Bulgar Wheat and Almond Porridge

"No, HIPPOS AND RHINOS!" I said. I had coined this phrase when I was Jr.P's age. At that age the droplets during a heavy rain seemed larger than my size to me - the present scenario I leave to my readers' imaginations! The phrase 'cats and dogs' did not do justice to the sight of a downpour, hence 'hippos and rhinos'.

'Ha' was all the son said.

'Ha?' I asked facing him and giving him my 'how dare you 'ha' your ma look'. Obviously the look has lost its edge, he looked at me right in the eye and said, 'It is raining 'ANKYLOSAURUS and APATOSAURUS'!!

I laughed a meaningful mean laugh (the kind some people call a hyena's laugh for if you have heard a hyena it emits funny sounds that are high pitched and uneven but please - they are not laughing!) and said, 'Ha.... ha...' (The same tone as his 'ha').

"If you can say 'H and R' why can I not say 'A and A'," he asked, thinking I was smug. (intials used as the phrases are too long!) "Mine sounds better," I said. "Mine," he said looking defiant.

I was smug - in a way! There, I had passed on a little bit of 'me' to my son. We are both illogically logical. I wiped tears of joy and said later, "I am proud of you, my son!", and hugged him:) - Oh yes! I am filmy:). I know I have something to retort when he grows up to be a teen and comments on my 'logic'.

But that was after Jr.H stepped in as arbitrator and suggested 'hippos and dinos' - the new term for the new generation!

The long and short of the anecdote is that I escaped getting caught in the rain as I did not go to work during the last two days. I was home to welcome the children when they returned from school and served them warm and tasty bowls of Bulgar Wheat And Almond Porridge. It does wonders to their faces (brings on the upward curve - smile) and their health. I found this in the tupperware pamphlet M Aunty gave me sometime back. It is an ideal babyfood too - quick, tasty and nourishing. Try it.

Dish: Instant Bulgar Wheat And Almond Porridge
(Adapted from 'Tupperware's January 2009 pamphlet')
Serves: 1 hungry child

Ingredients:
Roasted bulgar (also known as broken wheat, lapsi or dalia) - 2tbsp.
Almonds (Badam - I use mamra badam) - 4 or 5 (Split into two, chop fine and roast till pink)
Jaggery (Gud - I use organic gud) - 1 tbsp. or more powdered
Banana (I use elaichi kela and it is small but has a very strong cardamom flavour) - 1 mashed
Milk (I use rice milk flavoured with vanilla stick and ground with 4 soaked cashews) - 1.5 cups

Method:
Powder the toasted dalia and almonds together to a coarse, grainy mixture in a wok. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 5-7minutes till soft. Serve warm. It makes a good breakfast as well as energizing evening meal.

Note:
I roast 1/2 kilo of bulgar wheat till it releases a characteristic nutty flavour. Cool and powder it along with 20 roasted and chopped almonds and store this coarse powder. When I need to make the porridge I simply take the amount of powder required (usually 3-4tbsp. is enough for both). This way the porridge becomes an instant one and gets done under 10minutes.

Variations:
Usually it is Jr.H who makes the porridge after getting back home. She does not mind making this as it is easy and both like it very much. Jr.H uses milk and sugar without vanilla flavouring. My son adds a tsp. of raisins to his bowl.

A word:
Thanks to all those who invited me to open a facebook profile. I discovered some precious friends there whom I haven't met in ages!:).

P.S: Did anyone see H.P and the H.B.P? How is it?


I tried babaghanous from David Lebovitz's blog and it tastes great. The only change I made was roasting the eggplant over my gas stove as I do for 'baingan ka bharta'.


I also could not resist adding just two cashews along with the tahini paste! Babaghanoush is the Arabian cousin to our own bharta.


Gentle nudge:
Please remember that I am hosting MLLA-13 this month and am looking forward to a good spread at the end of the month. Do send me your entries soon. If you haven't yet been there do check out Kamalika's tasty round up of FIC-delectable combinations, and don't forget to match your food and your mood with Nithya on FIC-Express your mood!