Golden turmeric porridge

Golden Turmeric Porridge Photo: Supplied / Little Bird Organics

Serves 2

What better way to warm up on a cold winter’s morning than from the inside out?

This delicious golden porridge will do just that. Not only is it filled with warming winter spices, but plenty of superfoods too, that are great at supporting your immune system during the winter months – with the fresh and dried turmeric acting as a powerful anti-inflammatory on the body.

You might think of turmeric as more of a savoury flavour, but it works well in sweeter dishes too, pairing well with the creaminess of the oats and coconut, and sweetness of the maple.

We have the pepper in there for flavour, but it also helps make the curcumin in the turmeric more bioavailable for your body to absorb and use.

At Little Bird Kitchen, we serve this porridge with saffron poached pears, but at home I have paired it with some fresh ripe pear (or mango). I also enjoy having it without any fruit and just a little coconut yoghurt and drizzle of maple.

Ingredients

• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (we use Bob's red mill gluten-free oats)
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon goji berries
• 1 tablespoon coconut chips or desiccated coconut
• 3 cups water
• ¾ cup almond milk (preferably homemade)
• 1 tablespoon of freshly grated turmeric (on a micro plane)
• 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger (on a micro plane) 
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 decent pinches of salt
• 2 decent pinches of freshly ground black pepper

Topping

• 1 ripe pear (peeled and sliced into long pieces) or 1 poached pear
• 2 tablespoons coconut chips, lightly toasted
• 1 teaspoon goji berries
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• Cinnamon for dusting
• Maple syrup for drizzling
• Coconut yoghurt or macadamia butter (optional)

Method

1. Place the oats, chia seeds, goji berries, coconut chips and 2 cups of water in a pot and leave to soak for 15-30 mins. Soaking will help make the porridge soft and creamy – if you soak it for a long time e.g. overnight, it will be overly creamy and mushy.
    
2. Place on the stove with the remaining cup of water and bring to the boil on a medium heat, add a little more water as needed, it will depend on your oats and how absorbent they are.
    
3. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a low simmer and add the remaining Porridge ingredients.
    
4. Give it a good stir, place the lid on it and leave to cook for 10-15 mins (check every 5 mins and give it a stir to make sure it’s not sticking to the bottom). If you need extra liquid, just add a little more water. Check that it is well cooked through, you want a little bit of bite but not too much.
    
5. Place in two bowls, top with slices of pear, coconut chips, and goji berries. Dust with cinnamon and pepper, lastly drizzle with a good quality maple syrup. At home we have it with a little coconut yoghurt and in the café, we serve it with a drizzle of creamy macadamia butter.  Enjoy!