry by 11am. With a microwave, leftovers would no doubt be just as convenient as the first run. In a saucepan and with a drop of water it's noticeably less convenient but still doable on a workday.


Chai-spiced rice porridge
(based on a recipe found at easy as vegan pie,
which is adapted slightly from healthy slow cooking)

1 cup brown rice
5 cups milk (I used oat milk)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
sweetener and/or dried fruit to garnish (I used golden syrup and sometimes chopped dates)

Place the ingredients from brown rice through to ginger in a slow cooker and give them a quick stir. Cook the porridge on low for 7-8 hours. Ladle into bowls and top with your choice of garnishes.

11 comments:

  1. I dont have a slow cooker. Do you think it would work in a normal saucepan?

    ReplyDelete
  2. rice porridge appeals far more than oat porridge - and I love all the spices - great breakfast alternative (and possible a good dessert too)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Cindy
    I made this last night, but used half water half (cow) milk. In my slow cooker it needed a couple of hours on 'high' but it turned out great. Thanks for posting.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cindy that looks great! I'm going to try that. I had a great creamy rice with poached strawberries at Wee Jeanie the other day. I'm a convert.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds like my kinda breakfast guys. it reminds me of the Indian rice pudding "kheer" that my mum makes occasionally - although that's made with white rice and full cream milk!

    Thanks for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for posting a link to my blog! I actually have a slow cooker recipe for kheer oatmeal that you could use rice or another grain instead of oats if you wanted.

    http://healthyslowcooking.com/2011/03/30/slow-cooker-kheer-oatmeal/

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi hassall! I'm sure it would, though it could take some time on a low heat with regular stirring. As Lesh points out further down this is similar to kheer so you might be able to find useful cooking tips by looking at kheer recipes. Please report back if you give it a try. :-)

    Yes, Johanna - there's a winter-friendly dessert lurking in here too. Imagine adding some condensed milk!

    Hi Zodelicious! Glad it worked out for you with those adaptations. :-)

    deb, that sounds grand! I must put Wee Jeanie on my to-visit list, it's a new one to me.

    Lesh - yes, I think it is similar to kheer! I must try making that too.

    Welcome Kathy, and thanks for the great recipes. The kheer oatmeal looks like another winner. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh my this sounds good Cindy. I've made brown rice pudding in the oven before and that works really, really, *really* well, although it takes a good four hours in the oven. But never thought to have it for breakfast. Yum, I have some stewed rhubarb in the fridge, which would be perfect on rice porridge tomorrow . . .

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ooh, I'm going to try this on Friday morning! And I love the condensed milk idea - any excuse to crack open a can of that.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That looks totally delicious! Will give it a try on the weekend. Thanks for the recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks Kathryn! An oven-baked version sounds great, and might be useful for folks without a slow cooker like hassall above. :-)

    Hope it works out for you, Anna and Quince Poacher!

    ReplyDelete