Amaranth Porridge with Spiced Ghee + Dates

warming, energizing + perfect for winter mornings

At this time of year in my house we are deep in porridge season and just about every day I find myself looking forward to my steaming, early morning bowl full. Most days I make a variation of millet porridge which you may know from my second book. Fortunately for variety’s sake, I re-discovered amaranth porridge last autumn. Whilst trying to clear space in my overflowing pantry, I found a long-lost jar of it with just enough left to fill a cup measure. Delighted by this discovery, I left it out for breakfast the following morning.

As the pot simmered, I thought about all the ways to make it delicious —should I add coconut milk, spices, dried fruit? Again, turning to my pantry, I found some Autumn Spiced ghee that Goddess Ghee sent me to try. Have any of you tried it? Its dark brown in color from the spices—cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and more, perfectly balanced with the right amount of raw honey and delicious on breakfasts of all kinds. Once the porridge was cooked, I topped it with a splash of nut milk and a spoon of the ghee. As it melted into the hot porridge it transformed the bowl into something truly heavenly.

To make sure everyone is able to enjoy this porridge, I tried incorporating similar spices in Goddess Ghee’s blend along with plain ghee into the amaranth porridge—yes it’s a step more but worth the effort! If you are here in the US you can make your life easy by ordering the spiced ghee and cooking the porridge plain—just water and amaranth. Either way I encourage you to check out the full range of Goddess Ghee products as there is nothing on her site that isn’t staggeringly delicious. (I don’t know of anyone else worldwide doing anything like Marion at Goddess Ghee; if you do, please share with all of us in the comments).

I don’t usually add any sweetener to my porridges (except for this ghee blend); however, these days serving plain porridge to the boys can be a hard sell without either a ton of raisins and dried mulberries or honey or both! Experimenting with blending dates into the porridge cooking water has been a great way to tip the balance into the sweet category without being too sweet for me. I was tempted to call this porridge “date infused” because blending them gives a subtle caramel sweetness rather than getting chunks of dates which may get a thumbs down from my tough customers :).

The baby loves this porridge, Ezra is not at all into the texture. If your small child refuses to wear a bib be prepared to spend a long time getting tiny amaranth seeds out of winter woollies!

I hope this recipe warms you on these extremely cold mornings. If you’re in the southern hemisphere save it for when king winter visits.

Thank you for being here!

Amy, xo

NOTES:

Amaranth is tiny and you definitely need a fine mesh strainer to strain it after you’ve rinsed it. I’ve seen recipes that say you don’t need to wash amaranth, I didn’t before I had a fine enough strainer.

Normally I soak every whole grain that we cook but I found that amaranth was a bit unreliable after soaking and was extra watery when testing this recipe. If you do soak it then start with 1 ½ cups cooking water and add more as needed to get desired consistency. I also found that cooking it longer doesn’t necessarily mean it will become thicker.

The porridge will seem liquid-y on top and thick at the bottom, just stir well before serving and I found that letting it sit for a few minutes before serving helps it thicken up if it’s too runny for you. Also, the tiny seed-like grains stay firm no matter how long they’re cooked.

For a vegan porridge you can use coconut oil in place of ghee, but I would reduce it to 2 teaspoons.

Amaranth is a nutrient packed grain (it’s actually a seed, sometimes called a pseudocereal) that has so much to offer but often gets left behind—in my pantry anyway! It’s rich in calcium, amino acids, vitamin C and protein, plus it’s a complete protein because it contains all essential amino acids.

Amaranth Porridge with Spiced Ghee + Dates

Serves 4

1 cup amaranth

2 cups filtered water

5 deglet or 2 to 3 medjool dates, pitted

1 tablespoon ghee, plus more to serve

½ teaspoon of each; cinnamon, cardamom, ginger

Pinch of each sea salt, ground cloves and nutmeg

To serve:

Chopped walnuts or pecans

Nut milk, this recipe is always on hand

Wash amaranth and drain using a fine mesh strainer. Set aside over a bowl to drain well.

Blend filtered water with dates until smooth and set aside.

Add ghee, spices and salt to a heavy small-medium size pot with tight fitting lid. Stir until spices are fragrant. Add drained amaranth and mix well to coat the grains. Pour in blended date-water mixture and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover pot, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes or until porridge is thick and creamy. Serve hot topped with extra ghee, nut milk and chopped nuts.