Kunun Gyada (Spiced Peanut Rice Porridge)
Published April 14, 2021
- Total Time
- 40 minutes, plus soaking
- Rating
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Ingredients
- 2cups shelled and skinned raw peanuts
- ½cup short-grain white rice, such as sushi rice
- 4selim seed pods (see Tips)
- 1teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾teaspoon kosher salt
- ½teaspoon ground cinnamon, or 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
- ¼teaspoon grated nutmeg
- ¼teaspoon ground cayenne or 1 whole dried cayenne pepper
- ⅛teaspoon ground cloves or ¼ teaspoon whole cloves
- Tamarind paste (see Tips) and granulated sugar, honey or chopped dates, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Place the raw peanuts and rice in separate bowls, and add enough water to cover each by 2 inches. Soak at room temperature for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.
- Step 2
Drain the peanuts and transfer to a blender. Pour in 2 cups room-temperature water and purée on high speed until smooth. Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer or a sieve lined with muslin or two layers of cheesecloth, into a medium pot. Return the solids to the blender and combine with another 2 cups room-temperature water. Blend on high until puréed. Repeat the straining process, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. The remaining solids should be dry and crumbly. Discard the solids. You should have 4 cups of peanut milk in the pot.
- Step 3
Drain the rice and transfer to the blender (no need to wash). Pour in 2 cups room-temperature water and purée on high to grind the rice until smooth.
- Step 4
To the pot of peanut milk, add the selim seed pods, ginger, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne and cloves. Heat the milk and spices over medium, whisking frequently, until steam begins to rise from the surface, about 6 minutes. If using ground spices, continue to the next step. If using whole spices, including selim pods, turn off the heat, cover and allow the spices to steep for up to 10 minutes. Remove the spices with a slotted spoon after steeping.
- Step 5
Turn the heat to medium-low and whisk in the ground rice purée. Cook, stirring frequently until the mixture is thick enough for your whisk to leave a faint line as you drag it across the surface and any bubbles slowly rise to the surface, 8 minutes. Cover and simmer without stirring for about 4 minutes to fully cook the ground rice. Any coarse ground rice should be cooked through and soft, not starchy.
- Step 6
Serve the porridge in bowls that are warm or at room temperature. Top with a spoonful of tamarind paste for a slightly tangy finish and sweeten with granulated sugar, honey or chopped dates.
- To make a drinkable version of this porridge, stir another 1 cup water into the pot after adding the ground rice at the beginning of Step 5, then cook as directed. Allow to cool to room temperature. To serve, thin the porridge by whisking together equal parts cooked porridge and plain whole-milk kefir or drinkable yogurt. Ladle into mugs and stir in a spoonful of granulated sugar or a drizzle of honey to sweeten.
- Selim seed pods, also known as uda seeds or grains of selim pods, are typically sold as whole spices. They can be purchased online, at local African markets or from any stores that specialize in spices.
- Tamarind can be bought as whole pods or pulp to make your own paste or as a concentrate or purée. It’s available online and at African, Indian or Asian grocery stores. If using pods or pulp, follow this recipe to make your own paste. If using prepared paste, taste it before stirring into the finished porridge and thin it with hot water, if you’d like.
Private Notes
Comments
wonder by what I could replace the selim seeds, because I can,t by them here..
How about starting with some ready made almond milk? Maybe not traditional but much more accessible
It’s critical to use raw peanuts which can be found at many culture-focused grocery stores (think halal markets, Asian grocers etc). Roasted peanuts or peanut butter have a completely different taste profile and won’t import the sweetness necessary. This recipe brings me back to my visits to Senegal and The Gambia when we would top it with sour yogurt and coarse sugar. Lovely comfort food!
If you're finding it hard to get ahold of some tamarind check your local latin stores too. We use it to make a sweet tamarind drink so you can usually find it there as well.
Made 5 ½ cups w/ a shortened recipe. 1242/ 1.5 = 226 per cup. For this batch only.
You can find selim seeds on Amazon. Good Farmer Foods Hwentia Spice African Grains of Selim, Uda Diarr Xylopia Aethiopica Herb