African Ogi(Uji) Fermented Millet Porridge

Name: African Ogi(Uji) Fermented Millet Porridge
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Signature Cuisine
Ingredients: Millet: 100 g of; Water: 400 ml of; Salt: to taste; Coconut oil: to taste

Features:

Cuisine:

Signature Cuisine

20 min
Serves 1
Easy

Ingredients

100 g of Millet
400 ml of Water
to taste Salt
to taste Coconut oil
Or ghee

Directions

Fermentation is one of the oldest ways to prepare and preserve food. Soaking and fermenting seeds/grains removes antinutrients, makes them easier to digest and saturates them with nutrients. So if you’re going to eat porridge, it should be fermented, right?

Fermented porridge is a traditional African breakfast or dinner. In Kenya, it is called Uji and is made from the main crops of millet or sorghum. In Nigeria, such porridge is called Ogi and may also be made from corn. The cooked African porridge is quite liquid in texture and looks more like pudding.

We will depart a little from the traditional technique, keeping the fermentation but also leaving a little texture to the porridge. Fermented porridge is very tender, a little sour to the taste, which is very nice. It can be served with nuts, coconut yogurt, mango puree, or berry sauce.

I highly recommend it!

Bon Appétit!

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Steps

1 Done	Rinse millet well and, if necessary, pour boiling water over it. Then slightly dry it on a kitchen towel.
2 Done	Put the millet in the bowl of a food processor and briefly grind it until they become coarse crumbs so some grains remain whole, some in large pieces and some finely.
3 Done	Place milled grain in a glass or ceramic bowl or jar, pour water and cover it with a clean cloth. Don't put a lid on as it needs air access! Then, leave to ferment at room temperature for 24 hours to 4 days. Watch the fermentation process and determine the desired acidity for you. Once this stage is reached, you can cook the porridge. I usually ferment it for 48 hours, then the porridge comes out with a pronounced sour taste but not too sour. To help the fermentation, you can add 1 tbsp of live coconut yogurt or the contents of 1 probiotic capsule to the water, but that's not necessary, Nature will do just fine on its own.
4 Done	First, pour out 50 ml of liquid because you will need it later. The remaining liquid and millet pour into a saucepan, add salt to taste and cook over low heat till it's done, for about 10 to 15 minutes. When the porridge is done, add coconut oil or ghee, take it off the heat, cover the saucepan with a lid and let it cool down a bit. When cooled, the porridge will thicken a little. Before serving, add to it some liquid you poured out before cooking. In this way, you add live bacteria and adjust the porridge consistency. Serve in a sweet version to taste, with nuts, fruit purees or berry sauces, fresh fruit, or coconut yogurt. Or you can serve it as a side dish to meat or vegetables.