I am thinking about Cassava Porridge. When last yuh had some good homemade porridge? Back in the day, our grandmothers and mothers made porridge from anything that was considered “porridge worthy” for their family. Porridge was made from the usual oats (Quaker Oats) , grated cornmeal *, arrowroot, flour, custard powder, sago ** and of course cassava. This porridge is a good substitute for all those porridges prepared from processed grains.
A Complete Meal
When we made porridge it was made either for breakfast or dinner and was considered a complete meal. So much so, that it was a staple for young children growing up. When you ate a good bowl of porridge it left you satisfied for a few hours well. Added to that you were also getting your vitamins, fibre and carbohydrates from a natural and unrefined source.
Of course porridge was also cheap to make; cassava and corn etc. was always grown in the garden or around the house, so all you had to do was just go and dig up some cassava or pick some corn to grate. No wonder people were healthier long time! Most foods came straight from the plant to the plate. No preservatives! 🙂
How to Make Cassava Porridge
Anyhow! The other day I bought a fresh cassava and asked my mom to make some cassava porridge like long time since I haven't had cassava porridge in ages…. Well long story short, in a few minutes time we had a little pot of delicious and creamy cassava porridge that we all enjoyed that evening. After having it for dinner, I didn't want anything else for the rest of the evening. I guess I really did miss it. From now on, it looks like I'll have to buy some cassava and put it aside for when I want to make some more. What wholesome goodness! Here's Cassava Porridge. Enjoy! 🙂
Cassava Porridge Recipe
CASSAVA PORRIDGE
Ingredients:
½ medium cassava, chopped
3 cups water, divided
2 bay leaves
1 tin condensed milk
Direction:
Wash, peel and cut up the cassava.
In a pot add 1 cup of water and the bay leaf and bring to a boil. Place the chopped cassava in a blender with 1 cup of water and blend until smooth.
Add the blended cassava to the boiling water.
Continue stirring until the cassava is cooked.
Note: When cooked, the cassava will look translucent.
Add the condensed milk and the remaining cup of water. Continue stirring until the porridge has a thick, creamy consistency.
(In our case we mixed 3 tablespoons powdered milk and 2 tablespoons sugar).
* On mornings everyone in the village woke up early to grate corn to make cornmeal.
** From the Sago Palm.
Cassava Porridge Note:
- Serving size: One cup of cassava porridge is good.
- Do make sure the cassava is tender and well cooked before starting the porridge.
- If the cassava is frozen, soak the cassava in water before you boil it.
Well, that's it for this week. Hope you enjoyed this weeks posts. More to come. Bye!
P.S. Tell us what you think about cassava porridge or any other type of porridge you like.
Cassava Porridge
Ingredients
- 1/2 about 1 1/2 cups medium cassava, chopped
- 3 cups water divided
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tin condensed milk
Instructions
- Wash, peel and cut up the cassava.
- In a pot add 1 cup of water and the bay leaf and bring to a boil.
- Place the chopped cassava in a blender with 1 cup of water and blend until smooth.
- Add the blended cassava to the boiling water. Continue stirring until the cassava is cooked (Note: When cooked, the cassava will look translucent.)
- Add the condensed milk and the remaining cup of water. Continue stirring until the porridge has a thick, creamy consistency. Adjust milk and sugar to taste as necessary.
Note: We now have a very detailed cookbook, Simply Trini Cooking Cookbook. It has over 600 recipes. This book is available at Amazon. See this link to find out more about the book.
Looks yummy!
I never had this porridge. I used to love sago, we used to get it when we got home after school. The maid would have it waiting for us. Yum Yum.
http://breakfastlunchdinnerandpunch.blogspot.com/2009/06/porridge-was-not-eaten-in-this-house.html
I took the lazy way out and bought the cassava flour already processed. I think the brand is called Lee Quay’s. The grated coconut and sugar is already mixed in too. Here is my attempt at cornmeal porridge
http://breakfastlunchdinnerandpunch.blogspot.com/2009/06/delectable-gruel.html
Cassava Porridge tastes wonderful. I’ll have to make some more again 🙂
It tastes really good, but the gooey texture was strange for me until about the third bowl I started getting used to it. Is it supposed to be gooey??? I mean, do u like that. It was like eating a tasty milky polymer!!!! Now I usually love most things cassava but this was tricky for me to enjoy! Although I want to give it another shot. It was too slimy for my taste. maybe min e was not thick enough??
peace
“A tasty milky polymer…” I like how you said that lol 🙂 Actually the consistency is not supposed to be that gooey. If it’s gooey then all you have to do is adjust the milk and sugar. It shouldn’t be slimy either. A good idea of the consistency is the normal Quaker oats porridge. But then consistency depends on how you like your porridge. Hope this helps!
My grandma used to make Yam Porridge. I’ve searched all over for a Yam porridge recipe. Does anyone know if this same process can be used for Yam? Thanks in advance.
Yes it can 🙂
Can you make it without condensed milk. I am on a budget.
My grandmother used to cook this when I was much younger during my primary/elementary school days. Its the best porridge I’ve ever eaten. May her soul continue to rest in peace.