Fenugreek Porridge

Many breast feeding moms have at one time or another heard of fenugreek tea to help increase breast production. I tried it myself once using the seeds (not tea bag) and thought “I wonder if there is a porridge out there made from this”. That was because the consistency was really soft and chewy.

Fast forward years later and on a trip to the Middle East, I was served Madeeda Hilba (in Arabic, Hilba means fenugreek) and I recognized the flavor from the tea I made years prior. I am sure the most healthy ingredients were not present in the dish; flour and sugar play a major role in this recipe, but it was really good and a flavor that stuck in my memory.

I recently was in a situation with my youngest child who needed a boost to help fight off a cold he caught so I made a tea with ginger, green onion roots, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper, and cardamom. I had made such a big batch I had to use it up for something, then I saw I had fenugreek seeds and since he had excess mucus and his appetite was poor, I thought I’d make him some sweetened porridge with the extra tea I made. He loved it! It was great, I was able to get all the goodness of the spiced tea I made for him, plus the fenugreek. I really enjoyed it too 🙂

One thing I learned from the first batch was that the seeds should be toasted which can be done by heating up a pan or in the oven and dry roasting the until .they become a little reddish color. The reason for this is that they are sooo bitter. Be careful not to burn them.

Use this recipe as the base, and play around with it by adding different nuts, seeds, spices and so on.

*Note – Fenugreek is excellent for ridding the body of excess mucus, increasing milk supply if needed, helping in fighting infection, aphrodisiac, and many more benefits.

You can make a big batch a few days in advance, it lasts about 5 days refrigerated.

Ingredients:

1/2 C roasted fenugreek seeds
2 C filtered water or tea (herbal or spiced)
1/4 C brown rice or wild rice (arrowroot might work, I haven’t tried it yet)

Toppings:

honey or other sweetener
coconut shreds
nuts/seeds; walnuts, chia seeds, flax seeds, goji berries, and so on
dried fruits; raisins, mango, peach…
coconut milk or raw grass-fed milk
coconut oil or butter

Instructions:

Soak the toasted feugreek seeds and brown rice in the 2 cups of water or tea overnight.
Next morning, bring to a boil and simmer until soft, adding more liquid if needed, keep checking. This will take about 1 hour.
When it’s finished, top with honey or other sweetener to taste and coconut shreds along with anything else you like.

This can be made creamy by either grinding the seeds and rice to make a flour before cooking or blending after the mix has cooked, then using a milk to further cook in. Play around with it and enjoy~